US dollar index slips to 32-month low after Federal Reserve comments
Last Updated: December 17, 2020
The US dollar – as tracked by Bloomberg’s US dollar index (DXY) – is dropping today after comments from the Federal Reserve yesterday, which signaled no changes to the central bank’s highly accommodative monetary policy.
The benchmark – which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of currencies – is slipping 0.6% at 89.90, dropping below the 90 level for the first time in 32 months as the institution headed by Jerome Powell has injected trillions of dollars to the financial markets to save them from collapsing during the pandemic.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell also said on Wednesday that stock prices are not necessarily highly priced given how low interest rates are.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite opened at record highs on Thursday, boosted by hopes of Washington coming through on additional financial aid before the end of 2020.
Congressional leaders on Wednesday closed in on a $900 stimulus package that would include direct payments to individuals.
In Europe Thursday, the Bank of England kept its main lending rate at 0.1%, having earlier cut twice from 0.75% since the onset of the pandemic in March, and retained its target stock of asset purchases at £895 billion ($1.2 trillion).
(Photo : Nicholas Kamm-Pool/Getty Images)
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) arrives with Sen. John Thune (R-SD) at a news conference with other Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol.
After months of failed negotiations, both parties from the House of Senate and Congress have finally come up to an agreement not to leave the House until a new relief bill is passed. This time, the bill includes direct stimulus checks as an initial aid.
McConnell to support relief bill with stimulus package
Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that members of the House of Senate will not leave Washington until a relief bill is passed. This is a good sign that the Republican and Democratic Senators have come to an agreement.