The U.S. dollar rose against major currencies this week, as the Federal Reserve decided to maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy and Greece reached agreements with international organizations on its new austerity plan.
The Fed ended its two-day monetary policy meeting Wednesday. It announced to keep key interest rate at a range of zero to 0.25 percent as investors had expected, and ended the 600 billion dollar bond-buying program or so called second round of quantitative easing policy by the end of June.
The central bank also lowered the U.S. economic growth forecast from previous estimates of 3.1 to 3.3 percent to 2.7 to 2.9 percent this year. The negative view on the economic prospect hurt the stock markets on Wednesday and lifted the dollar which is regarded as safe-haven investment.
However, the U.S. economic data was still weak which limited the greenback's rally. The U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday that the initial jobless claims last week rose by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 429,000, more than previous estimates. The job data hurt investors' confidence on the economy and weighed on the dollar.
Meanwhile, the U.S. National Association of Realtors said existing home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million in May, roughly in line with economists' expectations. The data showed the U.S. housing markets were still weak and that was also negative news for the dollar.
The dollar index, which is regarded as the best gauge of its performance against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.79 percent to 75.583 this week.
1 2
Weekly review
The Fed ended its two-day monetary policy meeting Wednesday. It announced to keep key interest rate at a range of zero to 0.25 percent as investors had expected, and ended the 600 billion dollar bond-buying program or so called second round of quantitative easing policy by the end of June.
The central bank also lowered the U.S. economic growth forecast from previous estimates of 3.1 to 3.3 percent to 2.7 to 2.9 percent this year. The negative view on the economic prospect hurt the stock markets on Wednesday and lifted the dollar which is regarded as safe-haven investment.
However, the U.S. economic data was still weak which limited the greenback's rally. The U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday that the initial jobless claims last week rose by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 429,000, more than previous estimates. The job data hurt investors' confidence on the economy and weighed on the dollar.
Meanwhile, the U.S. National Association of Realtors said existing home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million in May, roughly in line with economists' expectations. The data showed the U.S. housing markets were still weak and that was also negative news for the dollar.
The dollar index, which is regarded as the best gauge of its performance against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.79 percent to 75.583 this week.
1 2
Weekly review
