U.S. Dollar Inches Up Ahead of Fed; Tariff News in Focus

Wednesday,   11-Dec-2019   10:45 AM (IST)

The U.S. dollar inched up on Wednesday in Asia as traders awaited news on the Federal Reserve meetings and Sino-U.S. trade news. The U.S. Dollar Index last traded at 97.485 by 11:46 PM ET (03:46 GMT), up 0.1%. The Federal Reserve decides on interest rates on Wednesday, followed by a press briefing from Chairman Jerome Powell. The Fed’s Open Market Committee is expected to keep interest rates on hold later in the day. Sino-U.S. trade news returned to focus today, as the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg cited sources and said the U.S. might delay a planned tariff on Chinese goods. However, Larry Kudlow, U.S. President Donald Trump's top economic advisor, said he could not confirm the further tariffs on China would be delayed. Without a deal nor a delay to tariffs before the Dec. 15 deadline, the U.S. is slated to impose tariffs on another $156 billion on Chinese goods. Chinese equities and the U.S. dollar rose on the news, but the gains were limited. The GBP/USD pair lost 0.2% to 1.3141, as the British pound fell on news that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s lead in Britain’s general election was slashed by more than half in a closely watched opinion poll released two days before the country votes. The EUR/USD pair was little changed at 1.1090 as traders awaited the next European Central Bank policy decision, which is on Thursday. The AUD/USD pair gained 0.1% to 0.6816. Analysts from Rabobank and Nomura Holdings said in a Bloomberg report that the Australian dollar is set for a turbulent 2020 amid uncertainty around global economic growth and trade war. The Aussie dollar has plunged about 3% so far this year as the Sino-U.S. trade war dragged on.