U.S. Dollar Stumbles, Eyes on Fed

The dollar moved near the middle of its trading range over the past month against major currencies on Thursday, September 16th, as traders look to the Federal Reserve meeting next week, in search of indications of when the US central bank will begin to taper.

The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against six major currencies, recorded 92.506, unchanged from yesterday.

It hit a two-week high of 92.887 at the start of the week and then fell to a one-week low of 92.321 on Tuesday after the lower-than-expected inflation report.

The dollar reached its lowest level during the month at 91.941 on Sept. 3 when the disappointing jobs data was announced.

The US Federal Reserve’s Open Markets Committee meeting ends on September 22, and is expected to provide some clarity on expectations of reduced stimulus and an expected rate hike.

The dollar fell 0.1% to 109.24 yen, after falling to a six-week low of 109.110 in the previous session.

There was little change on the euro, and it was traded against $1.18095, settling between the highest and lowest level during the month between 1.1909 and $1.17705.

The Australian dollar fell 0.16% to $0.7322, after falling to 0.73015 on Wednesday for the first time since August 31.

The New Zealand dollar settled at $0.7110, giving up gains earlier in the session by 0.47% after the economy grew faster than expected.

As for the rest of the currencies, the Norwegian krone was trading at 8.5776 against the dollar, it rose at its last trading near the highest level in more than two months at 8.5598 overnight, supported by the rise in oil prices.

The krone hit 10.1119 against the euro, the highest level since June 25.