US dollar struggles to recover gains despite upbeat ISM numbers

The US Dollar pops up on the back of Fed rate pause. Traders see the Greenback fade to flat as dust settles over the Fed meeting. The US Dollar Index has 104 in reach if it is able to advance this Thursday.

The dollar is falling back to being nearly flat ahead of the US opening bell, after it initially popped higher on the back of the first rate decision from the US Federal Reserve and commentary from the US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Although Powell pushed back against a March rate cut, that a cut is coming did not get dismissed. In the same push-and-pull pattern markets have seen over the past few weeks, the current US Dollar strength looks to be a mere repricing of the timing of the rate cut, with risk of the US Dollar Index being unable to walk away from that 200-day Simple Moving Average near 103.55.

On the economic front, traders are making their way to the US Jobs Report on Friday, with the weekly Initial Jobless Claims. Although both the continuing and the initial number are still very much in range, the added weight of a doubling in the Challenger Job Cuts number might put traders at unease.