United States Dollar Drops to a Week-Low After Rates Decision

The United States Dollar dropped to a week low against its global counterparts on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.25% against the widely expected 0.75%.

The move came as a surprise to financial market operators for one reason, the U.S. inflation is at a record-high of 8.5%. However, the Fed highlighted rising global risks and uncertainties due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in China and the Russia Ukraine war.

This, the central bank explains necessitates caution.

“The market was pricing in essentially a 50/50 chance that you see a 75 basis point hike by July, between June and July, and so I think the most important takeaway here that I think the market was really fixated on, was whether or not a 75 basis point hike is on the table, and he (Powell) basically pushed back on that,” said Mazen Issa, senior fx strategist at TD Securities in New York.

The United States dollar index declined to $102.48 from $103.64 it peaked on Wednesday immediately the Fed made its decision.

Against the Euro common currency, the United States dollar lost 0.82% to $1.0622. While against the Pounds Sterling and Yen, the green back dropped to $1.2625 and $129.12, respectively.

Stocks and other risky assets rose after Fed suggested it could curb inflation without necessarily triggering a recession.