Dollar Riding Post-Fed Wave Against Major Rivals

Washington (Oct 30)  The dollar rallied for a second day in a row Thursday, approaching fresh highs against the euro and yen following yesterday's somewhat hawkish Federal Reserve statement.

The Fed as expected ended its quantitative easing program after six years of unprecedented support for the US economy.

Policy makers noted improvement in the labor market and suggested that an interest rate hike may come sooner than expected if the economic recovery continues to pick up.

And today, a report from the  Commerce Department  showed US economic activity to have increased by more than expected 3.5% in the third quarter of 2014, compared to the 4.6% growth seen in the second quarter. Economists had expected GDP to climb by 3.0%.

US initial jobless claims to have edged up to 287,000 in the week ended  October 25th  , an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level of 284,000.

The dollar rose to  USD1.2550  versus the euro before settling near  USD1.26  . Earlier this month, the dollar touched a 2-year peak of  USD1.25  .

German unemployment declined unexpectedly in October and the adjusted jobless held steady at 6.7%. The number of people out of work decreased by 22,000 to 2.88 million in October. Economists had forecast an increase of 4,000.

The buck jumped above  Y109  versus the yen, moving toward a recent 6-year peak near  Y110  .

Gradual gains took the buck to  USD1.60  versus the sterling, up a bit from the previous session.

Source: AllianceNews