Investing.com - The dollar firmed up against the other major currencies on Thursday after the Federal Reserve was more optimistic than anticipated in its assessment of the economy, fuelling speculation that it could start scaling back stimulus sooner than expected.
During European morning trade, the euro was lower against the dollar, with EUR/USD down 0.24% to 1.3702, moving further away from last Friday’s 23 month highs.
The dollar recovered after the Fed left its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in place following its monthly meeting on Wednesday.
The bank gave no clear indication whether it would start scaling back stimulus at the December meeting or continue it into the start of 2014.
"The housing sector has slowed somewhat in recent months," the Fed statement said. However, Fed officials stuck to the view that the economy is expanding "at a moderate pace" and said downside risks were diminishing.
Investors will now be looking ahead to the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for October, due for release next Friday, to help assess the timing for a possible reduction in Fed stimulus.
The dollar slipped lower against the yen, with USD/JPY losing 0.23% to trade at 98.29.
The Bank of Japan made no changes to its stimulus program on Thursday and reiterated that inflation will be close to reaching the bank’s 2% target by April 2015.
Elsewhere, the dollar edged higher against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD dipping 0.08% to 1.6027 and USD/CHF inching up 0.07% to 0.8999.
The greenback was lower against its Australian counterpart, with AUD/USD rising 0.23% to 0.9505 and was almost unchanged against the New Zealand dollar, with NZD/USD inching up 0.05% to 0.8271.
Earlier Thursday, Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Graham Wheeler said the strong domestic dollar gave the central bank "greater flexibility as to the timing and magnitude of future increases in the official cash rate”.
The comments came after the RBNZ left interest rates on hold at 2.5% following its monthly meeting.
The greenback was lower against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD sliding 0.19% to 1.0459.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.13% to 79.88.
The U.S. was to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims later in the trading day.
During European morning trade, the euro was lower against the dollar, with EUR/USD down 0.24% to 1.3702, moving further away from last Friday’s 23 month highs.
The dollar recovered after the Fed left its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in place following its monthly meeting on Wednesday.
The bank gave no clear indication whether it would start scaling back stimulus at the December meeting or continue it into the start of 2014.
"The housing sector has slowed somewhat in recent months," the Fed statement said. However, Fed officials stuck to the view that the economy is expanding "at a moderate pace" and said downside risks were diminishing.
Investors will now be looking ahead to the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for October, due for release next Friday, to help assess the timing for a possible reduction in Fed stimulus.
The dollar slipped lower against the yen, with USD/JPY losing 0.23% to trade at 98.29.
The Bank of Japan made no changes to its stimulus program on Thursday and reiterated that inflation will be close to reaching the bank’s 2% target by April 2015.
Elsewhere, the dollar edged higher against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD dipping 0.08% to 1.6027 and USD/CHF inching up 0.07% to 0.8999.
The greenback was lower against its Australian counterpart, with AUD/USD rising 0.23% to 0.9505 and was almost unchanged against the New Zealand dollar, with NZD/USD inching up 0.05% to 0.8271.
Earlier Thursday, Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Graham Wheeler said the strong domestic dollar gave the central bank "greater flexibility as to the timing and magnitude of future increases in the official cash rate”.
The comments came after the RBNZ left interest rates on hold at 2.5% following its monthly meeting.
The greenback was lower against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD sliding 0.19% to 1.0459.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.13% to 79.88.
The U.S. was to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims later in the trading day.