The US dollar rallied against the Japanese yen and commodity currencies this week, but was unable to beat the euro and the Great Britain pound. Speculations about quantitative easing tampering in December (Dectaper) were helping the currency.
The Federal Reserve minutes came out less dovish than was expected, helping the greenback to gain. At the same time, plenty of negative macroeconomic reports were released, making the US currency less appealing to investors.
The euro demonstrated short-term weakness on prospects of negative interest rates, but the rumors were quickly discarded and the shared European currency was able to benefit from supportive fundamentals. The pound was also strong even as the central bank signaled that it is not in a hurry to raise interest rates. Positive data helped the sterling too. Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was very soft, especially after policy makers hinted at possibility of an intervention.
EUR/USD advanced from 1.3491 to 1.3548 this week, rebounding after the drop to 1.3398. GBP/USD climbed from 1.6117 to 1.6216. USD/JPY climbed from 100.22 to 101.31 following the decline to the weekly low of 99.56. AUD/USD sank from 0.9375 to 0.9165.
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