In currency markets, the dollar fell slightly against a basket of currencies last week, the first time after six weeks of gains, as easing U.S. inflation revived speculation that the U.S. central bank could cut interest rates.
The dollar index, which shows the value of the US against the six most important world currencies, weakened last week by 0.2 percent, to 109.41 points.
At the same time, the exchange rate of the euro against the dollar increased by 0.25 percent, to 1.0270 dollars. The American currency also weakened against the Japanese one, by 0.9 percent, so its exchange rate slipped to 156.30 yen. After six weeks of continuous growth, the dollar weakened slightly last week.
This is the result of easing inflation in the US. Namely, last week it was announced that consumer prices rose by 0.4 percent on a monthly basis in December, while they grew by 2.9 percent in the whole of last year, reports SEEBiz. This is 0.1 percentage point lower inflation than analysts expected. expected.
Thanks to this, speculations about the reduction of interest rates by the US central bank have strengthened again.
The market estimates that the Fed could cut interest rates at the June meeting. Until then, analysts say, central bank leaders will monitor the impact of the policies of Donald Trump, who takes over the White House on Monday, on the economy and inflation.
