The US dollar ended the week strong against the majority of other most-traded currencies thanks to the minutes of the Federal Reserve policy meeting. The only currencies that have shown resilience against the greenback were the Great Britain pound and the New Zealand dollar.
The US dollar had been strong even before the past week amid monetary tightening speculations, but chances for an actual interest rate hike in the near future looked fairly low. Yet everything changed after the Fed signaled about readiness to hike rates if economic indicators remain favorable. While chances for a hike in June are still not that high, prospects for a rate increase in July or at least in September seem rather strong.
Meanwhile, chances for the Brexit waned according to polls, helping the pound to become the best-performing major currency this week. The New Zealand dollar was firm as well with the help of the resilient commodity market and the optimistic outlook for the monetary policy of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
EUR/USD dropped from 1.1312 to 1.1216 over the week. USD/CHF rallied 1.6% from 0.9750 to 0.9909. GBP/USD was up from 1.4348 to 1.4663 during the week though by the weekend it retreated to 1.4490. NZD/USD closed at 0.6765, almost unchanged from the open of 0.6760.
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