The US dollar ended the trading week mixed as the outlook for Federal Reserve’s monetary policy was clouded by surprisingly weak employment growth.
The US dollar has started the week on a strong footing as comments from Fed officials led market participants to believe that an interest rate hike, perhaps even two, is very likely this year. Yet the disappointing employment report made them change their view. It is important to remember that even though non-farm payrolls were not stellar, they were not totally disastrous either. This means that at least one rate lift-off in 2016 is still possible.
The Fed is going to announce its policy decision on September 21. While it is highly unlikely for the central bank to perform a hike this month, the policy statement will be closely expected by analysts and traders for a sign of timing for the next move. Until then, the greenback is going to be driven by speculations and guesses.
EUR/USD opened at 1.1175, rallied to 1.1251 during the week, but retreated to close at 1.1153. GBP/USD rallied 1.4% from 1.3109 to 1.3292. USD/JPY went up as much as 1.8% from 102.05 to 103.94. USD/CHF settled at 0.9801 after opening at 0.9781 and rallying to the weekly high of 0.9882.
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