The dollar woke up this Thursday unstoppable and in intraday negotiations it exceeded $4,100. At 10:10 am the currency had hit a high of $4.125 and a low of $4.005. Until that moment, 1,168 movements had been carried out, for an amount of US$747.1 million.
The currency was affected by the decision of the US Federal Reserve (Fed, central bank) which maintained its rates at 5.25%-5.50% this Wednesday, as expected, and its managers point to a single rate cut. interest this year.
At the end of its two-day meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee (FOMC) also revised upwards its inflation forecast in the United States, for both 2024 and 2025, to 2.6% and 2.3% respectively, and gave accounts for “modest further progress” towards its long-term 2% inflation target.
The members of the body voted unanimously to maintain reference interest rates at their highest levels in more than two decades.
FOMC officials expect a single interest rate cut, of just 0.25 percentage points, between now and the end of the year.
Before the meeting, traders were mostly pointing to two rate cuts in 2024, according to CME Group forecasts.
The central bank increased interest rates to combat inflation: by raising rates, credit becomes more expensive and that discourages consumption and investment, cools the economy, and limits pressures on prices.
Likewise, the wholesale price index, which measures inflation on the part of producers of goods and services in the United States, fell in May, after rebounding in April, thanks to a drop in the cost of energy.
Wholesale prices fell 0.2% in May over April, after advancing 0.5% in April over March, according to the PPI index published Thursday by the Department of Commerce.
The drop is even greater than expected. Analysts predicted a decline of 0.1%, according to the consensus gathered by Market Watch. In 12 months, meanwhile, producer prices rose 2.2%, the same figure as that observed in April.
On Wednesday, the consumer price index (CPI) in the United States for May was released, which registered 3.3% in 12 months compared to 3.4% in April, a data very well received by the markets.
