U.S. greenback stands tall after Fed alerts no rush to chop charges

By Kevin Buckland

TOKYO (Reuters) – The U.S. greenback was on the entrance foot towards main friends on Friday after its finest single-day efficiency for 3 weeks with the Federal Reserve indicating no rush to chop rates of interest.

The chance-sensitive Australian and New Zealand {dollars} remained on the defensive after steep slides on Thursday as worries concerning the financial drag from U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive marketing campaign of world commerce tariffs dented sentiment.

The greenback index measure towards a basket of six counterparts was regular at 103.81 as of 0036 GMT, after climbing 0.36% on Thursday.

The index plumped a five-month low at 103.19 this week following a gentle decline from the very best since late 2022 at 110.17 on January 13 as hopes for expansive insurance policies below Trump gave strategy to anxiousness that the worldwide commerce warfare he began may set off a U.S. recession.

Fed policymakers held charges regular on Wednesday and signaled two quarter-point cuts for later this yr, the identical median forecast as three months in the past.

“We’re not going to be in any hurry to maneuver,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated, underscoring the problem policymakers face in navigating Trump’s erratic tariffs, and the potential impression on the home economic system.

A brand new spherical of reciprocal levies is anticipated on April 2.

“We see some indicators of a possible flip within the USD … with worth now pushing into the vary highs of this latest consolidation section,” stated Chris Weston, head of analysis at Pepperstone

“As we head into the April 2 Trump reciprocal tariff announcement, there may be an elevated danger that market gamers trim again on USD shorts and look to run a extra impartial place.”

The euro, which has by far the heaviest weighting within the greenback index, was little modified at $1.0854 after dropping 0.45% on Thursday.

“It appears the market has misplaced some confidence to bid EUR/USD into 1.1000, and the spot charge appears to be carving out a 1.0950 to 1.0800 vary,” Weston stated.

Sterling eased 0.06% to $1.2961.

The greenback added 0.07% to 148.88 yen, and was regular towards its Canadian counterpart at C$1.4321.

The Antipodean currencies, which aren’t a part of the greenback index, suffered bigger losses on Thursday.

The New Zealand greenback tumbled greater than 1%, however discovered its toes at $0.05766 within the newest session. The forex misplaced floor regardless of knowledge on Thursday displaying the economic system crawled out of recession final quarter.

The Aussie was comparatively secure at $0.6303 following a 0.86% droop.

(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Modifying by Shri Navaratnam)