020 7898 0500The US dollar continued its slow start to the week yesterday, with little data released to influence market movements. Several members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) were speaking yesterday who reiterated the central banks recent sentiment of maintaining its current stimulus package. These tentative remarks caused the dollar to retreat slightly, as speculation surrounding a potential tapering of the Federal Reserves quantitative easing program in December dwindled. This sentiment was then supported further as Janet Yellen (who is expected to be voted in by the Senate on Thursday to take over from Ben Bernanke as he steps down from his post as chairman of the Federal Reserve in January) said that quantitative easing has helped boost the economy and the unemployment threshold of 6.5% is not a trigger to raise interest rates. Today, brings a raft of important economic data releases which could cause significant volatility for the currency. First, we will see retail sales and consumer price index figures released, before the existing home sales a little after. Then, this evening we will see the minutes from the most recent FOMC meeting released. As with the UK, investors will look for further clues as to when we could see a change in monetary policy. Get in touch with your trader now.
