Federal Reserve minutes released today, will they impact the US Dollar?

The US dollar struggled to maintain its ascent yesterday, falling against the majority of its major partners. This came amid some disappointing data, as well as some larger worldwide events. The only key area in which the dollar gained was against sterling, which has suffered further losses on the back of its own data.

From the US, the non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed a bigger slow down than expected, and with factory orders following suit, the US dollar dropped off from its recent high levels seen against most of its major peers.

Moving in to today, the US Federal Reserve meeting minutes offer potential influence on long-term investor sentiments regarding the US dollar. Ahead of this is the independent non-farm employment change, a good indicator ahead of Friday’s official figure. With the labour sector as important as ever, investors will be scrutinising results from this area for any supporting evidence of looming interest rate rises. Given the recent speculation over such rises, investors will be dissecting the meeting minutes for any clues as to when these may happen.