Currency Note US Dollar

The US starts to taper as economy on the up

By Smart Currency December 20th, 2013

The US dollar was in the spotlight this week, with investors eager to finally hear whether the Federal Reserve would begin to taper their quantitative easing program. The recent run of encouraging data, especially from the labour market, had raised hopes that this would finally come to light, and these hopes were realised as they reduced their bond buying from $85 billion to $75 billion a month. While the quantitative easing had been holding back the currency, the decision actually did little to strengthen the currency, as the accompanying statements were far more cautious. Chairman Ben Bernanke stated that the unemployment rate would have to have passed the 6.5% level well before interest rates were raised, especially if inflation remains low, and also that continued tapering was dependant on further positive data. The best movements were against the euro, hitting a two week high following the news. Yesterday, the first data post-tapering was not good, as both the existing home sales and the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing index both failed to meet their expected levels. Today, there is no major data to support the currency moving in to the weekend, and as such investors will be left to mull over what the Federal’s decision means for the long term prospects of the currency. Call your trader now for the latest US dollar rates, after the long awaited tapering finally started.