Yellen Does Not Help The US Dollar
Fed Chair Janet Yellen offers no significant comment on monetary policy. She says that the economy gains when more people work, which is not breaking news, to say the least. She also notes that young people should be better prepared for the labor market.
The US dollar remains pressured as markets await the hyped vote on Trump-care. Delays to the meetings of the caucuses in Congress and the resulting delay in the vote also cause uncertainty and hurt the greenback even though Trump has a much bigger cloud over his head.
Her colleagues spoke earlier and the loudest one was the sole dissenter: Neel Kashkari. His dissent was one of the 5 dollar downers last week.
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The Federal Reserve hit the dollar hard with its “dovish hike“. Fed Chair Janet Yellen, which was the last to speak before the rate hike, has another chance to impact markets.
The US dollar remains on the back foot, especially against the Japanese yen. USD/JPY trades under 111 after breaching the triple bottom of 111.60.
Earlier, US jobless claims came out at 258K, above expectations for 240K. All in all, this weekly release is relatively stable, hanging around the lows that were last seen in the early 1970s.
Markets are focusing on the vote in the House later today on Trump-care. This is seen as a bellwether on Republican support for President Trump.
However, there is a more important Trump story – the Russian one, where things are getting more complicated.