Dollar slips to a two week low as investors eye Fed cut
The dollar index , measuring the currency against a basket of peers, dipped to 97.76, its lowest since July 28, extending its 0.5% fall on Tuesday.
U.S. consumer prices increased marginally in July, data showed on Tuesday, in line with forecasts and as the pass-through from Trump's sweeping tariffs to goods prices has so far been limited.
Investors eyeing imminent Fed cuts cheered the data and moved to price in a 98% chance the central bank would ease rates next month, according to LSEG data.
"U.S. CPI release turned out to be a dollar-negative event," said Francesco Pesole, strategist at ING. "The September Fed cut remains firmly priced in."
He added that core inflation accelerating is far from ideal, but not alarming enough to overshadow the deterioration in the jobs market.
Also eroding investor confidence in the dollar were Trump's fresh attempts to undermine Fed independence, after White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that the U.S. president was considering a lawsuit against Fed Chair Jerome Powell in relation to his management of renovations at the central bank's Washington headquarters.
Trump has been at loggerheads with Powell and has repeatedly lambasted the Fed chair for not easing rates sooner.
The president also hit out at Goldman Sachs (GS.N), opens new tab CEO David Solomon, saying the bank had been wrong to predict U.S. tariffs would hurt the economy. Trump questioned whether Solomon should lead the Wall Street institution.
Elsewhere, the dollar's weakness supported the euro and sterling . The single currency was last up 0.3% to $1.1709, briefly hitting its highest since July 28. Similarly, the British currency rose 0.4% to $1.3562, its highest since July 24.
Britain's jobs market weakened again though wage growth stayed strong, according to data on Tuesday, underscoring why the Bank of England is so cautious about cutting interest rates.
The Australian dollar was up 0.35% to $0.6552, while the New Zealand dollar rose 0.5% to $0.5986.
The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday cut interest rates as expected, and signalled further policy easing might be needed to meet its inflation and employment goals as the economy lost some momentum.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin halted its rally towards a fresh record and last traded 0.34% lower at $119,809, while ether scaled a nearly four-year high of $4,679.
"Ethereum's quiet breakout is being fuelled by real-world adoption and capital confidence," said Gracie Lin, Singapore CEO of crypto exchange OKX.
"On our platform, ETH has now overtaken BTC as the most traded asset over the past month."
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Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
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The learning hubs will help train some of the 12.5 per cent of all 16 to 24-year-olds — around one million youngsters — known as NEETs, meaning they are not in education, employment or training. Brooke said: 'I always wanted a practical role, but after reading your vacancies pullout, I finally had a breakthrough and was over the moon to land the job. I'm a hands-on person and the construction industry runs in my family, so I thought, 'Why not give it a go?'. 'I can't thank The Sun on Sunday enough. And I would urge others to do what I did. I think it's really important for British people to apply for the jobs out there. I was useless at school…now I earn £10k a month at 26 & I'll buy a Lamborghini 'There are already lots of foreign workers filling positions, but why shouldn't they go to people already living here if we can train them up properly? 'On my site, we are struggling for good bricklayers. People do not want to work in this trade because they feel like they can't be bothered and it will be too much hard work. 'But it's a job. You can apply straight out of school and then keep working in until you retire. I would 100 per cent recommend it.' Highlighting the financial benefits, Brooke added: 'As an apprentice, you start off on about £80 a day, but that can go up to £130 a day once you qualify. You could end up taking home thousands a week after tax if you play your cards right. 'Yes, there are tough days, but you learn a bit of everything, whether it's bricklaying or plumbing or insulation, and I enjoy working on site. The lads look out for me. We're like a big family, really.' Brooke from Swindon, thrives on the variety her job brings. She said: 'You are always moving around taking on different jobs. Plus, we build a house from the base and it's great being able to see the work in progress and, once you finish, you're like, 'Wow, I built all that'.' 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2 hours ago
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