After a short recess from the Dollar’s prolonged rally, the greenback has swung back into positive territory, edging higher as investors await a policy statement from the Federal Reserve Bank. Analysts and investors alike believe that the Federal Reserve, in the wake of jitters as a result of plunging oil prices, will withdraw its previous use of the terminology “considerable time” in regard to how long the central bank might maintain existing ultra low interest rates and rather take on a more cautious stance.
As reported at 8:24 am (GMT) in London, the USD/JPY pair was trading higher at 117.33 Yen, a gain of 0.8% while the EUR/USD pair was trading at $1.2463, a loss of about 0.4% for the Euro and moving away from yesterday’s 3-week peak. The U.S. Dollar Index which investors use to assess the greenback’s strength relative to its major rivals, edged up 0.2% to 88.323 .DXY, edging up from yesterday’s 3-week trough.
FX Investors Run from Ruble
In Russia, the fall in oil prices sent the Russian Ruble plunging about 25% yesterday, prompting the Finance Ministry to confirm that it had begun selling FX from existing stock, a move which helped, albeit briefly, to support the Russian currency.