While all eyes are watching what’s happening with the Euro and the U.S. dollar, other countries are trying to deal with their own financial woes.
Brazilian monetary officials hiked interest rates to a six-year high on Wednesday. The Comitê de Política Monetária, or Copom, – the central bank's monetary policy committee – hiked the benchmark Selic rate by 50 basis points to 12.75 percent, in line with market expectations.
The central bank's third straight rate hike aims to slow above-target inflation and bolster the Brazilian real, which fell nearly 2 percent to a 10-year low of 3 per U.S. dollar on Wednesday. Inflation figures for February, due Friday, are expected to show annual inflation increased to a fresh 10-year high of 7.54 percent, well above the government's 4.5 percent target, according to a Reuters poll.
Not all analysts are happy with the move.
"This is a dangerous move," Kathy Lien, managing director of BK Asset Management, told CNBC shortly after the decision. "Yes, inflation is a big problem and they've been working very hard to clamp down price pressures, but by raising interest rates, they seriously risk tossing the economy into deeper recession."
Countries all over the world seem to be creating waves with interest rate cuts in order to deal with their high debt, possible recession or runaway inflation.
In Washington tomorrow, the key Non-Farm Employment Change data will be released together with Trade Balance and Unemployment Rate data. The results of the report will cause the USD to react, possibly sparking a rally in the current environment.