- Summary:
- The USDCAD and USDZAR are extending gains on the day as the FOMC cuts the Federal Funds Rate by 25 bps to 1.75%. Other USD pairs are unmoved.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) lowered the Federal Funds Rate from 2% to 1.75% in an interest rate decision which was widely predicted to happen. The markets had already priced this in by more than 90% and most of the US pairs had a muted response to the news.
The best performing US pairs have been the USDCAD, USDZAR and USDCHF. The USDCAD is reacting with more upside after the Bank of Canada put out a dovish statement earlier today after keeping rates unchanged. The South African Rand took a massive hit earlier today as well and is still showing bearish bias.
The USDCAD is trading at 1.3188 as it breaches the R3 pivot on the day.
Jerome Powell, Head of the FOMC and Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Bank, is scheduled to appear in a press conference to explain the outlook for monetary policy at 18:30 GMT.