US dollar weakens after Fed interest rate vote

US dollar weakens after Fed interest rate vote

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The US dollar declined on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve chose not to raise interest rates for the fifth time in a row. Also hurting the greenback was a weak Chicago PMI index that was at 48.8 in January, its lowest level since April 2003 and below December’s 51.6 reading. The dollar was 0.4 percent lower versus the euro, to $1.3010, by mid-afternoon in New York.

The yen, meanwhile, was up versus the US dollar, euro and sterling ahead of the next G7 meeting, scheduled to begin on the 9th of February. Some European officials have said that the current weakness of the yen would be on the agenda at the conference. The Japanese currency was 0.6 percent higher in relation to the greenback to ¥120.80, added 0.7 percent to ¥237.30 against sterling, and gained 0.2 percent to ¥157.30 versus the euro.

Sterling weakened against the US dollar and the euro. It was 0.1 percent lower versus the dollar to $1.9600, while it fell 0.4 percent to £0.6633 against the euro.

The Swiss franc was stronger on the session, adding 0.2 percent to SFr1.6205 against the greenback and rising 0.3 percent to SFr1.2480 versus the euro. The gains came after Switzerland’s leading economic indicator was better than expected in January. Analysts, however, said that the Swiss economy is continuing to slow.