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Forex Today – Asian Session: Dollar soars on hopes US can avoid recession despite aggressive Fed

What to watch for on Friday, August 19:

The USD strengthened during US trading hours, rising across the currency board. Market traders appreciated a number of encouraging US macroeconomic figures that suggest the economy has a good chance of skipping recession, even though it is technically in the process of doing so.

Investors have changed their minds regarding the latest Federal Reserve announcement. The minutes of the latest meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), released on Wednesday, were initially seen as dovish, especially given that policymakers expressed concern about the risk of raising rates. benchmark interest to a level that would become more of a problem than a solution.

However, the latest figures from the United States point to a much better situation than initially feared. Inflation has finally started to subside, while the employment sector remains strong. In addition, other indicators related to business activity have surprised to the upside.

US Federal Reserve officials came out with a mixed message. Neel Kashkari of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve said that if rates continue to rise, he could increase the risk of a recession, although he does not believe the country is currently in a recession. On the other hand, aggressive voter Jim Bullard of the St. Louise Fed said he is leaning towards another 75 basis point rate hike in September.

The EUR/USD pair fell below 1.0100 and is trading near a daily low of 1.0078. GBP/USD, meanwhile, is trading around 1.1930.

Safe-haven rivals finish Thursday near their intraday lows against the dollar, with USD/CHF around 0.9560, while USD/JPY trades at 135.95.

The AUD/USD pair is trading around 0.6910/20, with the Aussie further weighed down by disappointing Australian employment figures. The USD/CAD pair stands at 1.2940 as Canadian industrial production unexpectedly contracted in July.

The dollar’s strength pushed gold to a new weekly low of $1,755.30 a troy ounce. Crude oil prices, meanwhile, regained their bullish poise, with WTI currently hovering around $90.50 a barrel.

Source: Fx Street

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