The US dollar has weakened against major currencies on Monday, on the back of investors’ settled expectations on a 75 basis point rate hike by the US Federal Reserve later this week.
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates at the conclusion of its policy meeting on Wednesday. In a step that many analysts say could trigger recession.
Ricardo Evangelista, Senior Analyst, ActivTrades, told Daily News Egypt that after the turmoil of previous weeks, when the prospect of a rate rise of 100bp was at some point seen as realistic, the waters are now calmer as it is seen as most likely that the Fed will not deliver any surprises on Wednesday and will increase rates by 75bp.
He added that the main point of interest will instead be the tone adopted by the Chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, with observers keen to gauge the sentiment within the central bank and adjust expectations for the times ahead.
Last week, the European Central Bank raised interest rates for the first time in 11 years by 0.5%.
Meanwhile in Egypt, the US dollar stabilized against the Egyptian pound at the end of trading on Monday, compared to Sunday.
The average price of the US dollar in banks on Monday, registered EGP 18.889 for buying and EGP 18.968 for selling..
