· The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and said it expected to start winding down its massive holdings of bonds "relatively soon" in a sign of confidence in the U.S. economy.
The Fed kept its benchmark lending rate in a target range of 1.00 percent to 1.25 percent, as expected, and said it was on track to continue the slow path of monetary tightening that has lifted rates by a percentage point since 2015.
In a statement following a two-day policy meeting, the U.S. central bank's rate-setting committee indicated the economy was growing moderately and job gains had been solid.
It also noted that both overall inflation and a measure of underlying price gains had declined - trends which have worried some policymakers - but that it expected the economy to continue strengthening.
· The dollar touched its lowest in more than a year and U.S. Treasury prices rose on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and signaled it could begin to cut its massive bond portfolio in the coming months.
The dollar index .DXY, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, reversed course after the statement and fell to 93.396, its lowest since June 23, 2016. It was last down 0.6 percent at 93.459.
· Futures traders are pricing in a 50-percent chance that the Fed will raise rates at its December meeting, down from 52 percent before the statement, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
· The euro, which had been bumping up against a 23-month top for most of the week, finally broke through to reach $1.1742 EUR=, its highest since January, 2015.
The next major chart target was the 200-week average at $1.1807 - a measure the euro has not traded above since August 2014.
· The dollar even fall back on the yen to 111.04 JPY=, though the damage was limited by expectations the Bank of Japan would keep its super-easy policies in place longer than most other global central banks.
· New U.S. single-family home sales increased in June as purchases in the West surged to a near 10-year high, but downward revisions to the sales pace for the prior three months pointed to a housing market that is struggling to gain momentum.
New home sales slowed in the second quarter compared to the first three months of the year.
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday new home sales gained 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000 units last month. The sales pace for March, April and May was revised lower.
· Oil prices rose to near eight-week highs on Wednesday, with Brent crude futures above $50 a barrel, as a much steeper than expected decline in U.S. inventories encouraged hopes the global crude glut would recede.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 settled up 77 cents or 1.5 percent to $50.97 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 rose 86 cents or 1.8 percent to $48.75 a barrel.
Reference: Reuters
Thai
Eng