USD Forex Market Finishes Week Strongly

• Dollar Broadly Stronger as Index Touches High 
• Euro & Sterling Both Under Pressure
• Stocks Post Losing Week

The tale of this week from the forex market is another of prevailing strength from the US Dollar with its other major currency counterparts left under pressure. The Dollar climbed higher to end the week with the US Dollar Index at one point moving beyond the 100 mark. Both the Euro and Pound were struggling against this strong Dollar with the latter hitting its lowest levels since the end of 2020 at points in the day. The Euro suffered similar falls moving into next week's ECB rates decision. The sentiment was the same on Wall Street with a positive finish from the Down Jones being the only positive to end a losing week.

Dollar Keeps Building on Strong Position

Strength in the US Dollar was evident throughout the week. The greenback has been relentless in the recent period with the continuing war in Ukraine combined with the surge in inflation fuelling the move of traders toward the safety of the currency. This week, strength in the Dollar started to pick up again just prior to the release of the FOMC meeting minutes. It has continued from there as these minutes confirmed what many in forex trading and the wider market expected, more rate hikes. 

A rising rate environment, as is being supported by the Federal Reserve keeps the Dollar on the front foot. The near-certain expectation is now that the next interest rate hike will be 50 basis points. This makes it increasingly difficult for other currencies to gain traction against an already steely Dollar. 

Major Currencies Continue to Dip Lower

Both the Euro and Pound Sterling remain heavily pressurized by the strong US Dollar. This is the overarching factor holding both currencies back with little opportunity to gain a foothold with rates on the rise. Those forex trading the Euro will be looking closely at next week's rate decision from the ECB as well as monitoring Fed activity in the US.  

On the Pound in the UK, it dropped back to its lowest point since November 2020 during the session. Sterling moved below 1.30 against the Dollar, again largely due to the strength of the American currency. Upside potential for Sterling relies on the Bank of England strategy and whether they will take a more dovish outlook than their counterparts on fiscal policy.

Mixed Day End Losing Week for Stocks

On Wall Street, it has been a similarly challenging week for those trading stocks as it has for forex brokers and traders. There has been little in the way of positive momentum throughout and this was highlighted by another largely selling day.

The one bright spot on a day that saw the S&P 500 and NASDAQ both fall, was the increase in the Dow Jones which added just over 100 points. This has done little to cover over a poor week though with all the major indices posting weekly declines.