Yellen said the case for an increase in rates has grown stronger. But sterling was knocked late on Thursday after British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he expected formal divorce proceedings between Britain and the European Union to begin early next year.
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Big tech names led broad gains on Wall Street, and the Nasdaq closed at a record high for a second straight session.
The OECD estimates US growth at 1.4 per cent this year, down from 1.8 per cent in its June outlook, with the growth outlook for 2017 falling to 2.1 per cent from the previous forecast of 2.2 per cent.
The Fed said it could hike rates by year-end as the labor market improved further, but scaled back the number of rate increases expected in 2017 and 2018. Copper, platinum and palladium each rose roughly 2 percent. USA benchmark crude was up $1.11 to $46.45 a barrel, while Brent crude, used to price global oils, rose 85 cents to $47.68 a barrel.
“A December move appears increasingly likely, especially if the USA economy maintains its current pace”.
AUD/USD is supported around 0.7440 levels and now trading at 0.7512 levels.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the Consumer Price Index decreased 0.1% in August, after posting no change in July. The Australian dollar held at $0.7623, coming off an over two-week high hit on Thursday when it rose 0.3 percent.
NEW YORK, Sept 23 The dollar index whipsawed through the day but ended up little moved on Friday from its late Thursday levels as investors kept positions tight ahead of Monday’s USA presidential debate. It has breached that barrier several times in the last few months but fell back each time.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 118.58 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 18,412.28, the S&P 500 had gained 12.05 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 2,175.17 and the Nasdaq Composite had added 33.20 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 5,328.38.
“We are not as accommodative as people would think.”The Fed will have three monthly government reports on the state of the USA labor market in hand before its meeting in December, when many traders and economists expect it to finally pull the trigger on a rate hike”.
The 10-year US Treasuries yield US10YT=RR dropped to as low as 1.608 per cent, down sharply from Wednesday’s high of 1.738 per cent and hitting its lowest level in nearly two weeks. Earlier on Friday, it touched 1.606 percent.
FedEx rose 6.5 percent to $173.30 after the package delivery company’s quarterly profit rose more than expected.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 traded at $47.27 per barrel, after having climbed to a two-week high of $47.83 on Thursday.
The Fed opted to leave rates unchanged for another month following the conclusion of its two-day September meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
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Spot gold was up 0.03 percent at $1,337.01 an ounce by 2:57 p.m. EDT (1857 GMT), down from a two-week high reached Thursday at $1,343.64, and was more than 2 percent higher on the week, its best weekly performance since late July.
