The US dollar index is at its best level in over 13 years as currency traders continue to price in the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate hike. The greenback has been lifted by comments from James Bullard, the St. Louis Fed persident who while speaking at a UBS conference in London said “a single policy-rate increase, possibly in December, may be sufficient to move monetary policy to a neutral setting.”
Fed fund futures data provided by Bloomberg shows a 94% probability that the Fed will raise its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points at its December meeting.
Wednesday’s gains for the greenback are broad-based, coming against all of its major peers. Here’s a look at the scoreboard as of 8:23 a.m. ET:
- The euro is down 0.2% at 1.0699, as it dips below 1.0700 for the first time in 11.5 months. The British pound is lower by 0.3% at 1.2421 despite Britain’s unemployment rate falling to its lowest level since 2005. The Japanese yen is weaker by 0.4% at 109.60 per dollar even as Japan’s 10-year yield climbed above zero for the first time since February.
The greenback has been on a tear as of late, rallying about 4.5% since the index bottomed out near 96 on election night.