Markets are awaiting tomorrow evening the Fed's decision on interest rates and it is widely expected that the Fed will raise interest rates to 2.50%, and attention will be focused on the central bank's expectations for rate hikes in 2019.
Since the beginning of the week, the US dollar has fallen to its lowest level in 6 days and is approaching the uptrend line of the ascending channel on the daily chart at 96.88 levels.
On the other hand, sterling rose from its 20-month low as British Prime Minister Theresa May sought parliament's approval of the Brexit deal; Sterling is currently trading at 1.2675, waiting for tomorrow's inflation data.
Also, the euro rose against the US dollar on expectations of a Fed slowing the pace of rate hikes in the new year. The euro hit its highest level since Dec. 10 at 1.1401 after falling yesterday thanks to weaker euro zone data. The euro suffered after the ECB cut its inflation and growth expectations at its meeting last week, hitting a two-week low of 1.1269.
The Federal Reserve continues to receive criticism from US President Donald Trump after he expressed his displeasure at the central bank's continued tightening of monetary policy amid global economic and political uncertainties.
In today's trading, oil prices fell by more than 4% amid reports of ballooning stock volumes and expectations of US and Russian production hitting record highs as global equity markets sell off amid expectations of global growth deterioration.
US crude hit its lowest level since early September 2017 at 47.79 dollars a barrel, while Brent crude fell to levels of 57.10 dollars, its lowest since late October 2017. OPEC and its allies of oil producers have agreed to reduce their production by about 1.2 million barrels at the beginning of this month in an effort to counter rising supply and price support.
