FX round-up: Dollar ascends ahead of Federal Reserve meeting

The dollar was rebounding on Wednesday against most major currencies ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting.

CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler said: “The US dollar was mostly making gains against major currency pairs on Wednesday as speculation grows that the Fed will hold the course for a June rate hike in its latest statement.”

“Having hit 1.14, the EUR/USD gave back gains on Wednesday as concerns over Greece increased and the dollar strengthened heading into the Fed meeting.”

David Madden from IG noted: “Sterling has struggled to hang onto the $1.52 level as traders turn their attention to tonight’s update from the Fed. As the global economy has started 2015 on a soft note, traders will be wondering how ‘patient’ the Fed will be when it comes to increasing interest rates.”

The euro was worth $1.13295 Wednesday afternoon while the dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of six others, grew 0.18% to $94.80.

Meanwhile the dollar traded at ¥117.717, and the pound ended up at $1.51703.