The US currency fell slightly but remains near its maximum in five and a half months. In Uruguay, it has appreciated 4.45% in April.
He global dollar gave way slightly at the beginning of Wednesday after the statements of the authorities of the United States Federal Reserve (Fed), which did not provide greater clarity on the direction that the central bank’s monetary policy may take for the remainder of the year. Meanwhile in Uruguay, the currency continues with the bullish momentum and returned to the range of 39 pesos after almost three months.
He dollar index, which compares the US currency with a basket of six international currencies, fell 0.2% to 106.12 units, just below the five-and-a-half-month high it reached the previous day, of 106.51 points.
The setback responded to the little certainty provided by the authorities of the Fed the day before, among them, its president Jerome Powell regarding when the first cut in reference interest rates could arrive, which are at their highest historical range. For now, all that is known is that the change in monetary politics will not arrive in the short term, and that this will remain restrictive for longer, awaiting new economic data.
The truth is that recent data show that the American economy It is following a different path than anticipated by the Fed, especially with a greater than expected increase in sales—and, therefore, consumption—that could be coupled with inflationary results that were also not satisfactory. While the price evolution is the main condition for the United States central bank to make decisions regarding rates, operators once again reduced their bets on future reductions.
This is what makes the dollar has an increase of 4.8% so far this year.
On the other hand, the risk of spreading the conflict between Israel and Iran increases the short-term attractiveness of the US currency as a safe haven asset. “In the face of any escalation of the crisis Middle East, we would expect the dollar benefit from safe haven asset flows,” he said. Jane Foley, senior currency strategist at Rabobank, to the Reuters agency.
The dollar returned to the range of $39 in Uruguay
In Uruguay, meanwhile, the dollar In the local exchange market, it was strongly boosted by the great performance of the currency globally and rose 0.85% to close at 39,223 pesos. Thus, the currency not only added its fifth consecutive day of rise, but also achieved its highest value in almost three months.
For its part, April has already accumulated a recovery of 4.45% in the exchange rate, something that positioned the general price of the year in positive territory for the first time in several weeks, with an appreciation of 0.52% compared to the end of 2023.
In this scenario, we will also have to wait for possible impacts of the 50 basis point cut in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU); Although economic analysts do not project major changes generated by this decision, they associate exchange rate movements mostly with the international context and the behavior of the US currency globally.
Source: Ambito
