{"id":36397,"date":"2025-12-10T01:59:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T17:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/uncategorized\/ahead-of-the-fomc-decision-the-us-dollar-has-slightly-weakened-after-yesterdays-gains\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T01:59:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T17:59:00","slug":"ahead-of-the-fomc-decision-the-us-dollar-has-slightly-weakened-after-yesterdays-gains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/live-updates\/ahead-of-the-fomc-decision-the-us-dollar-has-slightly-weakened-after-yesterdays-gains\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahead of the FOMC decision, the US Dollar has slightly weakened after yesterday&#8217;s gains"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The US Dollar has slightly weakened, retreating from previous gains as markets await the FOMC decision. Global bond yields have mostly decreased following a recent rise, and stocks show a mixed yet constructive outlook.<\/p>\n<p>The AUD, along with the NZD and SEK, remains firm but constrained within recent ranges. A potential Federal Reserve rate cut of 1\/4 point is priced in, but the market anticipates further information from the FOMC. Any changes in tone, updated forecasts, and Chair Powell&#8217;s statements are expected to be influential.<\/p>\n<h3>Recent US Economic Data<\/h3>\n<p>Recently released US data includes September and October JOLTS figures, with estimated job openings showing a slight decline in the labour market. The November NFIB Small Business Optimism Index rose to 99, up from October&#8217;s 98.3, with hiring intentions increasing slightly and a sharp rise in price increase plans. These factors could complicate attempts to control inflation.<\/p>\n<p>President Trump has stated that immediate rate cuts are essential for his preferred Fed chair candidate.<\/p>\n<p>As of today, December 9, 2025, the US Dollar is easing back slightly as we await tomorrow&#8217;s pivotal Federal Open Market Committee decision. The market mood is somewhat constructive, with bond yields dipping after a recent rise. This cautious optimism comes after a long period of high interest rates held throughout 2024 and most of 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The market has fully priced in a 25-basis-point rate cut, which would be the first loosening of policy since the aggressive hiking cycle of 2022-2023. This expectation is supported by recent data, such as the November CPI report which showed core inflation moderating to 2.8%, moving closer to the Fed&#8217;s target. Therefore, the actual cut is less important than the Fed&#8217;s forward guidance.<\/p>\n<h3>Traders Focus and Market Strategies<\/h3>\n<p>For traders, the focus must be on the tone of the press conference and the updated economic projections. We will be looking at the &#8220;dot plot&#8221; to see if this is viewed as a one-time adjustment or the start of a sustained easing cycle. A dovish signal could trigger a significant further weakening of the dollar, making long positions in pairs like AUD\/USD attractive, possibly pushing it towards resistance levels last seen in early 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The case for a rate cut is bolstered by the cooling labor market, a stark contrast to the conditions of a few years ago. We have seen recent JOLTS data show job openings falling to around 6.5 million, down significantly from the over 9 million openings that were common back in 2023. This slowdown reduces wage-driven inflation fears and gives the Fed room to maneuver.<\/p>\n<p>However, we must remain cautious of a hawkish surprise that could roil markets. Recent business sentiment surveys, such as the latest Philly Fed manufacturing index, showed a surprising uptick in the prices paid component. This suggests some inflationary pressures remain, meaning traders should consider hedging long-risk positions with options, such as buying short-dated call options on the VIX or put options on major stock indices.<\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/trade-now\/\">Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.vtmarkets.com\/login\">start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US Dollar dips as markets await FOMC decision; mixed data and global yields shape investor sentiment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":16960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}