Fed confirms the commitment of a smooth policy - 31.1.2013
According to results of the FOMC meeting ended up on Wednesday the committee decided to keep program of asset purchases with monthly volume of purchased bonds in the amount of $ 85 billion. According to the central bank forecasts, the labor market keeps recovering only modestly, and stimulus will be valid until the situation gets improved significantly. Tomorrow report on the labor market is likely to show that the unemployment rate remained unchanged in January - 7.8%, and designated by the Committee target at 6.5%.
Yesterday GDP data showed an unexpected drop in the fourth quarter of last year. According to the first estimates, the GDP fell by 0.1% in the last three months of 2012 (previous: 3.1%) being significantly worse than expected. The central bank representatives called the downturn temporary, taking the rise in consumer spending and investment into account. The target range for the federal funds remained at 0%-0.25%. The US dollar index, reflecting its behavior against a basket of six currencies, fell this morning to its lowest level in January - 79.14.
The euro against the U.S. dollar rose yesterday to 1.3585, with key resistance 1.35 that was overcome - a positive factor for the euro that is able to provide additional support for the pair in the short term.