The US dollar is ending the week on a high note following remarks from FED Chairman Yellen on Thursday. After falling to its lowest level in almost a month last week, the greenback is surging as Ms. Yellen’s comments made it clear the FED is prepared to hike rates in 2015. Her speech in Massachusetts ended three down days and sparked a share rally as global equities ended in positive territory. Following the Fed’s hold decision last week, Chairman Yellen is asking world markets not to lose faith in the belief higher rates are in the cards for this year.
Japanese data paced the Asian session, as inflation numbers were in line with market expectations, showing a slight fall in prices during the month of August. The yen, which had been one of the biggest losers to that point, lost a bit more ground and remains depressed as North America begins trading. Mr. Aso, Japan’s Minister of Finance, added comments that at this point, no additional policy easing was needed. While it has been a quiet week for Chinese economic releases, there were some interesting comments on Friday from a member of China’s National Bureau of Statistics. Sheng Laiyun, defending the accuracy of Chinese data, stated that growth should maintain the 7% threshold in Q3 as widespread criticism has many believing China’s economy may be worse off than reported. Third quarter GDP will be unveiled on October 19th.
Read the rest of the article Dollar rises following Yellen’s remarks