GBP/USD rallied onto the 1.42 handle after the Fed lowered the dot plot forecasts and delivered a dovish outcome for this month, back tracking from December.
Fed concerned about external developments and economy
The Fed is concerned about external economic developments and risks with changes in the language of the statement , putting back the concerns about China, for example, in respect of global and financial developments that continue to pose risks.
April is now off the table while June is still possibly on the table for a potential hike while local economy remains on track in respect of achieving full employment, and there could be two hikes still for 2016, but less than the four that had been priced in at the start of the year, after the December’s hawkish FOMC outcome.
FOMC: very interesting developments – ING
“Overall it suggests that the Fed remains cautiously upbeat on the prospects for the economy and expects to continue on the tightening path, but not until it is more confident that rate hikes are needed. The data flow will determine the path and in this regard our house view remains that there will be just one hike this year. Most probably in 3Q16,” explained James Knightley, analyst at ING Bank. Meanwhile, here are recaps for the pound earlier in the day:
UK not looking pretty – ING
UK: Unemployment rate held steady at 5.1% – TDS
UK: Mixed jobs report offers little clarity on BoE outlook – ING
GBP/USD levels
GBP/USD has been below the 20 dma at 1.4151 today and has traded between 1.4051 and has so far printed a high of 1.4234 so far on this FOMC outcome. The key target to the upside here is the 50 dma at 1.4293 ona break of the 200 sma at 1.4232.
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