The U.S. dollar was seen trading weaker on Wednesday following the FOMC statement where the central bank hiked interest rates by 25 basis points as widely expected.
The FOMC also announced that it was looking to squeeze in an additional rate hike for the fourth time this year. While the markets were volatile, the greenback settled lower following a push to intraday highs.
The European Central Bank’s monetary policy meeting is scheduled to be held today. Focus turns to the ECB as policymakers’debate ending or tapering the QE program. As previously announced, the ECB is expected to end its 30 billion euro bond purchase program this September.
Besides the rate statement and the press conference, the ECB officials will also be releasing the economic forecasts as well.
On the economic front, the final inflation figures from France and Germany will be coming up today followed by retail sales data from the UK. In the U.S. trading session, retail sales report is forecast to show a slight improvement with headline retail sales expected to rise 0.4% while core retail sales is expected to rise 0.5% on the month.
