According to
the minutes of June 18-19 monetary policy meeting released on Wednesday, many
Federal Reserve officials said they would be willing to cut interest rates if
risks and uncertainties continued to weigh on the economic outlook, adding more
pressure on the U.S. dollar.
Federal Reserve
officials were split about whether to lower interest rates during their two-day
meeting in the middle of June, with some members pushing for easier monetary
policy.
“Many judged
additional monetary policy accommodation would be warranted in the near term
should these recent developments prove to be sustained and continue to weigh on
the economic outlook,’’ the minutes said.
“Several”
policy makers said a near-term rate cut was warranted from a risk-management
perspective because it “could help cushion the effects of possible future
adverse shocks to the economy,” the minutes revealed.
Many officials
noted not only that risks to inflation were weighted to the downside,
expressing their concern about the ability of the rate to reach the 2 percent
goal.
In addition,
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told lawmakers in testimony Wednesday that the
economic outlook hasn't improved since June's meeting.
The US index
continued to decline after the Fed minutes, yet it decreased during the testimony
of the Fed’s Chairman due to the high expectation of rates cut confirmed by
Powell.
As of 14:30 ET,
the US dollar index decreased by 0.38 percent to be 97.13, affected by the
minutes of the Fed and the testimony of Powell.
The USD/JPY pair
slipped 0.36 percent to 108.45, while the euro soared to a high of 1.1264
versus the greenback.
On the other
hand, U.S. stocks were higher in the wake of Powell’s remarks, with the Dow Jones
Industrial Average moving up by 0.28 percent up 75 points, as of 14:30 ET.
Gold prices jumped high after the minutes to
break the one percent increase reaching $1,414.97 per ounce, augmenting 1.25
percent.