The current Chairlady of the Federal Reserve will deliver her final speech tonight after the latest interest rate decision in the United States today. There isn’t expected to be any changes to the current monetary policy however Janet Yellen may provide some indication to the thinking of the Federal Reserve. Donald Trump’s pick Jerome Powell will take charge from next month and is expected to continue with Yellen’s previous path.

There isn’t expected to be a change in the US interest rate until the meeting in March when the next hike is expected. There is thought to be three hikes coming this year however this will be permitting on the strength of US economic news over the next few months.

Will the US Dollar Weaken Further this year?

At the end of last week the US Dollar fell to year lows against several currencies as US Treasurer Steven Mnuchin talked rather freely about his comfort with the US Dollar weakening in order to strengthen US exports. This caused the currency to dramatically weaken especially against the Euro when it moved to multi-year lows. There has been a small correction since the movements with the rates returning to more range bound levels, however it does feel like another spike is not too far away.

Over the next few weeks the strength of the US Dollar could be impacted by the appetite for global risk. Brexit talks will be a key factor as investors may choose to move there money away from Europe and the UK. Furthermore, US stocks could have a big influence after there were two days of drops, however today the markets looked to rise a little. There has been some real optimism surrounding the US’ economic position in the last few weeks, however if problems start to appear then there could be more US Dollar weakness around the corner.