Dollar down ahead of FOMC meeting

The greenback came under renewed selling pressure on Wednesday and the EURUSD pair was up 0.3% during the Frankfurt session, changing hands at 1.1750. The USDJPY pair fell below 105, but precious metals were flat today (so far), with silver spotted near 24.40 USD and gold at around 1.960 USD.

Traders will focus on the FOMC meeting today, which concludes later in the day. While nobody expects any fireworks from the Fed or any major market-moving announcement, the FOMC meeting will likely involve a debate over the toolkit with a discussion of how to pivot from “stabilization” to “accommodation” policies according to BofA strategists. While there likely is an agreement that the next steps should accomplish the goal of “enhancing forward guidance,” they do not think Fed officials have settled on the strategy.

The economic calendar will also bring pending home sales, which are expected to slow in June to 15% (year-over-year), down from 44.3% scored in May. 

From other news, the weekly 600 USD checks for US families are ending this week, and the US politicians still haven’t agreed on a new stimulus plan. From the looks of it, the checks will be halved to 300 USD a week, or there could be no checks at all. Because many US states are closing down again, people will need every penny they can get. 

Equities dropped sharply in the last hour of trading yesterday, with futures trading flat in the morning today. Investors are also following the earnings results of many big companies, which are coming out this week.