The Fed's November meeting: waiting for hints about the December hike

After the announcement of the first results of the elections to the US Congress, the dollar was under considerable pressure, as the lower and upper houses of the legislature were divided between Democrats and Republicans. The dollar index slipped to 95.55 points, reflecting the weakening of the currency in all dollar pairs. The possible imbalance of the American political system has frightened traders - especially against the background of loud statements of Democrats concerning new investigations concerning the president, as its results could even lead to impeachment.

In other words, on the one hand, he admitted the defeat of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, but on the other hand, hinted that now the Democrats have legislative levers that should be used not for their political purposes ("digging" for the Republican President), but "for the benefit of the American people." The willingness of Trump to dialogue pleased the traders, after which the dollar regained its position - in particular, the EUR/USD pair moved away from daily highs (1,1500) and ended the trading day at 1.1425.

In particular, we are talking about the weak dynamics of consumer spending, as well as the decline in the US housing market: in September, the pace of housing construction in the US significantly decreased, and the corresponding figures fell to three-year lows in the southern states. Activity in the country's manufacturing sector also decreased: the number of new orders fell to 1-a-year lows. Thus, in October, the ISM index fell to 57.7 points, while in September this indicator came out at the level of 59.8. Strong Nonfarm, on the one hand, speak about the strengthening of the labor market, but, on the other hand, there is its own "fly in the ointment". An analysis of the Fed's recently published Beige Book suggests that there is a shortage of labor (especially skilled labor) in many regions of the country. Although this nuance is secondary, it can still be taken into account by Fed members.

Thus, the results of the November meeting of the Federal Reserve should: a) confirm the intention of the members of the regulator to raise the interest rate in December; b) outline the future prospects of monetary policy. And if the first point is indicated more or less clearly in the accompanying statement, then the outlines of the long-term prospects will have to be "deciphered" by the traders themselves on the basis of the general tone of the text.

Analysis are provided by InstaForex