Fed Keeps Rates Unchanged

From: MoneyTrading.com.au
U.S. stocks were up slightly after the FOMC's statement, but later reversed to near unchanged. The dollar rallied, hitting an intraday high against the euro and yen but later pared gains. Long-dated U.S. Treasurys erased earlier gains on the news, while the two-year note got a boost.

Australian Dollar continues to slide following worse than expected GDP growth; RBA hints at rate-hike pause

From: MoneyTrading.com.au
Australia’s economy expanded at half the forecast pace in the third quarter and Reserve Bank hinted that it may pause in the pace of interest rate hikes.

Australian gross domestic product grew 0.2% in the three months ended Sept. 30, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That’s below the 0.4% pace forecast by economists. A drop in net exports partly offset a 0.7% increase in household spending and a 6.2% gain in public investment, the figures showed.

Battellino said monetary policy is “back in the normal range” as business and home loan rates have increased at a faster clip than the RBA has hiked the overnight cash rate target. The comments prompted traders to cut bets on a fourth increase in the benchmark rate any time soon, after the central bank’s three increases in as many months. The Australian Dollar was traded just under 90 US cents.

Stronger USD amid Fed Meeting & Stronger Data

The US Dollar rose on back of strong U.S. economic data in recent weeks, which in turn has raised optimism that the Fed Reserve could tighten monetary policy sooner than anticipated. The optimism was further strengthened on Tuesday after the release of stronger-than-expected industrial production data for November.


The dollar jumped Tuesday to a 10-week high against the Euro amid signs that the U.S. economy may be picking up steam ahead of countries in the Euro zone.

Expectations the Federal Reserve could acknowledge a rosier outlook for the U.S. economy at the conclusion of its two-day rate-setting meeting Wednesday also underpinned the greenback.

Dubai Gets $10B From Abu Dhabi; To Pay Nakheel Bond

Dubai said Monday that it has received $10 billion in financing from Abu Dhabi, which will pay part of the debt held by conglomerate Dubai World and its property unit Nakheel.

Today Dubai faces $3.5 billion debt hurdle

Dubai's stock market did soar for a second consecutive session on Sunday as traders reacted to a surge in Nakheel's bond price last week on mounting speculation it will repay.

Analysts have speculated Nakheel could repay its bond at 70 cents to a dollar and issue new debt for the remainder; a Win-Win situation.

Technical default by Nakheel today could lead to another sell off.