Dollar steady ahead of Fed decision, kiwi slumps after RBNZ holds

The US dollar maintained a two-week high on Wednesday, with market participants anticipating the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates steady, despite any potential move in December. Major currencies like the euro and British pound remained relatively unchanged, while the Japanese yen fluctuated slightly, closing 0.1% lower against the dollar.

The New Zealand dollar fell as much as 1.7% to $0.5585 following the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's decision to maintain interest rates at 2.75%, defying early predictions from economists. The Australian dollar rose marginally at $0.7035 after inflation data showed a 1.3% increase in Q3 compared to 0.6% in the previous quarter, with overall core inflation matching expectations at 1%, maintaining an annualized rate of 3.6%.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is set to discuss if four rate hikes in 2023 will be adequate to bring inflation under control at their upcoming meeting, according to Governor Michele Bullock. Meanwhile, traders in the US expect the Federal Reserve to hold steady, with a 91% probability per Fed funds futures indicating no policy rate change.

Analysts argue that the Fed's focus should be on altering the probability of a December hike rather than making a hike this month. The US dollar index surged 0.3% to 102.40, the highest since October 14, while the US 10-year Treasury bond yield held steady at 4.9967%. In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin remained flat at $80,736.07, while Ether increased slightly by 0.1% to $2,345.25.