The euro climbed against the dollar. This followed the release of last month’s Fed meeting minutes, confirming market expectations that the Fed is likely to hike rates by 50 basis points later this month.
The British pound rose against the dollar mainly due to the fact that the greenback continued to weaken against a basket of other currencies.
The USD/Yen pair fell over the week. Conflict in Ukraine and increased tensions in the Korean peninsula provided support for the safe haven Yen.
Gold prices increased slightly after the dollar continued its recent downtrend and the Fed published its meeting minutes.
US stocks pushed higher on positive sentiment in the markets amid hopes that the US will ease back its rate hikes. Stock traders are hoping this means that the US will return to growth by the last half of 2023.
Oil prices traded lower as China reported record numbers of Covid cases amid restrictions. This week news of unprecedented protests in a number of Chinese cities sent oil prices to their lowest levels in eleven months. OPEC will meet on Sunday to decide on production with most analyst predicting the cartel will further cut production.