Shekel stronger ahead of US Fed meeting

Shekel Photo: Shutterstock
Shekel Photo: Shutterstock

The dollar is weaker on world forex markets amid expectations that the Fed will retreat from plans to keep raising the US interest rate in 2019, following harsh criticism from President Trump

The shekel is strengthening today against the dollar and against the euro. In afternoon inter-bank trading, the shekel-dollar exchange rate is down 0.50% against the dollar at NIS 3.759/$ and down 0.07% against the euro at 4.281/€.

Yesterday, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative rate up 0.186% at NIS 3.778/$ from Friday's rate and set the shekel-euro rate up 0.603% at 4.284/€.

Yesterday saw the shekel trading at levels not seen against the dollar since January 2017 and was at its weakest against the euro since August 2018. Today the Israeli currency has rebounded somewhat ahead of this evening's US Federal Reserve meeting. The dollar is weaker on world forex markets amid expectations that the Fed will retreat from plans to continue raising the US interest rate in 2019, following harsh criticism from President Donald Trump.

In Israel, on Friday, the Central Bureau Statistics announced that the Consumer Price Index fell 0.3% in November and that inflation over the past 12 months is running at 1.2%. Despite the higher than expected fall in the CPI, price rises in water, electricity and many food and household products are expected to see inflation remain between the Bank of Israel 1%-3% annual target range, thus enabling another rate hike in 2019. The Bank of Israel has already raised the interest rate for this month from a historic low of 0.1% to 0.25% - the first hike since June 2011.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 18, 2018

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018

Shekel Photo: Shutterstock
Shekel Photo: Shutterstock
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