US Dollar keeps highs near 98.50, Fedspeak eyed

The greenback, gauged by the US Dollar Index, is trading on a firm note at the end of the week, hovering over 7-month tops near 98.50.

US Dollar boosted by sentiment, ECB

The demand for the buck has been gathering traction since the ECB meeting yesterday, particularly after President M.Draghi stressed the Governing Council has not discussed tapering its current bond purchase programme.

The index is now advancing for the fourth consecutive session and trading in the mid-98.00s, levels last seen in March.

Increasing speculations on a potential rate hike by the Federal Reserve at the December meeting have prompted the probability of such a scenario to climb to almost 70% according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, always based on Fed Funds futures prices.

There are no data releases scheduled today in the US docket, although speeches by

D.Tarullo (permanent voter, hawkish) and San Francisco Fed J.Williams (2018 voter, neutral) could keep traders entertained.

US Dollar relevant levels

The index is up 0.16% at 98.47 and a break above 98.59 (high Mar.3) would aim for 99.95 (high Jan.21) and then 100.60 (high Dec.3). On the other hand, the next support aligns at 97.47 (low Oct.12) followed by 96.83 (20-day sma) and finally 95.87 (200-day sma).