WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Dollar value ended nearly flat as the ongoing U.S.-Iran war with no positive signal on both sides returning to negotiations, thereby leaving the Strait of Hormuz shut pushed crude oil prices higher, strengthening the forecasts of a high-interest rate regime in the U.S.
Today, the U.S. Dollar Index DXY, which measures the Greenback against a basket of other major currencies, was last seen trading at 98.86, up by 0.03 (or 0.03%).
While against the Euro, the USD was trading at 1.162, unchanged, against the GBP, the USD was trading at 1.354, unchanged.
Against the USD, the Japanese Yen was trading at 154.006, up by 0.22%, the Swiss Franc was trading at 0.810, down by 0.02%; and the Canadian Dollar was trading at 1.378, up by 0.22%.
Against one unit of Australian Dollar, the USD was trading at 0.722, up by 0.01%.
Today, in the U.S., the data released by the National Federation of Independent Business revealed that the Small Business Optimism index fell to 98.70 in August from 99.80 in July, below forecasts of 99.30.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Survey of Consumer Expectations, U.S. consumers' median one-year inflation expectations were unchanged at 3.6% in August. However, expected price growth for gas rose 1.70% to 4.60% while food expectations increased 0.30% to 5.30%.
Last Friday, the nonfarm payrolls report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that the economy added 162,000 jobs in August, much higher than market expectations of 56,000.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.10% in August, in line with market expectations.
While the number of unemployed increased by 115,000 to 7,030,000, total employment surged by 569,000 to 162,750,000.
The surge in jobs data boosted the expectations on a possible monetary policy tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
With the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting only a week away, investors are awaiting the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index which are to be released before the end of this week to speculate whether the Fed will hike or hold the interest rates.
On Saturday, in retaliation to an attack on two U.S. Navy warships by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, U.S. forces hit three Iranian crude oil tankers, (namely, M/T Downy, M/T Stark, and M/T Kylo) permanently disabling them.
Kpler's data revealed that the number of commodity vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz was seven on Monday, compared to eight on Sunday.
Today, the Iran-backed Houthi militants of Yemen, launched dozens of ballistic missiles and drones towards Saudi Arabia, targeting Aramco's facilities in Abha, Najran, and Jazan as well as the King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait.
Crude oil prices surged following the Middle East tensions, triggering inflation concerns.
According to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, currently investors are betting on a 60.40% chance of a 25-basis-point rate-hike at the upcoming meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve on September 15-16 while the odds on rates being held at the current level stand at 39.60%.
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