U.S. Dollar Softens After Powell's Remarks, Weak U.S. Manufacturing PMI

NEW YORK, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Dec, 2023) The U.S. Dollar lost in late trading on Friday, on dovish comments from Fed officials and lower-than-expected manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for November.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, fell 0.22 percent at 103.2734 in late trading.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported Friday that the manufacturing PMI remained steady at 46.7 in the previous month, which fell below forecast consensus of 47.5 and marked the 13th consecutive month where the PMI remained under 50, indicating a contraction in manufacturing.

This duration of consecutive months below 50 represented the lengthiest stretch since the period spanning from August 2000 to January 2002.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday pushed back on market expectations for aggressive interest rate cuts ahead, calling it too early to declare victory over inflation. "It would be premature to conclude with confidence that we have achieved a sufficiently restrictive stance, or to speculate on when policy might ease. We are prepared to tighten policy further if it becomes appropriate to do so."

However, markets moved higher following Powell's remarks, wit