2018.09.2614:42:00UTC+00Dollar Rising After Fed Hikes Interest Rates

The dollar is gaining some ground against its major rivals Wednesday afternoon, following the release of the Fed decision. In a widely expected move, the Federal Reserve announced its decision to raise interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday.

The Fed decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 2 to 2.25 percent, citing realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation.

The accompany statement said data received since the Fed's August meeting indicates the labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been rising at a strong rate.

The central bank also reiterated that average job gains have been strong in recent months and noted annual inflation remains near 2 percent.

After reporting an unexpected decrease in new home sales in the U.S. in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing new home sales rebounded much more than expected in the month of August.

The Commerce Department said new home sales soared by 3.5 percent to an annual rate of 629,000 in August after slumping by 1.6 percent to a revised rate of 608,000 in July. Economists had expected new home sales to rise by 0.5 percent.

The dollar climbed to a high of $1.1725 against the Euro Wednesday, but has since eased back to around $1.1750.

France's consumer confidence weakened to the lowest level in more than two years in September, survey results from the statistical office Insee showed Wednesday. The consumer sentiment index fell to 94 in September from revised 96 in August. This was the lowest since April 2016. The score was forecast to remain unchanged at August's initially estimated value of 97.

The buck slid to a low of $1.3217 against the pound sterling Wednesday, but has since rebounded to around $1.3175.

UK mortgage approvals decreased in August, while credit card spending of consumers increased from last year, figures from UK Finance revealed Wednesday. The number of mortgages approved for house purchases in August decreased to 39,402 from 39,619 in July. In the same period last year, approvals totaled 41,141.

UK retailers reported a slower pace of growth in sales volumes in September and expect it to remain so again next month, the latest Distributive Trades Survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Wednesday.

The retail sales balance fell to 23 percent in September from 29 percent in August. Retailers forecast sales growth to slow slightly next month, with the balance easing to 19 percent.

The greenback dipped to an early low of Y112.751 against the Japanese Yen Wednesday, but has since bounced back to around Y113.035.