The dollar has had little reaction to today's announcement from the Federal Reserve. The buck remains slightly higher against all of its major rivals this afternoon, after the central bank concluded its two-day policy meeting.
The Federal Reserve is still likely to raise interest rates in December thanks to a "solid" U.S. economy, according to the central bank's latest monetary policy announcement.
As expected, the Fed maintained its key interest rate at 1%-1.25%, a nod to "soft" inflation.
"Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in September indicates that the labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been rising at a solid rate despite hurricane-related disruptions," the Fed said.
The Fed noted that gasoline prices rose in the aftermath of the hurricanes, boosting overall inflation in September; however, inflation for items other than food and energy remained "soft."
After reporting a notable slowdown in U.S. private sector job growth in the previous month, payroll processor ADP released a report on Wednesday showing a bigger than expected increase in private sector employment in the month of October.
ADP said private sector employment climbed by 235,000 jobs in October after rising by a downwardly revised 110,000 jobs in September. Economists had expected an increase of about 200,000 jobs compared to the addition of 135,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
A report released by the Institute for Supply Management on Wednesday showed a slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of October.
The ISM said its purchasing managers index fell to 58.7 in October from 60.8 in September, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the manufacturing sector. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 59.5.
With a jump in spending on public construction more than offsetting a drop in spending on private construction, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing an unexpected increase in total U.S. construction spending in the month of September.
The Commerce Department said construction spending rose by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of $1.220 trillion in September from the revised August estimate of $1.216 trillion. Economists had expected construction spending to come in unchanged compared to the $1.218 trillion originally reported for the previous month.
The dollar has climbed to around $1.1625 against the Euro Wednesday afternoon, from an early low of $1.1657.
The buck has risen to around $1.3265 against the pound sterling this afternoon, from a low of $1.3320 this morning.
The British manufacturing sector started the final quarter of the year on a solid footing in October, driven by robust production and new orders.
The Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 56.3 in October from a revised 56.0 in September, survey data from IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply showed Wednesday. The PMI was forecast to remain unchanged at September's original reading of 55.9.
UK house prices increased at a faster pace in October, data from Nationwide Building Society showed Wednesday. House prices increased 2.5 percent year-on-year, following September's revised 2.3 percent rise.
The greenback reached a high of Y114.279 against the Japanese Yen Wednesday, but has since eased back to around Y114.050.
Japan's manufacturing activity continued to expand strongly in October, underpinned by solid expansions in output, new orders and employment, survey data from IHS Markit showed Wednesday. The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI dropped marginally to 52.8 in October from 52.9 in September.
