NEW YORK—The U.S. monetary authorities did not intervene in the foreign exchange markets during the October—December quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said today in its quarterly report to the U.S. Congress.
In the fourth quarter of 2015, the U.S. dollar continued to appreciate, with the broad trade-weighted U.S. dollar index rising roughly 2.0 percent, bringing the increase for all of 2015 to more than 10 percent. The dollar was supported by a number of factors, including increased market expectations for the Federal Open Market Committee to raise the target range for the federal funds rate by the end of the year and further in 2016, continued declines in oil prices, and accommodative monetary policy actions by some foreign central banks. Notably, increased expectations for the European Central Bank to announce additional easing measures, which were realized in December, were a major factor in the U.S. dollar’s 2.9 percent appreciation against the euro during the period. The U.S. dollar also appreciated against the Chinese renminbi amid numerous policy actions by Chinese authorities. In contrast to the broad appreciation of the dollar against other currencies, the U.S. dollar was little changed against the yen.
The report was presented by Simon Potter, executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Federal Open Market Committee’s manager for the System Open Market Account, on behalf of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve System.
The full report is available on the New York Fed’s website.
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