Dollar Edged Lower; BTC shrank at 20,000 USD Ahead Fed Meeting

In early European trading time of Wednesday, the U.S. dollar edged lower at 0.4% ahead of the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting that has an expectation of more aggressive monetary tightening. Bitcoin also sink further at -1,819.80 (8.23%) making a value of 20,119.40 USD (8:55 AM UTC).

Recent data shows that at 3:05 AM ET (0705 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.4% lower at 104.880, having climbed to 105.65 on Tuesday, its strongest since late 2002.

The U.S. Fed signaled at its meeting last May that half-point increases were very likely at its following two meetings, but investors’ expectations are rising in the upcoming U.S. consumer inflation report that the Fed will be aggressive this week, and raise its benchmark rate by at least three-quarters of one point.

According to the CME's Fedwatch tool, market pricing indicates a 95% chance of a 75 basis point rate hike, up from only 3.9% a week ago.

Jeffrey Halley, an analyst at OANDA said, “My two cents worth is that the Fed will not go 100bps, as that would further erode their credibility on the forward guidance front, which is already ragged.”

“They may, however, decide to upgrade their forward guidance to an even more hawkish tilt. I suspect 75bps is already built into prices now, and if the guidance is more modest in scope, I am sure the buy-the-dippers will be out in force for the rest of the week,” he added.

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