The dollar index rose to highs on the signals of the US Federal Reserve

On Friday, the US dollar shows strengthening to a one-month high in pairs with major competitor currencies. The dollar index is currently 0.17% higher than Thursday's closing level (107.65); the maximum value of the USDX index was reached on July 18 at 107.72. 

The US currency is supported by statements by the heads of the US Federal Reserve on the need for further interest rate increases. Next week, the central bank's symposium will be held in Jackson Hole, and it is expected that representatives of the regulator will give new signals about the dynamics of monetary policy.

Earlier, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, James Bullard, said that he was leaning towards a third consecutive increase in the key rate by 75 basis points at the Fed meeting in September. His colleague from San Francisco, Mary Daly, also believes that an increase of 50 or 75 points would be quite reasonable. Other representatives of the Federal Reserve are also confident that it is too early to ease monetary policy, since inflation is still at record levels.

Additional support for the dollar was provided by yesterday's data on the labor market in the United States. The number of initial applications for unemployment benefits decreased by 2 thousand from the revised figure of the previous week – to 250 thousand. Unemployment in May remained at the April level of 3.6%, and the number of people employed in non-agricultural sectors of the economy increased by 390 thousand people.

The USD/JPY pair has risen to a maximum since July 28 (136.69) and is preparing for the strongest weekly growth since June 10. EUR/USD is still sideways near the level of 1.0086, and the GBP/USD pair has fallen to a minimum since July 21, 1.1895.