Forex news for US trading on Sept 17, 2015:

Fed -

  • September 2015 US FOMC meeting: Leaves rates unchanged
  • Full text of the September 17, 2015 Federal Reserve rate decision
  • What changed in the statement
  • The Fed dot plot shows lower rate expectations going forward
  • Yellen: Still no significant change in committee's view on economy
  • Yellen Q&A: Most participants continue to think rates will rise this year
  • Yellen Q&A: 2% inflation is our objective, not our ceiling
  • Implied chance of a Dec hike falls below 50%

News and markets -

  • US initial jobless claims w/e 12 Sept k +264vs +275k exp
  • Sept Philly Fed -6.0 vs +5.9 expected
  • US employment benchmark revision shaves 208,000 jobs
  • US Q2 current account balance USD-109.7bln vs -111.5bln exp
  • Gold up $11 to $1131
  • WTI crude down 15-cents to $46.98
  • US 10-year yields down 9 bps to 2.20%
  • S&P 500 down 5 points to 1990
  • EUR leads, USD lags

We've been talking about this Fed decision for six months and it finally arrived. There was widespread speculation Yellen would offer something more hawkish but it never came and the dollar fell.

The euro was the big winner in the shakeout as it ripped above 1.14 to the highest since August 26. There was a 50-pip retracement part way through the rally but it made fresh highs late in the day.

USD/JPY fell initially then it turned into a choppy slide down to 119.80. The lows came as Yellen ended her press conference and there has been a modest late bounce to 120.00. Selling continued as stocks lost traction after an early rally.

Cable climbed over the 61.8% retracement of the Aug-Sept swoon in a quick post-Fed move. It caught a second wave of buying to 1.5628 but gave back about 50 pips of that by day's end.

AUD/USD was a popular trade for those looking for a dovish Fed and it paid off initially in a move to 0.7280 from 0.7160 but whether it was profit taking or risk aversion or AUD/JPY sales, all the gains faded. Similar to stocks, it's not a move that makes sense and I think the upside is attractive here.

Similar story in USD/CAD as it fell to a one-month low after the Fed at 1.3074 but it came all the way back. We'll see how this one plays out in the week ahead. If a dovish Fed can't cure some of the worries in commodities and global economies, then we could be in a for a rough ride but it's way to early for that kind of talk.

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