The Fed decided on a 0.25 percentage point increase in interest rates yesterday.

Whilst the increase will not dramatically affect the general public in the USA, the importance is the message that the Fed believes that the U.S. economy is strong and is operating near full capacity.

Excellent unemployment data is a major driver for the most recent hike which is the third hike in six months.

The Fed hike caused The Hong Kong Monetary Authority to also increase interest rates to stabilize the region’s currency rate against the US dollar which led to a selloff of real estate developers’ shares and lower oil prices also hit energy-related shares.

The Fed also re-confirmed plans to reduce its portfolio of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities before the end of the year.

With the rest of the world’s economies lagging behind, the series of events add strength to the US dollar with any moves seen on EUR/USD and GBP/USD earlier in the day quickly return to recent trading levels.

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