05.05.202207:17:00UTC+00U.S. Dollar Weakens On Fed's Less Hawkish Tone

The U.S. dollar was lower against its most major opponents in the Asian session on Thursday, as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in line with expectations and eased concerns about a more aggressive move at the upcoming meetings.

The Fed raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 0.75 to 1.0 percent and signaled that similar moves would be appropriate for the next couple of meetings.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell rejected the possibility of a 75 basis point rate hike at the coming meetings, in a sign that the central bank is not pursuing an aggressive tightening cycle to combat inflation.

"There is a broad sense within the committee that additional 50 bps should be at the table for the next couple of meetings," Powell said.

The central bank also outlined a plan to reduce its balance sheet, initially by $47.5 billion a month starting in June, but stepping up the pace to $95 billion a month after three months.

The greenback fell to a 6-day low of 0.9709 against the franc and an 8-day low of 1.0642 against the euro, down from its prior highs of 0.9748 and 1.0604, respectively. The greenback is likely to find support around 0.95 against the franc and 1.08 against the euro.

The greenback remained lower against the yen, at 128.75. On the downside, 127.00 is likely seen as the next support level.

The greenback slipped to near a 2-week low of 0.7266 against the aussie, 8-day low of 0.6568 against the kiwi and a 9-day low of 1.2714 against the loonie, reversing from its previous highs of 0.7227, 0.6529 and 1.2749, respectively. The greenback is seen finding support around 0.74 against the aussie, 0.68 against the kiwi and 1.24 against the loonie.

In contrast, the greenback rose to 1.2534 against the pound, after dropping to 1.2634 at 5:15 pm ET. The next possible resistance for the greenback is seen around the 1.22 level.

Looking ahead, U.K. services and German construction PMIs for April are due out in the European session.

The Bank of England's monetary policy announcement is due at 7:00 am ET. The BoE is widely expected to raise its key rate by 25 basis points to 1 percent from 0.75 percent.

U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended April 30 will be released in the New York session.