U.S. Dollar Advances Ahead Of Fed's Rate Decision While Middle East Tensions Continue

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Dollar value edged higher on Tuesday as investors are braced for the interest rate announcement by the U.S. Federal Reserve tomorrow while Middle East concerns persist with a breakthrough in U.S.-Iran peace efforts remaining elusive.

Today, the U.S. Dollar Index DXY, which measures the Greenback against a basket of other major currencies, was last seen trading at 102.38, up by 0.43 (or 0.42%).

In the U.S., data from the Automatic Data Processing revealed that private employers, marking a second consecutive slowdown in hiring, the private employers added an average of 16,750 jobs per week for the four weeks ending October 10, down from an average weekly gain of 17,500 in the previous four-week period.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, on a month-on-month basis, new orders for US-manufactured durable goods increased 1.80% in September, exceeding market expectations of a 1.5% rise.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index for October showed a rise by 7.50 to 91.70 from September's revised 84.20.

While against the Euro, the USD was trading at 1.113, up by 0.43%, against the GBP, the USD was trading at 1.331, up by 0.27%.

Against the USD, the Japanese Yen was trading at 157.959, down by 0.29%, the Swiss Franc was trading at 0.829, down by 0.22%; and the Canadian Dollar was trading at 1.405, down by 0.30%.

Against one unit of Australian Dollar, the USD was trading at 0.702, down by 0.13%.

The U.S.-Iran war, which began late February, is heading to its ninth month, leaving the Strait of Hormuz closed for international oil and energy exports from the Arabian gulf to the rest of the world.

After New York Times and CNN separately reported that the U.S. could strike Iran anytime after the November mid-term elections, concerns of an expansive war in the gulf increased among traders.

U.S. President Donald Trump as well as the leaders from Iran have been engaged in a heated verbal rhetoric recently. Both sides have indicated that they are ready for both negotiations as well as exchange of military attacks.

On Sunday, a delegation from Qatar visited Iran to conduct high-level talks.

Yesterday, focusing on regional security, top security officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan convened for a four-nation summit hosted by Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

In a weekly briefing, the Director of the Foreign Ministry's Media and Communication Department of Qatar, Ibrahim bin Sultan Al Hashmi, confirmed hearing positive statements from the Iranian side but emphasized that Iran needs to show a goodwill.

With both nations sticking to their demands, regional intermediaries are working hard for a U.S.-Iran compromise and halt any further confrontation. However, so far there has been no breakthrough development.

The two-day October meeting of the Fed, which kicked off today, concludes tomorrow.

Last month, the Fed raised the rates for the first time by 25 basis points to push it to the 3.75% to 4.00% range.

Analysts are predicting that a December hike is certain but anticipate that the Fed would leave the interest rates unchanged tomorrow.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, currently investors are betting on a 7.20% chance of a 25-basis-point interest rate hike at the meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve tomorrow while the odds on the rates being held at the current level stand at 92.80%.