The Fed is playing a central role again this week in the global currency exchange as traders await the release of the minutes of the December FOMC minutes to gauge how the Fed really stands towards the $10-billion stimulus reduction it decided to implement.
The anticipation alone of the release and speculation as to the content of the minutes has sent the U.S. dollar climbing near a five-year five against the Japanese yen. Economists and traders expect that the stimulus reduction will continue a steady course over the next year with gradual decreases after each new FOMC meeting. According to San Fransisco Fed President John Williams, who is not currently a voting member of the committee, they bond-purchasing programme may well end this year.
A forecast by Bloomberg News survey, sees the Fed cutting the stimulus package by $10 billion dollars after each one of the next seven FOMC meetings, thus ending the programme by December 2014.