US Dollar Index Churns Near 97.00 On Thursday

Dollar, Money, Us-Dollar, Arrangement, Funds, Currency

Image Source: Pixabay

The Federal Reserve (Fed) held rates at 3.50% to 3.75% at its January 28 meeting, pausing after three consecutive quarter-point cuts in 2025. Two Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members dissented in favor of a cut, but Chair Powell pointed to an improved growth outlook and signs of labor market stabilization as reasons to wait. Wednesday's Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) report reinforced that stance, with January payrolls rising by 130K, the largest gain in over a year, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.3%. The stronger-than-expected data pushed Treasury yields higher and prompted markets to delay the next expected rate cut from June to July, with less than a 5% probability assigned to a March move. Interest rate swaps now show roughly 49 basis points of easing priced through December, down from 59 basis points before the jobs report.

The delayed January Consumer Price Index (CPI), rescheduled to Friday, February 13 following a brief government shutdown, is the next key catalyst. Economists expect headline CPI to ease to 2.5% year-over-year from December's 2.7%, and any surprise in either direction could reshape the near-term rate path. Meanwhile, the US Dollar is also contending with renewed Japanese Yen strength driven by verbal intervention from Japanese authorities and optimism around Prime Minister Takaichi's expansionary fiscal agenda.

1H chart shows range-bound price action below the 200 EMA

On the 1-hour chart, the Dollar Index is trading at 96.92, pinned just below the 200-period Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at 97.04, which is acting as dynamic resistance and capping intraday rallies. The session high at 97.27 marked a rejection from that zone early on Wednesday before price sold off sharply toward the session low at 96.49, forming a wide-range reversal candle. Thursday's price action has been choppy and contained between 96.80 and 96.95, with no clear directional follow-through. The 50 EMA is flat and converging toward price from above, suggesting compressed momentum. Immediate support sits at 96.80, the base of Thursday's consolidation, with a break lower exposing the 96.49 session low. Below that, the 96.43 area aligns with a broader overlap support and the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level noted on higher timeframes. To the upside, a sustained close above 97.04 would be needed to challenge the 97.27 high. The Stochastic Oscillator (14, 5, 5) is tilting into oversold conditions, though no bullish crossover has formed yet. bullish cross in oversold territory would signal a potential short-term bounce toward the 200 EMA. Price needs to reclaim and hold above 97.04 to shift the intraday bias back to bullish; otherwise, the structure favors further consolidation or a retest of the 96.49 low ahead of Friday's CPI release.