Börse Express – Forex: US rate hike pushes euro to 20-year low

New York (dpa-AFX) – Another sharp rise in interest rates in the US put the euro under pressure on Wednesday evening. The common currency fell to $0.9813 in late U.S. currency trading, its lowest level since late 2002. The euro was last seen at $0.9867. The European Central Bank had earlier set the benchmark rate at $0.9906 (Tuesday: $0.9986). The dollar is thus worth 1.0095 (1.0014) euros. The dollar also rose against other major currencies such as the yen, the Swiss franc and the British pound.

The US Federal Reserve has once again raised its key interest rate sharply. Interest rates rose by 0.75 percent to a range of 3.0 to 3.25 percent, the central bank announced Wednesday after its interest rate meeting in Washington. The move was highly anticipated by analysts. The central bank already raised interest rates by 0.75 basis points in June and July. The central bank has raised interest rates five times this year. The background to the significant tightening is very high inflation. In August, inflation in the US was 8.3 percent. The central bank is targeting only 2 percent./bek/jha/