The dollar picked up over the past week, and this continued to be in reaction to a Fed that is being a little more hawkish than predicted, suggests Lysu Paez Cortez, research analyst at Natixis.

Key Quotes

“W. Dudley, one of the Fed members, came out again this week, emphasizing that monetary policy had to continue to return to normal. The dollar also indirectly benefited from lower oil prices to the extent that this weighed slightly on the commodity currencies.”

“The market will continue to follow statements by Fed members and the macro data likely to show the improvement in growth that the Fed is discerning for the second half year.”