Finance
US dollar sags as Fed outlook undermines; Swiss franc gets SNB lift
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 11, 2025
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 11, 2025
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Alun John
NEW YORK/LONDON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar stumbled on Thursday, hitting multi-month lows against the euro, Swiss franc, and sterling and extending losses from the previous session, after the Federal Reserve delivered a less hawkish outlook than some had expected.
The Swiss franc drew support from the Swiss National Bank's decision to hold interest rates steady. The dollar fell 0.6% versus the franc to 0.7947, after earlier touching its lowest since mid-November.
The greenback briefly found support earlier in the session as Asian shares and U.S. futures slid after disappointing earnings from U.S. cloud computing giant Oracle reignited fears that surging AI infrastructure costs could outpace profitability.
But that support faded in the U.S. session.
The euro was last up 0.4% at $1.1740 after earlier hitting its highest since October 3.
Sterling was last flat on the day at $1.3387 after earlier touching its highest level in roughly two months.
The dollar also weakened against the yen, shedding 0.3% to 155.61 yen.
The Fed lowered rates on Wednesday by 25 basis points, but, as the move was widely expected, the reaction reflected much more the broader messaging, projections and the voting split.
"The market had more hawkish-leaning expectations going into the Fed meeting and I don't think (Fed Chair Jerome) Powell was especially dovish, but he kind of left the door open for further cuts," said Vassili Serebriakov, FX strategist at UBS in New York.
That was in stark contrast with the message given by the Australian central bank chief and an influential European Central Bank policymaker suggesting their next moves would be rate hikes.
"We've seen quite aggressive, hawkish repricing of expectations outside of the U.S. like Australia, Canada, even Europe -- even ECB (European Central Bank) expectations were more hawkish seemingly validated by some ECB comments as well," Serebriakov said.
"So it's the Fed being a little more dovish versus what was expected, but there's also the contrast between the Fed and other central banks in the G10 where expectations are turning more hawkish."
The dollar was also pressured earlier by data showing that initial jobless claims increased by the most in nearly 4-1/2 years last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits jumped 44,000, the biggest increase since mid-July of 2021, to a seasonally adjusted 236,000 for the week ended December 6, the Labor Department said.
LIQUIDITY INJECTION
Also weighing on the dollar, U.S. Treasuries attracted bids and pushed yields lower after the Fed announced it would start buying short-dated government bonds from December 12 to help manage market liquidity levels, with an initial round totalling some $40 billion in Treasury bills.
That's on top of the $15 billion that the Fed will reinvest in T-bills starting this month from its maturing mortgage-backed securities (MBS).
The combined $55 billion in liquidity injection from the Fed is a positive for market sentiment and risky assets but negative for safe-haven assets such as the dollar.
Away from the dollar, the Swiss franc strengthened after the Swiss National Bank left its policy rate unchanged at 0% and said a recent agreement to reduce U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods had improved the economic outlook, even as inflation has somewhat undershot expectations.
The euro fell 0.2% against the Swiss franc to 0.9331.
While the strength of the franc is causing problems for the SNB by weighing heavily on inflation, the SNB's chairman Martin Schlegel reiterated that the hurdle for negative rates is high.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar was hurt by data showing employment in November fell by the most in nine months. The Aussie dollar dipped 0.2% to US$0.6663.
Bitcoin, often viewed as a barometer of risk appetite, was hurt by the tech selloff and briefly slid back below the $90,000 level. It was last hovering slightly above that point, down 1.5% at $91,008. Ether was down more than 4% at $3,200.
Currency
bid
prices at
11
December
08:31
p.m. GMT
Descripti RIC Last U.S. Pct YTD Pct High Low
on Close Change Bid Bid
Previous
Session
Dollar 98.313 98.581 -0.26% -9.38% 98.763 98.1
index 33
Euro/Doll 1.1743 1.1696 0.4% 13.43% $1.1763 $1.1
ar 683
Dollar/Ye 155.53 156.28 -0.45% -1.13% 156.05 154.
n 955
Euro/Yen 182.66 182.45 0.12% 11.91% 182.75 181.
89
Dollar/Sw 0.7944 0.8 -0.68% -12.45% 0.7999 0.79
iss 25
Sterling/ 1.3391 1.3383 0.08% 7.09% $1.3438 $1.3
Dollar 355
Dollar/Ca 1.3773 1.3793 -0.14% -4.21% 1.3823 1.37
nadian 57
Aussie/Do 0.6663 0.6676 -0.18% 7.7% $0.6683 $0.6
llar 627
Euro/Swis 0.9328 0.9354 -0.28% -0.69% 0.9358 0.93
s 21
Euro/Ster 0.8766 0.8733 0.38% 5.98% 0.877 0.87
ling 35
NZ 0.5809 0.5816 -0.15% 3.78% $0.5831 0.57
Dollar/Do 88
llar
Dollar/No 10.0681 10.0744 -0.06% -11.42% 10.1265 10.0
rway 52
Euro/Norw 11.8211 11.7908 0.26% 0.44% 11.855 11.7
ay 92
Dollar/Sw 9.246 9.2635 -0.19% -16.08% 9.2877 9.22
eden 78
Euro/Swed 10.8583 10.8335 0.23% -5.31% 10.8752 10.8
en 015
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York and Alun John in London; Additional reporting by Rae Wee in Singapore, Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Gareth Jones, Joe Bavier and Diane Craft)
The Federal Reserve, often referred to as the Fed, is the central bank of the United States responsible for implementing monetary policy, regulating banks, maintaining financial stability, and providing financial services.
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is the central bank of Switzerland, responsible for the country's monetary policy, including setting interest rates and ensuring price stability.
Currency exchange is the process of converting one currency into another, typically for trade, travel, or investment purposes, often influenced by exchange rates.
Interest rates are the cost of borrowing money or the return on savings, expressed as a percentage of the principal amount, and are influenced by central bank policies.
Monetary policy refers to the actions taken by a central bank to manage the money supply and interest rates to achieve macroeconomic objectives such as controlling inflation and stabilizing currency.
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