As widely expected, the US Federal Reserve increased interest rates for the second time in 2018 by 25 basis points to Lower Bound Level of 1.75% and and Upper Bound Level of 2.00%. The US central bank also upgraded the amount of planned interest rate increases to four, which means that two more 25 basis point increases are on the table in the second-half of the year. The hike came on the back on a rise of inflation as well as a drop in the official unemployment rate.

Last Friday forex traders received the non-farm payrolls reports or NFP report for November and the US Dollar launched a strong rally after the report. The NFP report showed that 321,000 jobs were added in November. This was far above expectations where the consensus called for the addition of 230,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8%.