The strengthening of the US dollar continued to sink major currency trades lower at the opening of the European session, still underpinned by the fact that the Federal Reserve (Fed) board announced a more aggressive interest rate hike in future messages.
Powell said that a half-point increase will be implemented at the meeting next month, with the increase in rates will be carried out in a row this year.
As of writing, the dollar index which measures the greenback's dollar strength surged to its highest level since March 2020 at 101.00 versus most of the major currencies.
This increase was also followed by the investment in the pound currency which shrank to a price level of 1.2900 after witnessing a significant dip in UK sales data showing the impact of price increases on user spending.
While the PMI for UK manufacturing has just been published, showing only modest growth in April, while service activity also dipped below expectations, falling to its lowest since November 2021.
In addition, euro trading was also impressed by the surge in the US dollar in the European session which saw the currency trade dismal at around 1.0800.
The manufacturing and services PMI readings in the European Zone were positive in April, but refining activity has been slightly downbeat in Germany, Europe's largest economy.
Meanwhile, the greenback's strength helped push the Aussie dollar to a one-month low while the New Zealand dollar also slipped to a two-month low.
