Yesterday, as expected, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged, and Jerome Powell, its chairman, dismissed the growing speculation that the central bank’s next move would be to add 25 basis points to the key interest rate.

The Mexican peso appreciates against the US dollar on Thursday morning. The currency advances as the market digests the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy decision, which kept its rates unchanged yesterday.

The spot exchange rate is at the level of 16.9149 units. Compared to yesterday’s Reuters reference price of 16.9702 units, without official record due to the holiday, its movement reflects an improvement of 5.53 cents or 0.33 percent.

The price of the dollar moves in a narrow range with a high of 16.9945 pesos and a low of 16.9003 pesos. The Dollar Index (DXY), from the Intercontinental Exchange, which measures the dollar against six currencies, is up 0.02% at 105.78 units.

The Fed kept interest rates unchanged yesterday, as expected, and Jerome Powell, its chairman, dismissed the growing speculation that the central bank’s next move would be to add 25 basis points to the key interest rate. Market consensus agrees that Jerome Powell’s words were softer (dovish) than expected, leading to gains in most risky assets.

The market sentiment improvement comes despite the weekly number of government unemployment assistance claims returning to 208,000, a historically low figure that demonstrates economic strength.

While keeping an eye on monetary policy, investors await tomorrow’s US non-farm payrolls report, seeking clues for the central bank’s future decisions.