The Dollar Recuperates Against Major Currencies in Light of Unchanged Interest Rates.

Lebanese Forex Market

The Lebanese Pound steadied within the range of $/LP 1,514 – 1,514.5 against the dollar with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25.

The peg continues to be supported by the Central Bank’s solid foreign assets, which reached $43.52 billion (B) in September 2018.

The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose from 68.72% in December 2017 to 69.14% by September 2018.

Over the past week, the Euro weakened against the dollar-pegged LP, as it went from €/LBP 1,724.13 last week to €/LBP 1,711.73 this week.

As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it rose by a weekly 0.62% to stand at 118.77 points.

International Forex Market

The euro depreciated this week, falling by 0.72% against the dollar to close the week at 1.1355. In fact, the US dollar strengthened after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged 2%-2.25% on Thursday but signaled that further interest-rate hikes will take place by the end of the year. However, it is worth mentioning that during the week the US dollar weakened after the results of the U.S. midterm election, in which Democrats took control of the House of Representatives.

Commodities

Gold prices fell over the week from $1,232.48 per ounce last week to $1,211.416/ounce this week.

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