Following the announcement from the Fed, the dollar rose to the day’s highs with the euro falling to $1.2227. Some investors had expected Fed Chairman Bernanke to announce new stimulus measures after the central bank acknowledged that U.S. economic growth has “decelerated” and said that the Fed was “prepared to take further action.” Others, however, were skeptical that the Fed would act.
European markets finished the day broadly higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 adding 0.5% and Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average lost 0.6% to snap a four-day win streak while the Shanghai Composite bucked the trend by rising 0.9%.