Currency Traders Back Strong USD

 | Jul 31, 2014 06:23AM ET

The US dollar gave back a few pips in the Asian session on Thursday as traders booked profits. The greenback is trading at 81.48. The Federal Reserve late yesterday reaffirmed it was in no rush to raise interest rates, even as it upgraded its assessment of the U.S. economy and expressed some comfort that inflation was moving up toward its target. After a two-day meeting, Fed policymakers took note of both faster economic growth and a decline in the unemployment rate, but expressed concern about remaining slack in the labor market. Data separately showed that the U.S. economy rebounded sharply in the second quarter as consumers stepped up spending and businesses restocked. Gross domestic product expanded at a 4 percent annual rate after shrinking at a revised 2.1 percent pace in the first quarter.

Significant dollar demand from state run banks for oil and defense related payments capped sharp upside in the currency.