US Dollar Index: Definition, Formula, and Historical Data

what is dollar index & how it calculated

Investing.com– The Japanese yen rose to a one-month high on Thursday amid growing conviction that the Bank of Japan was close to raising interest rates, while the dollar curbed… Here we can see that USD is the base currency in four of the six currency pairs included, with these given a positive value for the purposes of the calculation. The Euro and Pound are the base currency for the two others, with these given a negative value. “A combination of higher inflation, the Fed’s aggressive tightening campaign and a global search for yield have all contributed to the strong dollar,” Lynch says. Some U.S. companies are blaming the strong U.S. dollar for lackluster earnings, while economists say it’s helping the Federal Reserve’s ongoing fight against high inflation. ICE provides live feeds for Dow Futures that appear on Bloomberg.com and CNN Money.

Simply put, if the USDX goes up, that means the U.S. dollar is gaining strength or value when compared to the other currencies. The USDX uses a fixed weighting scheme based on exchange rates in 1973 that heavily weights the euro. As a result, expect to see big moves in the fund in response to euro movements. Euros and pounds are the only two currencies where the U.S. dollar is the base currency because they’re quoted in terms of the dollar. The others are quoted in terms of how many units a U.S. dollar will buy. Investing.com– Most Asian currencies moved little on Wednesday, while the dollar steadied from recent losses as markets hunkered down in anticipation of more key cues on U.S….

Not surprisingly, analysts have tamped down S&P 500 revenue growth estimates for 2023. According to Yardeni Research, the consensus estimate for the fourth quarter is +9%. In the past year, the USDX has climbed 17.3% from around 94 to above 110. John Lynch, chief investment officer for Comerica Wealth Management, says the rapid strengthening of the dollar in 2022 has a number of causes that pose big challenges for investors and central banks around the world. As a result, its calculation doesn’t include emerging market currencies, like the Mexican Peso (MXN) or commodity currencies. It also doesn’t include China’s renminbi (CNY), even though China is now the largest U.S. trading partner by a wide margin.

what is dollar index & how it calculated

The more goods the U.S. exports, the more international demand there is for U.S. dollars to purchase those goods. The Federal Reserve established the dollar index in 1973 to track the value of the U.S. dollar. Two years earlier, President Richard Nixon had abandoned the gold standard, which allowed the value https://www.forex-world.net/ of the dollar to float freely in foreign exchange (forex) markets. The contents of the basket of currencies have only been changed once since the index started when the euro replaced many European currencies previously in the index in 1999, such as Germany’s predecessor currency, the Deutschemark.

The U.S. dollar index is a measurement of the dollar’s value relative to six foreign currencies as measured by their exchange rates. Over half the index’s value is represented by https://www.day-trading.info/ the dollar’s value measured against the euro. The other five currencies include the Japanese yen, the British pound, the Canadian dollar, the Swedish krona, and the Swiss franc.

Dollar markets are open, which is from Sunday evening New York City local time (early Monday morning Asia time) for 24 hours a day to late Friday afternoon New York City local time. For instance, the Invesco DB U.S. Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP) is an ETF that tracks the changes in value of the US dollar via USDX future contracts. The Wisdom Tree Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Bullish Fund (USDU) is an actively-managed ETF that goes long the U.S. dollar against a basket of developed and emerging market currencies. The value of each currency is multiplied by its weight, which is a positive number when the U.S. dollar is the base currency.

The U.S. Dollar Index

These financial products currently trade on the New York Board of Trade. Investors can use the index to hedge general currency moves or speculate. The index is also available indirectly as part of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds. An index value of 120 suggests that the U.S. dollar has appreciated 20% versus the basket of currencies over the time period in question.

what is dollar index & how it calculated

Before the Euro, the index also included five other European currencies. The US Dollar Index was started by the Federal Reserve in 1973 and has been managed by ICE Futures US since 1985. It compares the value of the US Dollar against six currencies used by major US trade partners – the Euro (EUR), Japanese Yen (JPY), Pound Sterling (GBP), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Swedish Krona (SEK) and Swiss Franc (CHF). The higher interest rates rise, the more demand there is for U.S. dollars from foreign investors, and that applies further upward pressure on the USDX. The Fed’s top priority in 2022 has been bringing down inflation from multi-decade highs, and its best weapon has been raising interest rates.

US Dollar Index Futures – Mar 24 (DXH

Leveraged trading in foreign currency or off-exchange products on margin carries significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. We advise you to carefully consider whether trading is appropriate for you based on your personal circumstances. It is not a solicitation or a recommendation to trade derivatives contracts or securities and should not be construed or interpreted as financial advice. Any examples given are provided for illustrative purposes only and no representation is being made that any person will, or is likely to, achieve profits or losses similar to those examples. DailyFX Limited is not responsible for any trading decisions taken by persons not intended to view this material. Dollar Index includes the dollar’s relative value compared to a basket of foreign currencies.

  1. An overvaluation of the USD led to concerns over the exchange rates and their link to the way in which gold was priced.
  2. As a result, the US government took action to make the currency more competitive with five countries agreeing to manipulate the Dollar in the forex markets as part of the ‘Plaza Accord’.
  3. DailyFX Limited is not responsible for any trading decisions taken by persons not intended to view this material.
  4. At the same time, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created economic uncertainty around the world, particularly in the European energy market.
  5. The U.S. dollar index is a measurement of the dollar’s value relative to six foreign currencies as measured by their exchange rates.

The Fed has already raised the fed funds rate to a range between 3% and 3.25%. In fact, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has issued three consecutive large rate hikes of 75 basis points. “The weightings of the currencies used to calculate the index were based on the United States’ biggest trading partners in the 1970s,” Rogovy says. The dollar index tracks the relative value of the U.S. dollar against a basket of important world currencies. If the index is rising, it means that the dollar is strengthening against the basket – and vice-versa.

Dollar Index Futures Discussions

The U.S. dollar index (USDX) is a measure of the value of the U.S. dollar relative to a basket of foreign currencies. Federal Reserve in 1973 after the dissolution of the Bretton Woods Agreement. It is now maintained by ICE Data Indices, a subsidiary of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). The USDX is based on a basket of six currencies with different weightings (see above). The index calculation is simply the weighted average of the U.S. dollar exchange rates against these currencies, normalized by an indexing factor (which is ~50.1435).

The EUR/USD faces a crucial period with the ECB rate decision today, setting the stage for a directional move.The US dollar weakening suggests a potential short-term peak,… The below chart shows https://www.forexbox.info/ some of the major events that affected the USDX price since 2005. Traders should make sure they fully understand how these derivative contracts work and the risks involved before they buy.

How to Trade the USDX

Tech stocks have the largest overall exposure to international markets of any S&P 500 market sector, with overseas revenue representing 59% of total sales, according to Goldman. Semiconductor company Qualcomm (QCOM) generates nearly all—96%—of its revenue internationally, while Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) generate more than half of their revenue overseas. At the same time, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created economic uncertainty around the world, particularly in the European energy market. Because the U.S. dollar is the world’s reserve currency and is generally considered a safe haven during periods of economic instability, investors have also been piling into the dollar for safety and security. The U.S. Dollar Index is a market index benchmark used to measure the value of the U.S. dollar relative to other widely-traded international currencies. In the coming years, it is likely currencies will be replaced as the index strives to represent major U.S. trading partners.