This Wednesday, the American dollar is under pressure Faced with speculations about a Fed rate cut and tensions trade with China. While the South African is progressing.

The American dollar was on the defensive Wednesday morning, after statements by the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, who reinforced the bets on a fall in interest rates this month.

The greenback had lost ground against the yen and In the Swiss franc, safe havens, on Tuesday, while Washington and Beijing exchanged new rounds in an ongoing tariff dispute. The euro had also risen against the dollar after the French government proposed to suspend an emblematic pension reform.

The dollar index, which measures the American currency against these three currencies and three others, was stable at 99.055 around 00:11 GMT, after falling by 0.2% in the previous session.

The dollar held steady at 151.80 yen, after a fell by 0.3% on Tuesday, and was almost unchanged at 0.8013 Swiss francs, after having lost 0.3% the day before.

The Australian dollar rose slightly by 0.1% to $0.6491, after falling by 0.5% the day before, where it hit its lowest level since August 22 at $0.64405.

The New Zealand dollar fell by 0.1% to $0.5706, extending a 0.2% drop recorded on Tuesday, when it touched a 6-month low at $0.56839.

The South African rand strengthened at the beginning of Session on Wednesday, driven by the appetite of investors for more assets risky following the accommodative remarks of the Federal Reserve Chairman American, Jerome Powell, who left the door open for further declines interest rates in the United States.

At 07:45 GMT, the rand traded at 17.2775 to the dollar, an increase of about 0.6% by report at the close on Tuesday.