USD review

The trade-weighted dollar fell to new eight-week lows after U.S. growth proved far weaker than expected in the first quarter, which paved the way for the Fed to issue a dovish statement this afternoon. 

The U.S. economy barely grew in Q1, rising a mere 0.2% annually, well under forecasts of 1.0%. Still, the economy got off to a better start than it did last year when first quarter growth contracted 2.2%. Today's poor growth shouldn't be a reason to panic though since the economy is expected to soon regain its groove and grow around 3% over the balance of the year. 

Faster growth would give the Fed confidence to begin raising interest rates. After the Fed announcement today, the next colossal event on the U.S. calendar will be the monthly employment report on May 8 with payrolls forecast to rebound with a 223,000 increase in April from March's sub-par 126,000.