At 6:00 p.m. (Lisbon time), the euro traded at 1.0873, when on Tuesday, at the same time, it followed at 1.0817 dollars.

However, the euro fell against the pound and the yen.

The European Central Bank (ECB) set the euro reference rate at 1.0832 dollars.

In today's session, the euro fluctuated between 1.0863 and 1.0814 dollars.

The year-on-year inflation rate in the United States decelerated, for the first time since January, to 3.4% in April, against 3.5% in March, the United States Department of Labor announced today.

The United States Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS) reported today that consumer prices rose in chain by 0.3% in April, against 0.4% in March.

Underlying inflation, the main data analyzed by the United States Federal Reserve (Fed), fell two tenths of a percentage point in year-on-year terms to 3.6% in April.

After eleven increases since March 2022, the Fed has maintained interest rates since July of last year in a range between 5.25% and 5.5%, the highest level since 2001.

On Tuesday, the President of the US Federal Reserve noted that inflation has been higher than expected, arguing that it is necessary to let restrictive policy take effect.

"The first quarter in the United States was marked by a lack of progress on inflation," noted the President of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell, quoted by Agence France Presse (AFP).

Despite emphasizing that the Fed did not expect the decline in inflation to be an easy task, Powell admitted that the "numbers were higher" than expected.

Thus, he stressed that it is necessary to be patient and "let the restrictive policy take effect".

The American central bank has kept rates at the highest level since the beginning of the century -- between 5.25% and 5.50% --, aiming to bring inflation to the 2% barrier.

Powell also noted that, despite this scenario, rates are not likely to increase, since they are already at "restrictive" levels.

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