US dollar fell on Thursday to its lowest level in two weeks against a basket of global currencies, continuing its sharp losses for the second day in a row as dollar's sell-off activity rallied after the Federal Reserve meeting, which increased the likelihood of a future US interest rates cut this year to meet global and local risks.

The dollar index fell more than 0.6% to 96.58 points, the lowest since June 7, from the opening level of 97.18 points, with the highest level at 97.20 points.

The index yesterday lost 0.4%, the second loss in the last three days, to drop from a two-week high of 97.77 points, reflecting the decline of the US currency against most major and minor currencies.

US Dollar's sell-off activity are currently accelerating after the Federal Reserve meeting, which has increased the likelihood of a one or two US interest rate cuts this year.

The US central bank kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, at 2.50% for the fourth straight meeting, in line with most of the financial market expectations.

The Fed said interest rate cuts were on the rise, boosting the possibility of monetary policy easing at the next month's meeting, to help the bank combat growing global and domestic risks.

The global threat is the US trade wars with several countries, especially China, and domestic risks which are based on the rising fears about weak inflation levels in the country.

The Federal Reserve dropped the word "patient" when changing interest rates from the monetary policy statement, and stressed that it will take what is necessary to maintain economic growth in the country, and showed that about a half of its members are ready to reduce borrowing costs in the next few months.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said some of central bank's officials believe the issue of easing monetary policy has been more appropriate in recent times.

Powell confirmed his intention to spend his full four-year term in response to reports that US President Donald Trump was trying to oust him from the presidency of the Federal Reserve.

The Federal Reserve has lowered its forecast for the pace of inflation in the United States to 1.5% this year from 1.8% on average in March, and also forecasted that inflation would not reach the target of 2% next year.

After the end of this important meeting, the main question in the financial markets is no longer whether the Fed will cut interest rates next July or not, but whether the cut will be 25 or 50 basis points?

Palladium prices rose during today's trading as demand for the metal rose from car companies in conjunction with the broad decline of US dollar against most major currencies.

Almost 85% of the demand for palladium comes from the automotive industry, as its price rose by nearly 90% in the seven months ending in March, reaching $1,600 per ounce after supply dwindled and demand rebounded.

Since it hit that barrier, palladium prices have fallen amid an increase in inventories, but most likely will continue to rise as a result of demand from car companies.

In a related context, the dollar index (against a number of major currencies) fell by 0.4% to 96.7 points at 14:04 GMT, reaching a high of 97.2 points and a low of 96.5 points.

In terms of trading, by 13:55 GMT, palladium rose by 0.6% to $1502 per ounce, and recorded a high of $1525.1, and the lowest price at $1493.2.

US stocks rose today after the Federal Reserve announced yesterday its decision on interest rates while signing a future cut, as Standard & Poor's reached its highest level ever at 2,956 points.

The Federal Reserve unveiled yesterday its decision to set the interest rate at 2.25% to 2.50%, but hinted that it could be reduced this year, which reduces borrowing costs for companies.

Central Bank President Jerome Powell said there are pressures that slow the growth of the US economy as well as the impacts of the US-China trade dispute.

The markets look forward later for the G-20 summit, which will see an important meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

Initial jobless claims in the US fell by 6,000 to 216,000 last week, while the current account deficit fell by 9.4% in the first quarter, government data showed.

In terms of trade, Dow Jones rose by 0.8% (equivalent to 203 points) to 26,707 points, as Nasdaq also rose 0.9% (70 points) to 8,056 points, and Standard & Poor's increased by 0.8% (22 points) to 2,949 points.

Crude oil prices continued to rise as the US market opened on Thursday after hitting a three-week high earlier in the European market, extending its gains for a third day in a row, as Brent rose to a 10-day high on the back of a slower supply in the United States and the continued geopolitical tensions in the Gulf region.

By 12:55 GMT, US crude rose to $55.45 per barrel from the opening of $54.11, recording the high since May 31 at $55.68 and a low of $54.09.

Brent crude rose to $63.40 per barrel from the opening of $62.44, recording the high since June 10 at $63.88 and a low of $62.37.

The US crude added 0.2% in its second daily gain, after the weekly report of the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), while Brent lost more than 0.1%.

The EIA announced yesterday that the country's trade inventories fell by about 3.1 million barrels in the week ending June 14, the first decline in the last three weeks, exceeding experts' expectations of a drop by 1.5 million barrels.

According to the data, total US inventories fell to 482.7 million barrels, leaving the total of 485.8 million barrels, the highest level since July 2017, in a sign that the demand in the world's top oil consumer market is beginning to improve.

For the US oil production, last week it fell by about 100 thousand barrels per day, the second weekly decline in a row, bringing the total to 12.2 million barrels per day, moving away from the record level of 12.4 million barrels per day.

A US official said on Thursday that a US drone crashed into the international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz from an Iranian missile.

Earlier, some reports from Iran stated that the Revolutionary Guard dropped a US drone spy plane in the southern province of "Hormuz Jan".

Geopolitical tensions in the Gulf region escalated after last week's attacks on two oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, and Washington blamed Tehran for being behind the attacks, while Tehran had firmly denied its involvement.

On the other hand, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to meet on July 1st, followed by a meeting with non-OPEC allies on July 2nd, after weeks of debates over the date of the meeting.

OPEC and its allies are set to discuss whether to extend the global supply cut by 1.2 million bpd for another six months to the end of the year.