The week progressed from limited fresh USD news and pre-FOMC positioning to a 9–3 Federal Reserve hold with three votes for a rate increase, followed by firm Employment Cost Index data. The completed-Friday USD Impact Score was −0.53, a soft-dollar cross-asset reading, showing that the broader weekly configuration remained softer even as late-week policy and labor-cost developments carried firmer-dollar sensitivity.
Each layer answers a different question. Use the links to move from concepts to current evidence, measurement, and synthesis.
Define the dollar, the three macro dials, and the transmission logic before interpreting a market move.
Read the verified facts, current catalysts, and market context without forcing them into a forecast.
Add the systematic weekly cross-asset regime measurement and audit its published methodology.
Synthesize the week from the published Daily editions plus the archived Weekly Score input.
These learning lenses help interpret the evidence chain; they are not a substitute for the Score's published eight-variable formula or source methodology.
Early-week attention centered on the July FOMC meeting. The Committee then held the federal funds target range at 3.50%–3.75% in a 9–3 vote, with three members preferring a 25 basis point increase.
Daily editions:2026-07-27 · 2026-07-28 · 2026-07-30
The Employment Cost Index showed civilian compensation costs rising 0.9% in the second quarter and 3.4% over the year, keeping wages, services inflation, front-end rates, and the dollar in focus.
Daily editions:2026-07-30 · 2026-07-31
Oil inventory data, Middle East risk, Treasury supply, administered rates, and reserve conditions remained relevant to inflation expectations, funding conditions, and cross-asset risk sentiment.
Daily editions:2026-07-27 · 2026-07-28 · 2026-07-29 · 2026-07-30
The reporting week began with limited fresh USD-moving information and concentrated event risk around the FOMC meeting. By Thursday, the policy decision had supplied a clearer signal: the target range was unchanged, but three members preferred a rate increase. Friday’s labor-cost data then reinforced the importance of incoming wage and services-inflation information.
The late-week news flow carried firmer-dollar sensitivity through policy expectations and U.S. rates, while the completed-Friday score remained in a soft-dollar regime. These readings are not mutually exclusive. The news brief tracks verified developments and conditional transmission channels; the score measures the completed week’s configuration across eight standardized market inputs.
The score fell by 0.07 during the week and by 0.12 over four weeks. S&P 500 and gold readings made the two largest softer-dollar contributions, at approximately −0.307 and −0.305. U.S. 10-year and 2-year Treasury yields provided the two largest firmer-dollar offsets, at approximately +0.209 and +0.155. The combined configuration therefore stayed below the −0.30 boundary separating the soft-dollar and neutral ranges.
The next confirmed tests are the August 4 JOLTS release and the August 6 preliminary Productivity and Costs report. Labor demand, compensation, productivity, yields, and the breadth of the score’s eight component contributions will help show whether the late-week policy sensitivity broadens or remains concentrated.
This brief adds no new external event claims. It summarizes the five published Daily USD Impact editions for July 27–31 and the archived, deterministic USD Impact Score snapshot for the completed week ending July 31. Each daily edition retains its underlying primary-source and reporting-source ledger.
Source: Daily USD Impact — July 31, 2026
Source: Daily USD Impact — July 31, 2026
