The US Dollar rose versus a basket of major currencies on Thursday, as the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady .

The US Dollar rose versus a basket of major currencies on Thursday, as the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady but reaffirmed its monetary tightening stance, setting the stage for a rate hike in December 2018.

In the economic space, the Fed has raised its key policy rate three times this year, and the market expects another rate hike in December on the back of a robust U.S. economy, rising inflation, and solid jobs growth.

The U.S Dollar index gained 0.5 percent versus a basket of six major currencies on Thursday to end the session at 96.50.

Over in Europe, the European Commission forecasted on Thursday that the Italian economy would grow more slowly in the next two years than Rome thinks, making government budget deficits much higher than assumed by Italy.

The standoff between the EU and Rome over Italy’s budget deficit and concerns over Europe’s slowing economic growth have dragged the Euro which has fallen 4.1 percent versus the dollar over the last six months.

The EURUSD fell by 0.56 percent to close the session at 1.13626.

Over in the United Kingdom, The GBPUSD fell by 0.5 percent versus US dollar to trade at 1.30614 at the close.

In terms of Safe-havens, BOJ is expected to keep its monetary policy due to low growth and inflation. The USDJPY rose by 0.47 percent to end the session at 114.06.

Precious metal Gold lost 0.2 percent against the Greenback on Thursday to close the session at 1223.65 XAUUSD per ounce.

In terms of commodity-currencies, the Greenback added 0.3 percent versus the Loonie Dollar to settle at 1.3153 USDCAD.

Meanwhile, in Asia, the AUDUSD fell by 0.3 percent to trade at 0.7254 and the NZDUSD lost 0.53 percent to trade at 0.6751 at the close.

In Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin were trading lower versus the Greenback on Thursday to settle at 6393.71 BTCUSD, 210.13 ETHUSD, and 51.18 LTCUSD.