In today’s trading the dollar strengthened against other currencies in the morning, the market is waiting for Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell to speak at the annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole.

The ICE computed index showing the dollar’s movement against six currencies (euro, Swiss franc, yen, Canadian dollar, pound sterling, and the Swedish krona) is up 0.12%, while the broader WSJ Dollar Index is up 0.19%.

At $0.9962 for the euro, up from $0.9975 at market close the day before, the euro is losing about 0.1%. The pound was $1.1804 at the same time, versus $1.1832 at the close of the previous session, dropping about 0.3%. In pair with the Japanese currency, the U.S. rate was 136.87 yen against 136.49 yen the day before, increasing by 0.25%.

What does it mean when the dollar strengthens?

Powell, as expected, will confirm in his speech on Friday the intention of the Federal Reserve to achieve the slowdown in inflation by tightening monetary policy. The day before, his colleagues at the Fed’s leadership expressed similar thoughts.

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Governor Patrick Harker said the central bank should gradually raise its key interest rate to above 3.4% and then hold it at that level for some time.

Kansas City Fed Chair Esther George said the size of the September rate hike is still hard to predict because of a lack of data. The August U.S. inflation report will not be released until September 13, a week before the Fed meeting.

Also, the market is evaluating the data published the day before, according to which reducing the US GDP in the 2nd quarter was 0.6% in annualized terms. Preliminary estimates were worse and indicated a decline of 0.9%.

The Commerce Department is releasing its July Personal Income and Expenditures report today. That report also contains data on the Consumer Price Index (PCE index), which the Fed closely tracks when assessing inflation risks.

The index jumped 6.8% year over year in June, the fastest pace since 1982, and excluding food and fuel prices, the increase was 4.8%. Analysts polled by Trading Economics expect the latter index to slow to 4.7% in July.

Earlier we reported that the price of gas in Europe surpassed $3360/kcm, marking a new high since March.