The dollar gained 0.23% to 0.7911 Swiss francs, while the dollar index added 0.35% to 98.938

The dollar firmed against major currencies on Wednesday after the U.S. central bank left interest rates unchanged, ​with investors also on edge as the U.S.-Israel war with Iran shows little sign of easing.

The central bank’s 8–4 vote marked its most ‌divided decision since 1992, underscoring the challenge incoming central bank Chair Kevin Warsh will face in pushing for rate cuts. Current Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends on May 15.

Speaking at a press conference, Powell said that despite dissent from four officials who opposed maintaining an easing bias, he does not see the bank tilting toward ​raising interest rates.

The main thing is that announcement revealed that there ​are three people thinking that we should be hiking interest rates or should not have an easing bias ⁠and that we should be worried about inflation, said Juan Perez, director of trading at Monex USA in Washington.

Kevin Warsh seems a lot ​like Powell and is likely not going to be a dove. He’s also not entering a Fed that is thinking of stimulus; they’re ​actually thinking hawkishly. And then more importantly, in the global perspective, central banking has a lack of consensus, which is actually helping the U.S. dollar, Perez said.

The dollar gained 0.23% to 0.7911 Swiss francs, while the dollar index added 0.35% to 98.938.

Oil prices jumped for ‌an ⁠eighth straight session — the longest run since May 2022, following Russia-Ukraine crisis — with the front-month June contract, which expires on Wednesday, rising 6% to settle at $118.03 a barrel.

Oil prices moved higher based on latest developments; and when oil prices move, yields tend to move higher and at the same time long-term inflation expectations haven’t moved, said Axel Merk, president and chief investment officer at Merk Investments in Palo Alto, ​California.

Taking it together, this is a ​tightening of financial conditions and ⁠a raising of real interest rates, which is supportive for the dollar – meaning all else being equal that weakens other currencies, he said.