Forex
Dollar edges down, ether’s 2-month high fuels crypto rally
By Stefano Rebaudo
(Reuters) -The dollar struggled for direction on Tuesday as investors stuck to their views for the expected timing of Federal Reserve monetary easing this year.
Ether was set for its largest two-day gain in nearly two years and bitcoin approached a record high on speculation about the outcome of applications for U.S. spot exchange-traded funds that would track the world’s second-biggest cryptocurrency.
The euro rose 0.12% to $1.0869.
Investors are awaiting Thursday’s data from the European Central Bank (ECB) negotiated wage tracker and the euro zone Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) which could provide further clues about the monetary cycle in the euro area.
Meanwhile, with little on the U.S. economic data calendar this week to guide the direction of the dollar, investors’ focus is turning to a slew of Federal Reserve speakers.
Several officials on Monday called for continued policy caution, even after data last week showed an easing in consumer price pressures in April.
Money markets are now pricing in 42 basis points (bps) of Fed rate cuts in 2024 — implying one 25 bps reduction and a 68% chance of a second move by December — from fully pricing in two cuts before recent hawkish comments from central bank officials.
They are betting on 63 bps of ECB rate cuts in 2024 from around 73 bps in mid-May.
Some analysts highlighted that Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic made dollar-positive remarks when he cautioned that the Fed’s benchmark rate would likely end up at a higher steady rate than in the past decade.
“We expect the dollar to weaken after the first rate cut (by the Fed), which markets now price in September, but we also see the risk of a delay in the monetary easing with the Fed making the first move in December,” said Athanasios Vamvakidis, global head of forex strategy at BofA.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar dropped 0.08% at 104.52.
“We see risks towards far greater divergence favouring the Fed,” argued George Saravelos, global head of forex research at Deutsche Bank, after noting remarkable symmetry in monetary policy that is still priced in by markets.
“Combined with the status of high-yielding currency, this provides a powerful underpinning to USD strength,” he added.
On the data front, the focus will now be on the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index report – the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation – due on May 31.
In the cryptoverse, ether jumped 6.2% to $3.715.60 after hitting $3,730.70, its highest level since March 16. It surged nearly 14% in the previous session – its largest daily percentage gain since November 2022.
broke above the $70,000 level and was last trading 2% higher at $71,128. It hit its all-time high at $73,803.25 in March.
The jump in cryptocurrencies also has “to do with that core (U.S.) inflation data last week that’s boosted risk sentiment and obviously brought rate cuts back into play,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.
Against the yen, the dollar dropped 0.06% to 156.20, not far from its lowest in over 30 years at around 160.
Fears of intervention from Japanese authorities deterred traders from pushing the yen to new lows. However, the still-stark interest rate differentials between the U.S. and Japan maintained the appeal of the yen as a funding currency.
“Forex interventions can buy some time and temporarily avoid an excessive depreciation of the yen, but if the Fed starts cutting later than the markets currently expect, it can become challenging for Japanese authorities to keep the yen below certain levels,” BofA’s Vamvakidis argued.
The Canadian dollar was flat at $1.3627 ahead of inflation data later in the session.
“We have called for a Bank of Canada (BoC) rate cut in June for the past couple of months, and are expecting that to make the increasingly less attractive compared to other commodity currencies,” said Francesco Pesole strategist at ING.
The BoC would be willing to cut interest rates three times ahead of the Fed first move, according to a Reuters poll.
The New Zealand dollar fell 0.03% to $0.6103, before the Reserve Bank of New Zealand policy meeting which is expected to hold its key interest rate at 5.50% on Wednesday.
Forex
Dollar bounces after sharp loss; euro retreats on Lagarde comment
Investing.com – The US dollar edged higher Monday, rebounding after the sharp losses at the end of last week on signs of cooling inflationary pressures, while the euro slipped following dovish comments from ECB head Christine Lagarde.
At 05:00 ET (10:00 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.4% higher to 107.750, after falling sharply from a two-year high on Friday.
Dollar bounces after sharp retreat
The dollar bounced Monday after falling sharply on Friday as the Federal Reserve’s preferred showed moderate monthly rises in prices, with a measure of underlying inflation posting its smallest gain in six months.
That eased some concerns about how much the may cut in 2025, which had risen following the hawkish US rate outlook after the last Fed policy meeting of the year.
That said, traders are pricing in 38 basis points of rate cuts next year, shy of the two 25 bp rate cuts the Fed projected last week, with the market pushing the first easing of 2025 out to June, with a cut in March priced at around 53%.
Trading volumes are likely to thin out as the year-end approaches, with this trading week shortened by the festive period.
Eurozone “very close” to ECB inflation goal
In Europe, fell 0.1% to 1.0414, near a two-year low it touched in November, down 5.5% this year, after European Central Bank President said the eurozone was getting “very close” to reaching the central bank’s medium-term inflation goal.
“We’re getting very close to that stage when we can declare that we have sustainably brought inflation to our medium-term 2%,” Lagarde said in an interview published by the Financial Times on Monday.
Earlier in December, Lagarde had said the central bank would cut interest rates further if inflation continued to ease towards its 2% target, as curbing growth was no longer necessary.
The lowered its key rate last week for the fourth time this year, and is likely to cut interest rates further in 2025 if inflation worries fade.
traded largely flat at 1.2571, after data showed that Britain’s economy failed to grow in the third quarter, adding to the signs of an economic slowdown.
The Office for National Statistics lowered its estimate for the change in output to 0.0% in the July-to-September period from a previous estimate of 0.1% growth.
The ONS also cut its estimate for growth in the second quarter to 0.4% from a previous 0.5%.
policymakers voted 6-3 to keep interest rates on hold last week, a bigger split than expected, amid worries over a slowing economy.
Yuan hits one-year high
In Asia, rose 0.2% to 156.72, after rising as far as 158 last week following dovish signals from the .
The BOJ signaled that it was not considering interest rate hikes in the near-term despite a recent pick-up in inflation, and could raise rates by as late as March 2025.
edged 0.2% higher to 7.3080, hitting a one-year high as traders continued to fret over China’s economic outlook. While Beijing is expected to ramp up fiscal spending in the coming year to support the economy, looser monetary conditions are expected to undermine the yuan.
Forex
Asia FX muted, dollar slips from 2-yr high on soft inflation data
Investing.com– Most Asian currencies moved little on Monday, while the dollar steadied from a tumble from over two-year highs after soft U.S. inflation data spurred some hopes that interest rates will still fall in 2025.
Asian currencies were nursing steep losses against the dollar from last week, although they trimmed some declines on Friday after the soft inflation data. The outlook for regional markets also remains clouded by uncertainty over U.S. interest rates and policy under incoming President Donald Trump.
Dollar slips from 2-yr high as PCE data misses expectations
The and both steadied on Monday after clocking sharp losses on Friday.
The greenback slid from an over two-year peak after data- the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge- read softer-than-expected on Friday.
Still, the reading remained above the Fed’s 2% annual target, keeping uncertainty over interest rates in play.
The Fed had cut interest rates by 25 basis points last week, but flagged a slower pace of interest rate cuts in the coming year, citing concerns over sticky inflation and resilience in the labor market.
The Fed is expected to cut rates twice in 2025, although the path of rates still remains uncertain.
Markets took some relief from the government avoiding a shutdown after lawmakers approved an eleventh-hour spending bill.
Asia FX pressured by rate uncertainty
Despite clocking some gains on Friday, most Asian currencies were still trading lower for December, as the outlook for interest rates remained uncertain.
The Japanese yen’s pair rose 0.1% to around 156.59 yen, after rising as far as 158 yen last week following dovish signals from the Bank of Japan.
The BOJ signaled that it was not considering interest rate hikes in the near-term despite a recent pick-up in inflation, and could raise rates by as late as March 2025.
The Chinese yuan’s pair rose 0.1%, hitting a one-year high as traders continued to fret over China’s economic outlook. While Beijing is expected to ramp up fiscal spending in the coming year to support the economy, looser monetary conditions are expected to undermine the yuan.
The Singapore dollar’s pair was flat ahead of inflation data due later in the day, while the South Korea’s won’s pair rose 0.3%.
The Australian dollar’s pair rose slightly after sinking to a two-year low last week.
The Indian rupee’s pair steadied after hitting a record high of over 85 rupees last week.
Forex
Dollar to weaken less than expected next year: UBS
Investing.com — The dollar recently notched fresh year-to-date highs against its rivals and is likely to remain strong after the Federal Reserve leaned more hawkish at its recent December meeting, analysts from UBS said in a recent note.
“While we still expect the dollar to fall, we now see less weakness in 2025 given these factors and adjust our forecasts slightly,” analysts from UBS said in a recent note.
The less bearish view on the USD comes in the wake of the greenback making fresh year-to-date highs in key exchange rates and the expectations for fewer U.S. rate cuts.
“The USD has been driven lately by prospects of fewer Fed rate cuts and tariff risks,” the analysts said.
The euro has been particularly affected by dollar strength, but is expected to trade around $1.05 against the greenback in the first half of 2025, the analysts forecast.
But a significant drop toward parity for the can’t be ruled out, “due to real tariff threats or further divergence in the macro backdrop between the US and Europe,” the analysts added.
Still, any move toward parity should be short-lived, the analysts said, amid expectations for the economic backdrop in Europe to improve in the second half of the year, narrowing the divergence between Europe and U.S. yields.
“The trajectory back into the middle of the trading range or higher, 1.08 to 1.10, comes with the view that two-year yield differentials will still narrow to some degree and better macro data out of Europe provide some underlying support for EURUSD in 2H25,” the analysts said.
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