Forex
Dollar falls slightly as Biden ends re-election bid, drops vs yen
By Stefano Rebaudo
(Reuters) – The dollar eased slightly against a basket of currencies on Monday while dropping versus the yen as investors focused on U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to end his re-election campaign and the next moves from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.
Biden announced he was exiting the race on Sunday, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him as the Democratic candidate in the November election.
Harris quickly received the backing of many within the party, but several high profile names stayed quiet, including former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Former President Trump, the Republican nominee, sits well ahead in betting markets.
The – a measure of its value relative to a basket of foreign currencies – fell 0.1% at 104.30.
“There is a growing consensus that the dollar will be stronger if Trump wins due to tax cuts and tariffs, but it’s more complicated than that as Trump doesn’t want a strong dollar,” said Athanasios Vamvakidis, head of global forex research at BofA.
“What happened in the last few weeks taught us we shouldn’t expect the dollar to react to election developments unless the candidates make specific reference to the U.S. currency,” he added. “I expect the market to continue trading on the back of the data and central banks.”
Some analysts argued it was too early to assess the impact of Biden’s move as markets await election polls in the next few days and weeks, but also that the dollar was bound to remain strong no matter who wins the presidential elections.
“For this (verbal jawboning to weaken the dollar) to be effective it has to be accompanied by financial market intervention that is very large, capital controls that would be exceptionally costly or the erosion of Fed independence,” said George Saravelos, global head of forex at Deutsche Bank.
“We conclude that tariffs and their associated stronger implications for the USD are significantly more likely to be the dominant market outcome compared to the alternative of a major shift in dollar policy,” he added.
Some analysts argued the Japanese currency could be at a turning point after falling since the beginning of 2024 as the Fed is close to cutting rates and the BoJ is widely expected to tighten its monetary policy soon.
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee will meet on July 30, a day before the Bank of Japan.
Money markets fully price in a 25 bps Fed rate cut by September.
Lee Hardman, senior currency analyst at MUFG, said the yen has been supported by “more compelling evidence of slowing U.S. inflation.”
The greenback dropped 0.6% versus the Japanese currency at 156.58.
“From now on, I expect the dollar to struggle to rise above 160 versus the yen, but I don’t see a reversal of the current trend,” BofA Vamvakidis argued.
The euro was up 0.05% at $1.088.
Analysts flagged that the ECB offered no concerted push back at last week’s policy meeting on the heavy pricing for a cut in September, which remains a strong base case.
The dollar strengthened 0.1% to 7.2943 yuan in offshore trading after the People’s Bank of China unexpectedly cut the seven-day reverse repo rate to 1.7% from 1.8%, saying the move would improve open market operations and support the real economy. That was followed minutes later by surprise reductions to the one- and five-year loan prime rates.
The Australian dollar sagged 0.30% to $0.6659, giving up earlier gains of about the same margin following news of Biden’s withdrawal.
Investing.com – The US dollar rose in thin holiday-impacted trade Tuesday, retaining recent strength as traders prepared for fewer Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025.
At 04:25 ET (09:25 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.1% higher to 107.905, near the recently hit two-year high.
Dollar remains in demand
The dollar has been in demand since the Federal Reserve outlined a hawkish outlook for its interest rates after its last policy meeting of the year last week, projecting just two 25 bp rate cuts in 2025.
In fact, markets are now pricing in just about 35 basis points of easing for 2025, which has in turn sent US Treasury yields surging, boosting the dollar.
The two-year Treasury yield last stood at 4.34%, while the benchmark 10-year yield steadied near a seven-month high at 4.59%.
“We think this hawkish re-tuning of the Fed’s communication will lay the foundation for sustained dollar strengthening into the new year,” said analysts at ING,in a note.
Trading volumes are likely to thin out as the year-end approaches, with this trading week shortened by the festive period.
Euro near to two-year low
In Europe, fell 0.1% to 1.0396, near a two-year low, with the set to cut interest rates more rapidly than its US rival as the eurozone struggles to record any growth.
The ECB lowered its key rate earlier this month for the fourth time this year, and President Christine Lagarde said earlier this week that the eurozone was getting “very close” to reaching the central bank’s medium-term inflation goal.
“If the incoming data continue to confirm our baseline, the direction of travel is clear and we expect to lower interest rates further,” Lagarde said in a speech in Vilnius.
Inflation in the eurozone was 2.3% last month and the ECB expects it to settle at its 2% target next year.
traded largely flat at 1.2531, with sterling showing signs of weakness after data showed that Britain’s economy failed to grow in the third quarter, and with Bank of England policymakers voting 6-3 to keep interest rates on hold last week, a more dovish split than expected.
Bank of Japan stance in focus
In Asia, fell 0.1% to 157.03, after rising as high as 158 yen in recent sessions, after the signaled that it will take its time to consider more interest rate hikes.
edged 0.1% higher to 7.3021, remaining close to a one-year high as the prospect of more fiscal spending and looser monetary conditions in the coming year weighed on the currency.
Beijing signaled that it will ramp up fiscal spending in 2025 to support slowing economic growth.
Investing.com– Most Asian currencies moved in a tight range on Tuesday, while the dollar extended overnight gains as traders positioned for a slower pace of interest rate cuts in the coming year.
Trading volumes were muted before the Christmas break, while most regional currencies were nursing steep losses against the greenback for the year.
Asian currencies weakened sharply last week after the Federal Reserve effectively halved its outlook for rate cuts in 2025, citing concerns over sticky U.S. inflation.
Dollar near 2-year high on hawkish rate outlook
The and both rose about 0.1% in Asian trade, extending overnight gains and coming back in sight of a two-year high hit last week.
While the greenback did see some weakness after data read lower than expected for November, this was largely offset by traders dialing back expectations for interest rate cuts in 2025.
The Fed signaled only two rate cuts in the coming year, less than prior forecasts of four.
Higher U.S. rates diminish the appeal of risk-driven Asian markets, limiting the amount of capital flowing into the region and pressuring regional markets.
Asia FX pressured by sticky US rate outlook
Most Asian currencies weakened in recent sessions on the prospect of slower rate cuts in the U.S., while uncertainty over local monetary policy and slowing economic growth also weighed.
The Japanese yen’s pair fell 0.1% on Tuesday after rising as high as 158 yen in recent sessions, after the Bank of Japan signaled that it will take its time to consider more interest rate hikes.
The Australian dollar’s pair fell 0.2% after the minutes of the Reserve Bank’s December meeting showed policymakers saw an eventual easing in monetary policy, citing some progress in bringing down inflation. But they still flagged potential upside risks for inflation.
The Chinese yuan’s pair rose 0.1% and remained close to a one-year high, as the prospect of more fiscal spending and looser monetary conditions in the coming year weighed on the currency.
Beijing signaled that it will ramp up fiscal spending in 2025 to support slowing economic growth.
The Singapore dollar’s pair rose 0.1%, while the Indian rupee’s pair rose 0.1% after hitting record highs above 85 rupees.
Investing.com — The dollar has surged past its post-2022 range, buoyed by U.S. economic exceptionalism, a widening interest rate gap, and elevated tariffs, setting the stage for further gains next year.
“Our base case is that the dollar will make some further headway next year as the US continues to outperform, the interest rate gap between the US and other G10 economies widens a little further, and the Trump administration brings in higher US tariffs,” Capital Economics said in a recent note.
The bullish outlook on the greenback comes in the wake of the dollar breaking above its post-2022 trading range, reflecting renewed confidence among investors driven by robust U.S. economic data and policy expectations.
A key risk to the upside call on the dollar is a potential economic rebound in the rest of the world, similar to what occurred in 2016, Capital Economics noted.
Following the 2016 U.S. election, economic activity in the rest of the world rebounded, while Trump’s tax cuts didn’t materialize until the end of 2017, and the Fed took a more dovish path than discounted, resulting in a 10% drop in the DXY on the year, which was its “worst calendar year performance in the past two decades,” it added.
While expectations for a recovery in Europe and Asia seem far off, a positive surprise for global growth “should be ruled out”, Capital Economics said.
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