Forex
Dollar backs off post-election highs ahead of Fed decision
By Amanda Cooper
LONDON (Reuters) -The dollar held near four-month highs on Thursday, having scored its biggest one-day rally in two years following Donald Trump’s win in the U.S. presidential election, and as investors prepped for the Federal Reserve’s upcoming rate decision.
Sterling rallied after the Bank of England cut interest rates but said it expected UK inflation and growth to pick up more quickly than it had previously anticipated.
Front and centre, however, was the dollar, which rose by as much as 2% at one point against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, as investors piled into U.S. assets that they expect would benefit from Trump’s proposed policies on tariffs and taxes.
Trump’s win is unlikely to make any immediate difference to the Fed, which is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points later in the day. So investors will start to look to who Trump’s key appointees might be, as well as whether or not his Republican party wins both chambers of Congress in a “Red sweep”, which could dictate how easily he may enact some of his proposals.
“If there is, then we will probably, in the market collectively, conclude he will get more of his fiscal agenda through. And that could be dollar-supportive,” Rabobank currency strategist Jane Foley said.
“There is going to be a lot of back and forth to try and work out exactly what is the inflation impact of this going to be, and therefore, how is the Fed going to react? But, generally speaking, I think all of that is certainly dollar-positive through 2025,” she said.
More immediately, traders will want the Fed to indicate what to expect in December and beyond, particularly after last week’s October jobs report, which was well below expectations, due in large part to disruption from recent hurricanes and labour strikes.
Trump’s victory has also fuelled speculation the Fed might reduce rates at a slower and shallower pace, as his policies on restricting illegal immigration and enacting new tariffs could boost inflation.
Markets now see about a 67% chance the Fed will also cut rates next month, down from 77% on Tuesday, according to the CME Group’s (NASDAQ:) Fed Watch Tool.
The , which measures the U.S. currency against six others, was down 0.3% at 104.84 after surging to its highest since July 3 on Wednesday, when it logged its biggest single-day gain since September 2022, up 1.5%.
EURO SHRUGS OFF GERMAN GOVERNMENT COLLAPSE
Sterling neared session highs after the BoE cut rates as forecast but suggested future rate cuts may only be gradual, given the expected rise in growth and inflation stemming from finance minister Rachel Reeves’ budget last week.
The pound was last up 0.4% on the day at $1.29365.
The euro rose 0.3% to $1.0764, having tumbled as low as $1.06828 for the first time since July 27 on Wednesday.
The single European currency shrugged off political crisis in Germany, where the already awkward coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed late on Wednesday.
Sweden’s Riksbank cut rates by half a point, as expected, leaving the crown up 0.2% against the euro at 11.618 , while Norges Bank left Norwegian rates unchanged, pushing the crown up 1% against the euro .
The yen hit a three-month low against the dollar of 154.715. Japan’s top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura flagged officials’ readiness to act, marking the government’s strongest warning to speculators in recent months.
The Japanese currency was last up 0.45% at 153.92.
The yuan rose 0.5% after China’s exports blew past forecasts, having earlier touched its lowest level in nearly three months.
traded at 7.1677 yuan per dollar.
fell 1.32% to $74,663, having hit a record high on Wednesday of $76,499.99. rallied 4.5% to $2,811, around its highest since early August.
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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