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Dollar tumbles after inflation data upends rate outlook

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Dollar tumbles after inflation data upends rate outlook
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A picture illustration shows U.S. 100-dollar bank notes taken in Tokyo August 2, 2011. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao/File Photo

By Amanda Cooper

LONDON (Reuters) -The dollar tumbled to its lowest since last April on Thursday, heading for its biggest weekly slide so far this year, as traders took a surprisingly cool read of U.S. inflation as a sign U.S. rates could peak as early as this month.

U.S. data on Wednesday showed inflation slowed a lot faster than expected last month. That gave rise to the biggest one-day dollar sell-off in five months and left the greenback at its lowest in over a year against the euro and sterling, and at its lowest in over eight years against the Swiss franc.

U.S. core inflation came in at 0.2% in June against market expectations for 0.3%, while headline annual CPI fell to 3%.

Interest rate futures showed markets have fully priced in another rate hike from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) later this month, but expectations of any further increases have evaporated.

Whether or not the dollar is on a one-way trip lower over the rest of the year remains to be seen, according to City Index markets strategist Fiona Cincotta.

“A lot depends on what we hear from the FOMC in a couple of weeks – that will very much decide the fate of the U.S. dollar and set the tone for the rest of the summer,” she said.

“If there is any hint of dovishness in the Fed, then the dollar bears are going to jump on that and it will be an excuse to continue grinding the dollar lower,” she said, adding she was not convinced the Fed would signal that July’s would be the final rate hike.

As traders priced in an end to U.S. rate rises, the narrowing gap between U.S. borrowing rates and those elsewhere drove other currencies, particularly the euro, sterling and the yen higher against the dollar.

The euro headed for a sixth daily gain – its longest stretch of rises against the dollar this year. It was last up 0.4% at $1.1173, having hit an earlier high of $1.1175.

IT’S EURO TIME

George Saravelos, Deutsche Bank (ETR:) global head of FX research, said in a note on Wednesday that, following the inflation data, the time had come to buy the euro.

“(Wednesday’s) U.S. inflation print is the last piece of evidence we have been waiting for to recommend going long again. We target $1.15 which is our year-end forecast, but as we have argued previously we see a $1.15-1.20 range by the end of the year as entirely possible,” he said.

The euro hasn’t touched $1.20 since mid-2021.

Sterling rose 0.6% to $1.3073, set for its sixth day of gains, having broken above $1.30 for the first time since April last year the previous day.

Data on Thursday showed Britain’s economy shrank by less than expected in May, reinforcing the idea the Bank of England can afford to raise interest rates further without derailing growth.

“Today’s figures were better than expected, but I don’t think they’re enough to get the champagne out yet,” City Index’s Cincotta said.

The yen, which has gained 4% in the last five days, held steady against the dollar at 138.565, thanks in part to another drop in U.S. Treasury yields, which the dollar/yen currency pair tends to track closely.

The Swiss franc traded at its strongest level against the dollar since the Swiss National Bank removed the peg on the domestic currency in early 2015, leaving the dollar down 0.4% on the day at 0.8634 per franc.

In Scandinavia, where inflation is looking sticky and central bankers are projecting further rate hikes, the Norwegian crown headed for its largest weekly gain versus the dollar this year, up nearly 5% at five-month highs, while the Swedish crown was set for a weekly gain of 4% and traded around two-month highs.

“We think the recent dollar underperformance reflects a qualitative shift in market comfort with being short dollars as the terminal Fed policy rate looks increasingly capped,” said currency analyst Steve Englander at Standard Chartered (OTC:).

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Dollar on track for weekly gain after Trump election win

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By Karen Brettell and Stefano Rebaudo

(Reuters) -The dollar rose on Friday and was heading for a weekly gain as investors evaluated the likely impact on the American economy of Tuesday’s election of Republican Donald Trump as U.S. president.

Analysts expect Trump’s policy proposals — including more trade tariffs, a clampdown on illegal immigration, lower taxes and business deregulation — will boost growth and inflation.

But in the near term there remains considerable uncertainty over what policies will actually be introduced.

“We don’t really know how much was campaign rhetoric, how much is a negotiating position, how much of it is speaking principle,” said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex in New York. “Part of the volatility we’re seeing in the dollar and in interest rates is that the market is trying to figure it out.”

Republicans also won control of the Senate and are leading the race for the House of Representatives, with some races still to be called.

The jumped to a four-month high of 105.44 on Wednesday, but has dipped since, partly due to profit-taking. It was up 0.58% on the day at 105.01 on Friday and on pace for a 0.68% weekly increase.

Data on Friday showed that U.S. consumer sentiment rose to a seven-month high in early November, in a survey taken before the election.

The next major U.S. economic release will be Wednesday’s consumer price data for October.

“We need more clarity about U.S. policies,” said Athanasios Vamvakidis, global head of forex strategy at Bank of America. “Until then, the greenback will be trading (on) data and expectations for the Fed easing path.”

On Thursday, the Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 basis points, which had been widely expected. Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank would not speculate on the impact of any policies by the incoming U.S. government.

Traders are pricing in 65% odds that the Fed will cut again by 25 basis points in December, down from 83% a week ago, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

The euro dropped 0.85% to $1.0712 and was headed for a 1.12% decline for the week, which saw the collapse of Germany’s coalition government on Wednesday.

Against the Japanese currency, the greenback fell 0.13% to 152.73 yen.

The yen is expected to suffer as the interest rate differential with the United States widens, which could prompt Japan’s central bank to raise rates as soon as December to prevent the currency from sliding back toward three-decade lows.

weakened after Beijing unveiled a 10 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) debt package on Friday to ease local government financing strains and stabilize flagging economic growth.

“Markets may have been hoping for a larger-than-expected stimulus,” said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING.

The was last down 0.69% at 7.2 per dollar.

The Australian dollar, often used as a liquid proxy for its Chinese counterpart, fell 1.53% to $0.6576.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Dollar banknote is seen in this illustration taken July 17, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

was last up 1.45% at $77,068, after earlier reaching a record $77,303.97.

Trump is expected to enact a more favorable regulatory environment for the crypto industry.

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Dollar set for small weekly gains after Fed rate cut

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Investing.com – The U.S. dollar steadied Friday, set to end a volatile week with small gains as traders digested the implications of a new Trump presidency as well as benign Federal Reserve.

At 04:30 ET (09:30 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded flat at 104.372.

The index is on track for a gain of just 0.2% this week, even after gaining 1.5% on Wednesday in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory, when it recorded its biggest single-day gain since September 2022.

Dollar unwinds Trump gains

The dollar surged to a four-month high on Wednesday as traders positioned for a new Trump administration, with its tariff and immigration policies likely to prompt the Federal Reserve to reduce rates at a slower and shallower pace.

However, some of these gains have been unwound after the cut interest rates by 25 basis points on Thursday, and signaled the likelihood of further rate cuts ahead as inflation appeared on course to fall to the central bank’s 2% target.

“A large portion of the election move in the dollar has been unwound. That, to us, looks more like a positioning adjustment rather than a rethink of what a Trump presidency means for global markets,” said analysts at ING, in a note. 

“Remember that markets got to Election Day broadly pricing in a Trump victory, and while the dollar spiked in reaction to the Republican clean sweep, there are perhaps some questions now on how far the dollar can rally near term given the focus is shifting back to the macroeconomic discussion.”

The US consumer price index for October is due next week, and this could influence market sentiment as the year comes to a close. 

Euro weighed by German political crisis

In Europe, dropped 0.2% to 1.0785, with the common currency on course for a weekly loss of around 0.5%, weighed by a political crisis in Germany, the eurozone’s biggest economy.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday sacked his finance minister, paving the way for a snap election after months of disagreements in his three-party coalition.

This political turmoil comes at a critical juncture for Europe’s biggest economy, with Trump’s election victory raising the possibility of a trade war with the region’s main trading partner. 

“EUR/USD traded briefly above 1.080 yesterday on the back of the broad-based unwinding of post-election USD longs,” ING said. “This appears to be a positioning unwinding, and we doubt markets are reconsidering the negative implications of Trump’s expected policies on the eurozone.”

fell 0.2% to 1.2961, with sterling falling further from the psychologically important 1.30 level in the wake of the Bank of England’s latest interest rate cut.

The delivered its second rate cut since 2020 on Thursday, dropping by 25 basis points to 4.75% from 5%, but also indicated that the latest UK Budget could cause inflation to take a year longer to return sustainably to its 2% target.

“A December rate cut is looking rather unlikely following the budget, and markets are also pricing in a very small implied probability,” ING said. “At the same time, we don’t think the budget will significantly derail the BoE’s easing path next year, and we still expect faster cuts in the spring compared to market expectations.”

Yuan looks to NPC meeting

climbed 0.2% to 7.1555, with the yuan weakening slightly with the focus squarely on the NPC meeting, which concludes on Friday, for more cues on Beijing’s plans to roll out fiscal stimulus. 

Analysts expect the government to approve at least 10 trillion yuan ($1.6 trillion) in fresh spending for the coming years. The NPC meeting comes after Beijing announced a slew of stimulus measures over the past month, but did not specify their timing or scale.

fell 0.4% to 152.39, with the yen gaining after Japanese ministers issued fresh verbal warnings over potential intervention in the currency market.

fell 0.5% to 0.6646, but was headed for an over 1% weekly gain.

 

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Asia FX steadies as dollar slides after Fed cuts interest rates

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Investing.com– Most Asian currencies steadied on Friday after clocking sharp gains in the prior session, while the dollar nursed some losses after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates as widely expected.

Regional currencies recouped a bulk of their weekly losses after the Fed’s move, with some even turning positive for the week. The dollar, on the other hand, tumbled from four-month highs, with some traders also locking in recent gains. 

Focus was also on more cues on fiscal stimulus from China, as a meeting of the country’s Nation People’s Congress entered its final day.

Dollar nurses tumble from 4-mth high after Fed rate cut 

The and both steadied in Asian trade, steadying from a sharp drop on Thursday after the Fed to a range of 4.50% to 4.75%. 

The greenback had shot up to a four-month high earlier in the week after Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, with Trump’s policies potentially heralding stickier inflation in the long term.

The Fed said a change in U.S. leadership was unlikely to affect monetary policy in the near-term. Chair Jerome Powell signaled that the economy was in a good place, and that the bank was likely to ease policy further in the coming months.

Traders were seen pricing in a 76.5% chance the Fed will cut rates by 25 bps in December, and a 23.5% chance rates will remain unchanged, showed.

Chinese yuan fragile with NPC in focus 

The Chinese yuan- which was among the worst hit by dollar strength this week- weakened slightly on Friday, with the pair rising 0.2%. The pair was also set to rise 0.4% this week.

Focus was squarely on the NPC meeting, which concludes on Friday, for more cues on Beijing’s plans to roll out fiscal stimulus. 

Analysts expect the government to approve at least 10 trillion yuan ($1.6 trillion) in fresh spending for the coming years. The NPC meeting comes after Beijing announced a slew of stimulus measures over the past month, but did not specify their timing or scale.

Broader Asian currencies mostly weakened on Friday, but were sitting on strong gains from the prior session following the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut.

The Japanese yen was an outlier, with the pair falling 0.2% and further away from three-month highs after Japanese ministers issued fresh verbal warnings over potential intervention in the currency market.

The Australian dollar’s pair fell 0.4%, but was headed for a nearly 2% weekly gain. The South Korean won’s pair rose 0.4%, while the Singapore dollar’s pair rose 0.1%.

The Indian rupee was a major laggard this week, with the pair surging to record highs above 84.4 rupees. The pair remained close to these highs on Friday. 

 

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