Forex
Marketmind: Dollar flexes into Fed week, calm returns
© Reuters. U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan
As markets blew the froth off this year’s extraordinary rally in Big Tech stocks on Thursday, the dollar clocked its best day – and likely its best week – for more than two months.
After the first real edgy day on financial markets in weeks, returning calm on Friday suggests that sudden burst of activity – a stock and bond market recoil and loud dollar pop higher – was more a re-set than a rethink.
Many put the moves down to traders jockeying for position ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting – which may well deliver the last interest rate hike of the cycle. Another unexpectedly tight weekly reading from the U.S. labour market sowed some lingering doubts that we’re on the cusp of ‘peak Fed’ just yet.
Grouch-like disappointment at forecast-beating profits at Tesla (NASDAQ:) and Netflix (NASDAQ:) saw the supercharged FANG-plus index of the 10 leading tech and digital mega cap stocks record its worst day of an otherwise spectacular year so far – losing more than 4% as Netflix and Tesla shares were almost decimated.
And yet, that index remains up 76% for the year to date.
The tech wobble saw the Nasdaq recoil 2% in its biggest drop since March. But the lost a more modest 0.6% and the Dow Jones industrials ploughed on regardless to notch its ninth straight daily gain, aided by upbeat Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:).
What’s more, Nasdaq and S&P500 futures are up again ahead of the bell on Friday. A quieter earnings schedule is topped by American Express (NYSE:) – but nearly all the other banks have been impressive over the past week.
The optimists suggest a combination of ongoing jobs market strength and some rotation of sectoral stock holdings underlines ‘soft landing’ hopes and marks a healthy broadening of what has been a very narrow-led market gain so far this year.
Pessimists think the Fed is not done tightening yet and any further rate hikes after next week will just hasten a downturn in 2024. That has sobered up the Treasury market a touch after a couple of weeks of disinflation relief.
Futures are fully priced for a quarter-point rate rise next week, but indicated less than a 50-50 chance of another hike by November and 75 basis points of cuts from the peak by this time next year. Two-year Treasury yields nudged 12 bps higher to 4.88% on Thursday, but have settled back to 4.85% since.
The backup in yields saw the dollar put in its best showing since early May – helped additionally by growing doubts about the willingness of other major central banks to keep tightening their policy rates once the Fed stops.
The Bank of Japan is leaning toward keeping its yield control policy unchanged at its policy meeting next week, according to Reuters sources, as policymakers prefer to scrutinise more data to ensure wages and inflation keep rising.
With inflation having exceeded the BOJ’s target for more than a year, markets had been simmering with speculation the BOJ could tweak yield curve control as early as this month.
Dollar/yen surged above 141 on Friday for the first time in 10 days.
China’s markets remained in a funk, meantime, with anxiety growing over the lack of a major fresh stimulus for the struggling economic recovery as geopolitical tensions bite.
Authorities on Friday announced measures to boost consumption of auto and electronic items as part of a broader drive to shore up the country’s faltering economy.
But all eyes are now on the annual Politburo meeting, which is expected to take place before the end of July and where China’s leaders chart a policy course for the rest of the year.
Events to watch for on Friday:
* U.S. corporate earnings: American Express, Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:), Schlumberger (NYSE:), Comerica (NYSE:), Regions Financial (NYSE:), Roper Technologies (NYSE:), Interpublic,
* Canada June house prices, May retail sales
* US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks in Hanoi
(By Mike Dolan, editing by Angus MacSwan; mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com. Twitter: @reutersMikeD)
Forex
Dollar on track for weekly gain after Trump election win
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.
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.
Forex
Dollar set for small weekly gains after Fed rate cut
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.
Forex
Asia FX steadies as dollar slides after Fed cuts interest rates
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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