Forex
US dollar edges lower as traders await Fed rate cut decision
By Chibuike Oguh
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The U.S. dollar edged lower against major currencies on Wednesday, giving up some of its overnight gains, as traders braced for the Federal Reserve’s much-anticipated decision to cut interest rates.
The U.S. central bank is expected to deliver its first interest rate cut in more than four years at 1800 GMT, with markets pricing a 61% probability of a 50 basis point cut and 39% chance of a 25 basis point cut.
Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference shortly after the announcement.
“What we’ve seen so far this week, just looking at the is that it fell on Monday, it rose by less on Tuesday, and now it’s falling by less so far today,” said Matthew Weller, global head of research at StoneX Retail in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“That’s sort of the classic pre-key event risk type of pattern when traders aren’t feeling too strongly about committing in either direction.”
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.46% to 141.75 after reaching as high as 142.405 in Asia hours. The Bank of Japan will decide on interest rates on Friday.
The euro strengthened 0.20% against the greenback to $1.11380. The dollar was also down 0.4% against the Swiss franc to 0.844.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.18% to 100.73.
China’s markets resumed trade on Wednesday after the mid-autumn festival break, with the yuan down 0.4% at 7.0824 per dollar in offshore trading.
Sterling, the best performing G10 currency of the year, gained at $1.32540, with its rally being driven by signs of a steadying UK economy and sticky inflation.
British inflation stood at an annual rate of 2.2% in August, unchanged from July. The Bank of England is expected to leave rates unchanged on Thursday.
“We’ll likely see a bit of a divergence between the central banks, with the Bank of England now less likely to cut interest rates at all and the Fed very likely to cut,” Weller added.
Currency bid prices at 18 September
02:01 p.m. GMT
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Previous Session Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Dollar index 100.74 100.91 -0.16% -0.62% 100.91 100.69
Euro/Dollar 1.1134 1.1115 0.16% 0.86% $1.114 $1.1114
Dollar/Yen 141.76 142.42 -0.46% 0.51% 142.28 141.25
Euro/Yen 1.1134 158.24 -0.27% 1.41% 158.26 157.06
Dollar/Swiss 0.844 0.8472 -0.35% 0.31% 0.8467 0.8424
Sterling/Dollar 1.3236 1.3163 0.56% 4.02% $1.3254 $1.3157
Dollar/Canadian 1.3587 1.3599 -0.07% 2.51% 1.3597 1.3577
Aussie/Dollar 0.6777 0.6756 0.33% -0.59% $0.6789 $0.675
Euro/Swiss 0.9397 0.9414 -0.18% 1.2% 0.9416 0.9382
Euro/Sterling 0.841 0.8444 -0.4% -2.98% 0.8453 0.8405
NZ Dollar/Dollar 0.622 0.6187 0.56% -1.54% $0.6232 0.6184
Dollar/Norway 10.5653 10.5945 -0.28% 4.24% 10.6202 10.5583
Euro/Norway 11.7638 11.7919 -0.24% 4.81% 11.8138 11.7552
Dollar/Sweden 10.1835 10.189 -0.05% 1.16% 10.1987 10.16
Euro/Sweden 11.337 11.3237 0.12% 1.9% 11.345 11.307
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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