Category Archive: 4.) Marc to Market

December 2023 Monthly

As the year winds down, the global economy appears to be entering a new phase. While North American and European central bankers swear that they are prepared to respond to new threats to price stability, the markets demur. Indicative pricing in the derivatives markets reflects the general conclusion that the central banks have most likely completed the post-Covid monetary tightening cycle. Central bankers are pushing against a premature easing of...

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What Will Powell Say?

Overview: The dollar traded better into month-end but is softer today. The Scandis and dollar-bloc currencies are leading with around 0.2%-0.5% gains. In addition to US manufacturing PMI and ISM surveys, and construction spending, auto sales will trickle in, but key for market participants today will likely be Fed Chair Powell's comments and the extent that he pushes against the dramatic rate cuts, with more than a 50% chance of the first cut by...

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The Dollar is Having One of Its Best Days This Month

Overview: After being bludgeoned, the dollar is having one of its best days of the month. It is rising against all the major currencies. The Dollar Index is up about 0.5%, which is the most since the end of October. The greenback is also firmer against all the emerging market currencies but the Turkish lira and Russian ruble. Some of the demand for the dollar may be a function of month end, but also the disappointing Chinese PMI, revisions that...

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Dollar Recovers After Losses Extended in Asia

Overview: On the back of lower interest rates, the greenback's slide was extended in early Asia Pacific turnover, but it has recovered. As North American trading begins, the dollar is firmer against all the G10 currencies but the New Zealand dollar, which has been aided by the hawkish hold of the central bank, and an immaterial gain in the Swiss franc. Emerging market currencies are mixed. Central European currencies and the Mexican peso are...

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Canadian Dollar Plays A Little Catch-Up, Rises to best Level in Nearly Seven Weeks

Overview: The US dollar is narrowly mixed against the G10 currencies. The Canadian and Australian dollars lead the advancers, while the Scandis are pacing the losers off 0.1%-0.2% in quiet turnover. Most the freely accessible emerging market currencies are sporting softer profiles today, the Chinese yuan is among them. However, most Asia Pacific currencies, are firmer. Benchmark 10-year yields were softer in the Asia Pacific region in mostly a...

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Dollar Starts Softer

Overview: The dollar is beginning the week on a soft note, despite the modest backing up of yields over the last couple of sessions and better than expected data, including Black Friday sales and the preliminary November PMI. It is sporting minor losses against all the G10 currencies, but the Canadian dollar, which is the weakest of the major currencies this quarter and month. The greenback is also lower against most emerging market currencies, but...

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Week Ahead: US PCE Deflator, EMU CPI, China PMI, OPEC+, and COP28

The dollar fell against all the G10 currencies last week. The dollar-bloc currencies, sterling, and the Scandis  led the move, appreciating by about 0.55%-1.40% against the US dollar.  The dollar bloc and sterling recorded new highs for the month ahead of the weekend. Against the others, the dollar spent most of last week consolidating after its recent losses were extended at the start of the week. Still, our review of the technical condition warns...

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Short Note for the Day after Thanksgiving

Price Action:  Since the North American markets closed Wednesday, the foreign exchange market has been subdued.  Most of the major currencies are +/- 0.2%.  The Antipodeans and sterling have risen a bit more.  The euro is in the middle of this week’s range (~$1.0850-$1.0965).  The dollar is at the upper end of this week's range against the Japanese yen (~JPY147.15-JPY149.75).  Sterling is trading near the high for...

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Corrective Forces Help the Dollar Stabilize

Overview: Corrective forces helped the dollar stabilize yesterday and it enjoys a firmer today. The euro has slipped below $1.09, and the dollar has resurfaced above JPY149.00. The FOMC minutes seem dated by the more than 30 bp decline in the US 10-year yield, the 7% rally in the S&P 500 and roughly 3% drop in the Dollar Index. The implied year-end 2024 Fed funds rate has fallen by 10 bp to 4.51% (5.33% currently). The Japanese government...

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Yen and Yuan Extend Surge

Overview: The dollar remains offered and our ideas about it stalling as central banks push against the timing and extent of the easing the market is anticipating are being challenged. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Bank of England both warned higher rates may still be needed. Still, the momentum may be slowing. Meanwhile, the short squeeze continues to lift the Japanese yen, which is trading at its best level in two months....

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Dollar Retreat Extended, but Turn Around Tuesday may have Already Begun

Overview:  Last week's dollar losses have been extended today. The yen is leading the move, encouraged by talk of a buying by a large US real money fund. The Dollar Index is off about 0.35% after sliding 1.8% last week. It is below the 200-day moving average for the first time since late August. As was the case last week, the Canadian dollar is the laggard. Emerging market currencies are also mostly higher. The Chinese yuan's 0.67% rise is the most...

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Week Ahead: How Hard Will Officials Push Against the Easing of Financial Conditions?

The combination of soft US price data and mostly weaker economic data lends credence to a new economic convergence. The economic news stream from Europe, Japan, and China is not particular inspiring. Rather the convergence is driven by the materialism of the long-anticipated slowdown of the world's largest economy. This new convergence is negative for the dollar. Our conservative working hypothesis continues to be that the US dollar's gains from...

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Yen Leads Charge Against the Dollar Amid Falling Rates

Overview: The Japanese yen is leading the charge against the dollar today. Short covering in the Japanese bond market, the decline in US rates, and some reports of real money saw the dollar tumble to around JPY149.25 to approach the low for the month near JPY149.20. All the G10 currencies are firmer today, as are all but a few emerging market currencies. The Dollar Index finished October near 106.55 and it has been finding support near 104.00 in...

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Dollar Consolidates Amid Rate Volatility

Overview: The dollar is consolidating its recent moves as interest rate swings continue. The US two-year yield has traded in a nearly 28 bp range in the first two sessions this week, and near 4.88% now, it is 18 bp lower since last Friday's close. The 10-year yield is slipping below 4.50%. It reached almost 4.70% on Monday and had fallen to almost 4.40% yesterday. Part of this reflects the shift in overnight rate expectations. The implied yield of...

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The Pendulum of Fed Expectations Swings Too Hard

Overview: The capital markets' reaction to softer than expected CPI was too much. The implied yield of the December 2024 Fed funds futures fell by 25 bp as if the October's CPI was worth a full quarter-point rate cut next year. US two- and 1-year yields are around two basis points higher today and the dollar is mixed, with the euro and sterling under the most pressure. China's data were uninspiring, and more stimulus is in the pipeline. Japan's Q3...

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US CPI Front and Center, but Can Congress Avert a Government Shutdown?

Overview: The dollar is somewhat better offered today ahead of the October CPI report. The US House of Representatives may hold a vote today on a continuing resolution to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the week. Narrow ranges have prevailed. Most emerging market currencies are firmer, though paradoxically, the South Korean won is the weakest, despite a strong equity market rally (~1.2%), encouraged by the first in increase in...

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US Treasury Yields Come Back Softer After Moody’s Cut Outlook, and the Dollar Rises to New Highs Against the Yen

Overview: The dollar is beginning the new week narrowly mixed against the G10 currencies. Sterling seems largely unaffected by the cabinet reshuffle that has seen former Prime Minister Camron return as the foreign minister, replacing Cleverly who replaces Home Secretary Braverman. The dollar rose to new highs for the year against the Japanese yen (~JPY151.85). The market has shown little reaction to the pre-weekend news that Moody's cut the outlook...

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Week Ahead: Will Softer US Price Pressures and Weakness in Retail Sales Weigh on the US Dollar and Rates?

The recent dollar gyrations seem tightly linked to US rates. The FOMC meeting and October jobs report saw the two-year Treasury yield drop 17 bp and the dollar was taken broadly lower. Indeed, against several currency pairs, it approached three standard deviations below its 20-day moving average. What seemed like a mild adjustment to the over-extended technical development turned into a rout after a weak reception to the US 30-year bond auction to...

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Who Changed: Powell or the Market?

Overview:  A poor reception to the 30-year Treasury sale and Federal Reserve Powell pledged to raise rates again, if necessary, not exactly a new ground, but it spooked the doves--driving rates sharply higher and fueling a strong dollar recovery. There was a large five basis point tail on the bond sale. The eight-day rally in the S&P 500 and nine-day advance in the NASDAQ was snapped like dry kindling. The S&P 500 comes into today down on...

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Food Prices Drive China’s CPI Lower while the Greenback is Mostly Firmer in Narrow Ranges

Overview: The dollar is mostly firmer against the G10 currencies and has been confined to tight ranges through the European morning. Outside of the China's deflation and Japan's monthly portfolio flow data that showed Japanese investors bought the most amount of US Treasuries (~$22 bln) in six months in September, the news stream is light. Most emerging market currencies are trading with a softer bias today. The Philippine peso is the strongest...

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