Category Archive: 4.) Marc to Market

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Quiet Summer Tuesday with Powell’s Testimony and a Deluge of US Supply on Tap

2024-07-09

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2024-07-09

Overview: In the absence of fresh developments, the dollar is consolidating in narrow ranges today against the G10 currencies and enjoys as slight upward bias against most emerging market currencies but for a few currencies from the Asia Pacific region. With practically an empty US data calendar, Fed Chair Powell's testimony with be the highlight, and a soft headline CPI on Thursday anticipated. The US two-year premium over Germany has fallen from...

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Euro is Little Changed, while the Yen is Softer to Start the New Week

2024-07-08

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2024-07-08

Overview: The dollar is narrowly mixed against the G10 and emerging market currencies today. The euro is little changed, holding on to last week's gains, after the surprising French election results, where the focus shifts finding a prime minister that can carry a majority of the new and closely divided National Assembly. Despite firm underlying wage data, the Japanese yen has given back its initial gains, and the dollar is pushing back above...

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Week Ahead: Market Eyes Two Fed Cuts this Year ahead of June CPI

2024-07-06

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2024-07-06

Four drivers are shaping the investment climate. First, ahead of the run-off elections in France, the market feels more comfortable that Le Pen will not secure a parliamentary majority. The French premium over Germany narrowed to 65 bp, falling by about 14 bp last week, and arguable a supportive factor for the euro. Second, the British election was largely a foregone conclusion, and Labour did secure majority. It ought not be construed as a shift...

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No Turn Around Tuesday as Greenback Remains Firm

2024-07-02

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2024-07-02

Taking the next few days off.  Will be back with week ahead commentary on  July 6.  Overview: The sharp jump in US long-term interest rates has helped lift the greenback in recent sessions and it remains firm against most of the G10 currencies today. The Canadian dollar is the best performer, and it is nearly flat. The intraday momentum indicators warn that after a mostly consolidative Asia Pacific and European morning, the greenback may probe...

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Sigh of Relief Lifts French Markets, But…

2024-07-01

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2024-07-01

Overview: The market feels a bit more at ease after the first round of the French elections that extreme policies will be avoided by an effort to deny the National Rally a legislative majority. French stocks have recouped some of their recent losses and the euro reached $1.0775, its best level since June 13. The yen remains soft after the Tankan survey showed little change but an uptick in capex plans. Outside of the yen and Swiss franc, the dollar...

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July 2024 Monthly

2024-06-29

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2024-06-29

July is about the Olympics and reaping what was sown in June. The UK and France will have new governments. There will be a new European Commission. China will hold its Third Plenum session, out of which many expect new measures to support the economy.The Bank of Japan may announce a plan to reduce its bond purchases, which are approximately the same as the amount maturing every month and hike rates at the end of July. Reducing its JGB holdings is...

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Will the PCE Deflator Really Contain New Information?

2024-06-28

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2024-06-28

Overview: The US dollar is narrowly mixed as North American participants prepare to return for the last session of the first half. Despite firmer than expected Tokyo CPI and stronger than expected industrial output, the market lifted the greenback around JPY161.25 before profit-taking pressures bought it back toward session lows near JPY160.65 in Europe. President Biden is thought to have lost last night's debate with Trump, but it does not appear...

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The Greenback Consolidates while Sustaining Break against the Yen

2024-06-27

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2024-06-27

Overview: The dollar is sporting a softer profile today against all the G10 currencies but the Swedish krona. The Riksbank sounded more dovish than previously, signaling the possibility of a cut in each of the last three meetings of the year. The dollar has sustained its push above JPY160 against the Japanese yen. Most emerging market currencies are also firmer, with the notable exception of Türkiye and South Africa. Türkiye is expected to keep its...

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USD Pushes above JPY160

2024-06-26

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2024-06-26

Overview: The dollar is firm, and the market is challenging the JPY160 level, which it has traded above in Europe. Japanese officials say that they do not defend a specific level. The market is nervous though and some participants have professed intentions to sell dollars above there. The Australian dollar is the main exception to the greenback's strength today. A strong monthly inflation print boosts the chances of a rate hike. The Aussie, though,...

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Nervous Calm Hangs over the Markets

2024-06-25

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2024-06-25

Overview:  San Francisco Federal Reserve President Daly spoke aloud what many are thinking. The US labor market may be at an inflection point. The four-week moving average of weekly jobless claims is at the highest since last September and the early call for July nonfarm payrolls is about 185k, which if true, would be a sub-200k reading for the second time in three months. The high-flying Nvidia has fallen 13% in the past three sessions coming into...

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US Dollar Offered, but Intra-Day Momentum Indicators are Stretched

2024-06-24

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2024-06-24

Overview: The Dollar Index reached its best level since May 1 before the weekend but has come back softer against all the G10 currencies and most emerging market currencies. There is no apparent driver, and the intraday day momentum indicators caution against expecting much in the way of follow through gains in North America. The dollar edged closed to JPY160 and triggered official intervention warnings. The market has turned cautious and is...

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Week Ahead: Politics, Economics, and the Yen

2024-06-22

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2024-06-22

The relationship between interest rate expectations and the foreign exchange levels is more complicated than many textbooks or conventional wisdom allows. Australia's and Norway's central banks pushed against rate cuts this year, and their currencies were rewarded. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said more or less the same thing, but investors are less sanguine and took the New Zealand dollar down as much as it took the Australian dollar higher....

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Computer Glitch–Brief Commentary

2024-06-21

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2024-06-21

Thanks for your patience. See you tomorrow. Japan:  USD reached nearly JPY159.15, highest since late April.  US Treasury added Japan to fx watchlist after recent intervention. USD up past six consecutive sessions coming into today. Japanese rhetoric about fx escalates.  National CPI headline and core ticked up primarily utilities (electricity and gas). Excluding food and energy, CPI slowed to 2.1% from 2.4%. This was largely in line with the Tokyo...

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SNB Surprises the Market (Again)

2024-06-20

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2024-06-20

The US dollar is trading higher against all the G10 currencies today but the Norwegian krone. Norway's central bank left policy on hold and warned that if the economy performs as expected, it does not anticipate a rate cut until next year.

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Greenback Catches a Bid

2024-06-18

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2024-06-18

Overview: The dollar has caught a bid ahead of the US retail sales and industrial production figures. It is higher against all the G10 currencies but the Swiss franc. The SNB meets Thursday. It surprised many by cutting rates in March and the same logic (low inflation, move ahead of the ECB, stronger franc) may apply now. A hawkish hold by the Reserve Bank of Australia has not done much for the Australian dollar, which is little changed on the day....

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Calmer Markets to Start the New Week

2024-06-17

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2024-06-17

Overview: The US dollar is firmer against most G10 currencies to start the new week. The euro is a notable exception. It is only slightly higher but confined to a narrow range around $1.07. On the other hand, most emerging market currencies are firmer, but for a few Asia-Pacific currencies, including those of China, South Korea, and Taiwan. The Mexican peso is consolidating but it is also lower on the day. The tone is largely...

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Week Ahead: BOE and RBA to Standpat, Political Anxiety Runs High, Giving the Dollar a Lift

2024-06-15

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2024-06-15

Under other circumstances, the softer than expected US inflation readings and the subsequent sharp drop in US interest rates would have weighed on the US dollar. Instead, the greenback managed to do well, especially against the euro, sterling, and Japanese yen. The 0.6% rise in the Dollar Index was the biggest gain in two months. The Fed's hawkish hold, with the median dot shifting to one cut this year from three in March (and last December) means...

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Self-Inflicted Wounds in Europe and Japan Help the Greenback Shrug Off the Drag of Lower Rates

2024-06-14

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2024-06-14

Overview: The dollar is bid. What makes its performance standout is that it is taking place as US rates have fallen. The US 10-year yield is near 4.20%, the lowest in more than two months. The two-year yield is near 4.67%. It has fallen every session this week for a cumulative decline of more than 20 bp. It is not so much that constructive developments took week, but that Europe and Japan are suffering from self-inflicted injury. Macron's call for...

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Dollar Comes Back Bid

2024-06-13

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2024-06-13

Overview: The dollar fell alongside US rates yesterday after the softer than expected CPI. The move on both rates and the dollar were pared after the FOMC meeting which held rates steady as widely expected, but the median dot now anticipated one cut this year rather than three. The dollar has recovered more ground today and is trading with a slightly firmer bias G10 currencies. However, trading is quiet and mostly narrow ranges have dominated....

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