Tag Archive: Australia

Markets Catch Collective Breath

2023-12-06

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2023-12-06

Overview: The US dollar is mixed today. The dollar-bloc currencies are firmer, while the euro and yen are softer. We had anticipated a recovery of the dollar on ideas that the market has too aggressively pushed down US rates, and pricing in more Fed easing with higher confidence than seems to be warranted by the recent data.  However, US rates have not recovered, but the dollar has.  Partly, this reflects that rates have fallen as faster if not...

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Rates and the Dollar Come Back Firmer

2023-12-04

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2023-12-04

Overview: Weekend accounts seemed to try to understand what Fed Chair Powell said by beginning with the large drop in US rates. Yet, most accounts miss the fact that no matter what Powell has said, the market has more often than not reacted as if he were a dove. Rates have come back firmer today, perhaps as some recognized the overshoot. The US two-year yield is up nearly seven basis points after falling 14 before the weekend. The 10-year yield is...

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Dollar Recovers After Losses Extended in Asia

2023-11-29

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2023-11-29

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

2023-11-28

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2023-11-28

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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Corrective Forces Help the Dollar Stabilize

2023-11-22

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2023-11-22

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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Dollar Consolidates Amid Rate Volatility

2023-11-16

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2023-11-16

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

2023-11-15

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2023-11-15

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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Barring Upside Surprise on US Jobs, the Greenback Looks Vulnerable

2023-11-03

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2023-11-03

Overview: The US dollar has been confined to narrow ranges today as the market awaits the October employment report. Barring a significant upside surprise, we suspect the dollar is more likely extend this week's losses. The Dollar Index is off about 0.5% this week. Within the narrow ranges, it is sporting a slightly softer profile again nearly all the G10 currencies. It is also lower against most emerging market currencies, but tight ranges...

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Dollar Extends Losses Post-FOMC

2023-11-02

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2023-11-02

Overview: We suspect that if Martians read the FOMC statement, which was nearly identical to the September statement and listened to Chair Powell, they would conclude there was nothing new. Yet, the market habitually hears Powell as dovish and this has weighed on rates and the dollar, while lifting risk appetites. Follow-through selling of the greenback has dragged it lower against all the major currencies, with the Antipodean leading the way, and...

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Markets Calm but Trepidation Runs High

2023-10-30

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2023-10-30

Overview: Fears that the Israel-Hamas war was going to widen this past weekend sent gold and oil sharply higher at the end of last week. A reportedly more restrained Israeli entrance into Gaza has seen gold pullback back below $2000 (~-0.6%) and December WTI soften (~-1.7%). The US dollar is mostly softer. Stronger-than-expected Australian retail sales fan the risk of a hike next week and this appears to be helping the Australian dollar lead the...

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Divergence Continues to Underpin the Greenback

2023-10-25

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2023-10-25

Overview: The divergence reflected in the flash PMI readings seen yesterday underpinned the dollar, which is firmer in mostly quiet turnover. The initial Australian dollar gains scored in response to the slightly less decline in Q3 CPI have been unwound. The greenback also remains within striking distance of JPY150 where there are still some large options and some apprehension over possible BOJ intervention. Hungary's larger than expected rate cut...

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Poor Flash PMI from Japan and Eurozone

2023-10-24

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2023-10-24

Overview: Bonds and stocks are higher today, and the dollar is mixed. A weak PMI reading seemed to weigh on the euro, but the market shrugged the weak Australian PMI off and the Australian dollar is the G10 currencies while the euro is among the weakest. Yesterday, the North American session showed an appetite for foreign currencies and with some of their intraday momentum stretched to the downside, the stage is set for a possible repeat today. The...

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Greenback Remains Bid and the Market has not Given Up on JPY150

2023-10-19

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2023-10-19

Overview:  The greenback did not strengthen yesterday in Asian and European turnover despite the deteriorating conditions in the Middle East, but it did rally as North American participants entered the fray. Indeed, the Dollar Index rose from a marginal new four-day low to a marginally new four-day high. The safe haven bid seen in gold and oil, was reflected in the foreign exchange market by the strength of the Swiss franc, the only G10 currency to...

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Capital Markets are Calm though Anxiety Continues to Run High

2023-10-16

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2023-10-16

Overview: The risk that the war in Israel spreads remains palatable, and several observers have warned of the greatest risks of a world war in a generation. Still, the capital markets remain relatively calm. The US dollar is softer after closing last week firmly. The only G10 currency unable to post corrective upticks today is the Swiss franc. Among emerging market currencies, the Polish zloty has been boosted by the pro-EU election results, and...

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Markets Continue to Struggle

2023-10-05

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2023-10-05

Overview:  The markets remain unsettled. Follow-through dollar selling has been limited today after yesterday's pullback. Narrow ranges are prevailing, but the Norwegian krone and Canadian dollar, the weakest G10 currencies in recent days, are heavier again today. Although it seems that the BOJ did not intervene earlier this week, but the dollar bulls has been chastened just the same and the greenback is holdings below yesterday's high...

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Strategic Ambiguity Leaves Intervention Question Unanswered, but US Dollar has Steadied

2023-10-04

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2023-10-04

Overview: Dramatic yen price action around the JOLTS report yesterday after the dollar pierced the JPY150 level spurred speculation of BOJ intervention. Although there has been no confirmation, the strategic ambiguity is helping steady the yen and the dollar more broadly today, even though US yields remain firm. Final PMI readings were a better than the flash estimates and this may also be facilitating the consolidative tone. Most promising, from a...

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US Yields and Dollar Rise After US Government Closure Averted

2023-10-02

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2023-10-02

Overview: The US avoided a government shutdown, barely, and this eased one of the headwinds that were anticipated. In turn, this is spurring new gains in US interest rates and helping underpin the dollar at the start of the new quarter. The 10-year Treasury is holding above 4.60% and nearing last week's high (4.68%). The two-year yield gapped higher and is near 5.10%. The high from September 21 was almost 5.20%. The Swiss franc is the only G10...

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Firmer Bonds and Stocks, but the Dollar Presses Ahead

2023-09-27

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2023-09-27

Overview: The S&P 500 hit three-month lows yesterday, while the Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence fell to a four-month low. New home sales fell to their lowest level in five years. The US federal government appears headed for a partial shutdown on October 1. Still, the greenback rides high. It is extending its gains against several G10 currencies, including the euro and sterling. The Swiss franc is moving lower for the 12th...

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Yen Drops After BOJ Does Nothing and Says Little

2023-09-22

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2023-09-22

Overview:  The BOJ's failure to do anything or further ideas that an exit of the negative target rate, despite the firm CPI report helped the dollar recover the ground lost yesterday against the yen. The focus has returned to "intervention watch" and the market continues to press for the official pain threshold. Sterling is the weakest of the G10 currencies, off another 0.5% today following the BOE's decision not to hike yesterday. The...

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Heightened Speculation of an ECB Hike Tomorrow Fails to Lend the Euro Support

2023-09-13

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2023-09-13

Overview: The US dollar is trading with a firmer bias against all the G10 currencies ahead today's August US CPI report. Even increased speculation that the ECB will hike rates tomorrow has failed to lift the euro, while a larger than expected contraction in the UK's July GDP pushed sterling briefly through last week's lows. The dollar rose to a marginal new high for the week against the Japanese yen, as the market seemed uninspired by the cabinet...

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