Overview: The dollar is trading quietly, with a slightly firmer today. There has been little follow-through selling after yesterday's setback. The Canadian dollar and sterling are faring best. The yen is a little softer after Tokyo's CPI came in lower as expected due to the government's energy subsidy. The election for the lower house of the Diet is held Sunday. Emerging market currencies are also mostly softer. The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is poised...
Read More »Tomorrow’s China Briefing Did Not Prevent the Continued Slide in Chinese Stocks Today
Overview: The combination of the firmer than expected US CPI and larger than expected rise in initial and continuing jobless claims saw short-term US rates fall, and the odds of a quarter-point cut by the Fed rose from about 83% to about 93%. The Fed funds futures market boosted the odds of another quarter-point cut in December (~90% vs.78%). The dollar initially weakened but recovered, though the key levels held, such as $1.09 in the euro, $1.30 in sterling,...
Read More »Soft US Headline CPI is Unlikely to Be Sufficient to Reanimate Expectations of another Large Fed Cut
Overview: The US dollar is mostly softer ahead of the September CPI. The euro and Canadian dollar have recorded new lows for the move. The greenback extended its gains against the yen to JPY149.55 but has fallen to new session lows in the European morning near JPY148.85. Given the pushback against Fed Chair Powell's 50 bp cut last month revealed in the FOMC minutes, it will take more than a soft headline CPI today to renew speculation of another large move. In fact,...
Read More »What Can Powell Say that the Markets Do Not Already Know?
Overview: The US is consolidating with a softer profile against most G10 and emerging market currencies today, ahead of Fed Chair Powell's speech at Jackson Hole (10 AM ET). He is unlikely to go much beyond confirming what the market already thinks it knows: namely, that the first rate cut will be delivered next month. By acknowledging that the economy has evolved broadly along the lines the central bank expected, it would be a gently push against speculation of a...
Read More »No, Chicken Little, the Sky is Not Falling
Overview: The most recent data showed that Japanese investors took advantage of the yen's strength last week to buy foreign bonds and stocks. The US weekly jobs claims to their lowest level in four weeks, suggesting that the slowdown in the labor market remains gradual. The sky is not falling. There is no emergency. With a 28% drop in Japanese bank shares in the first three sessions of the month, stress in Japan was acute, but Japanese official actions seemed to...
Read More »Short Covering Squeezes the Yen Higher
Overview: The US dollar is firmer against all the G10 currencies but the Japanese yen. Local reports and the price action are consistent with short covering of the previously sold yen positions ostensibly ahead of next week's BOJ and FOMC meetings. Still, the greenback is holding above last week's low, slightly below JPY155.40. The Antipodeans and Scandis have extended their recent sharp losses. The euro eased to a seven-day low, a little below $1.0865, while...
Read More »Dollar Consolidation is Morphing into Correction
Jury duty assignment prevents a more comprehensive note, but here is a snapshot. Overview: The failure of computer systems has disrupted airlines, banks, media companies, and the London Stock Exchange, ostensibly stemming from an update from a third-party software update, according to Microsoft. The dollar is trading with a firmer bias. The consolidation, we anticipated, appears to be morphing into a correction. Weaker than expected retail sales has driven sterling...
Read More »Euro Trades Quietly Ahead of ECB Meeting
Jury duty assignment prevents a more comprehensive note, but here is a snapshot. Overview: The US dollar enjoys a firmer bias today, in mostly quiet turnover in narrow ranges. The Australian dollar is a noted exception, and the better than expected jobs growth may have lent it some resilience today. The greenback initially was sold to almost JPY155.35, a new low (since June 7) before recovering to nearly JPY156.60 in Europe. The UK's employment report saw the first...
Read More »Will the PCE Deflator Really Contain New Information?
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 to be much of a...
Read More »The Dollar Remains Soft Ahead of the Employment Report
Overview: The dollar is little changed against the major currencies ahead of the US jobs report. It has been trading heavier than we expected given that two more G10 central banks cut interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve. Next week is its meeting and the market-sensitive CPI. US rates have fallen, and as we note below, the US two-year premium over Germany is at its lowest in nearly three months. The euro is about 0.4% higher on the week ahead of the US...
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