- The US Dollar sees fade broaden on Friday after a steep ride higher.
- Traders see China stepping up measures with deposit rate cuts and more stimulus details.
- The US Dollar Index rally looks to be halting for now, ahead of 104.00.
The US Dollar (USD) eases on Friday with the US trading session just around the corner, under some profit-taking after steep rallies against many major G20 currencies this week. The slight retracement comes on the back of Chinese economic data and more details on the stimulus package the Chinese government is rolling out. With Chinese deposit rates being cut this Friday and more details released on the Chinese stimulus package, it looks like China is propping up its economy further.
The US calendar is very light in terms of economic data. No real market-moving data points will be issued on Friday, with only Building Permits and Housing Starts on deck. Instead, look for the Federal Reserve (Fed), where no less than three members are set to speak.
Daily digest market movers: Fedspeak all around
- At 12:30 GMT, the US Census Bureau will release housing data for September. Monthly Building Permits are expected to be at 1.46 million, compared to 1.47 million in August, while Housing Starts are expected to decrease to 1.35 million against 1.356 million prior.
- At 13:30 GMT, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic delivers a presentation about economic education to high school students as part of the Mississippi Council on Economic Education Event.
- Around 14:00 GMT, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari moderates a policy panel at the 2024 Macroeconomic Policy Perspectives hosted by the Minneapolis Fed, the University of Chicago, and Stanford University.
- Near 16:10 GMT, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller delivers a speech about decentralized finance at the Nineteenth Annual Vienna Macroeconomics Workshop in Vienna, Austria.
- At 16:30, Fed’s Bostic gives remarks and participates in a moderated conversation at the Mississippi Council on Economic Education’s Forum on American Enterprise luncheon, United States.
- Asian equities saw Chinese indices outperform on the extra wave of stimulus measures issued. European equities are trying to grasp European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde’s speech from Thursday on the sluggish European economy. US futures are flat on the day and are yet to choose a direction.
- The CME Fed rate expectation for the meeting on November 7 shows a 90.2% probability of a 25 bps rate cut, while the remaining 9.8% is pricing in no rate cut. Chances for a 50 bps rate cut have been fully priced out.
- The US 10-year benchmark rate is trading at 4.11% after having flirted with a break below 4% on Wednesday.
US Dollar Index Technical Analysis: US politics now leading as event
The US Dollar Index (DXY) sees the rally train come to a halt, with some better-than-expected Chinese data and measures taken by the Chinese government to support domestic demand. Though this rally might face a small fade, a big reversal does not seem to be in the cards. With the interest rate gap between the US, the Eurozone and other coutnries widening again, the Greenback should at least remain supported towards the US elections in November.
A firm resistance ahead is 103.80, which aligns with the 200-day SMA. Above that, there is a small gap before hitting the pivotal level at 103.99 and the 104.00 big figure. Should Trump further lead in the polls, a rapid swing up to 105.00 and 105.53 could be on the cards.
On the downside, the 100-day SMA at 103.19 and the pivotal level at 103.18 are now acting as support and should prevent the DXY from falling lower. With the Relative Strength Index in overbought territory, a test on this level looks granted. Further down, the 55-day SMA at 101.85 and the pivotal level at 101.90 should avoid further downside moves.
US Dollar Index: Daily Chart
Banking crisis FAQs
The Banking Crisis of March 2023 occurred when three US-based banks with heavy exposure to the tech-sector and crypto suffered a spike in withdrawals that revealed severe weaknesses in their balance sheets, resulting in their insolvency. The most high profile of the banks was California-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) which experienced a surge in withdrawal requests due to a combination of customers fearing fallout from the FTX debacle, and substantially higher returns being offered elsewhere.
In order to fulfill the redemptions, Silicon Valley Bank had to sell its holdings of predominantly US Treasury bonds. Due to the rise in interest rates caused by the Federal Reserve’s rapid tightening measures, however, Treasury bonds had substantially fallen in value. The news that SVB had taken a $1.8B loss from the sale of its bonds triggered a panic and precipitated a full scale run on the bank that ended with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) having to take it over.The crisis spread to San-Francisco-based First Republic which ended up being rescued by a coordinated effort from a group of large US banks. On March 19, Credit Suisse in Switzerland fell foul after several years of poor performance and had to be taken over by UBS.
The Banking Crisis was negative for the US Dollar (USD) because it changed expectations about the future course of interest rates. Prior to the crisis investors had expected the Federal Reserve (Fed) to continue raising interest rates to combat persistently high inflation, however, once it became clear how much stress this was placing on the banking sector by devaluing bank holdings of US Treasury bonds, the expectation was the Fed would pause or even reverse its policy trajectory. Since higher interest rates are positive for the US Dollar, it fell as it discounted the possibility of a policy pivot.
The Banking Crisis was a bullish event for Gold. Firstly it benefited from demand due to its status as a safe-haven asset. Secondly, it led to investors expecting the Federal Reserve (Fed) to pause its aggressive rate-hiking policy, out of fear of the impact on the financial stability of the banking system – lower interest rate expectations reduced the opportunity cost of holding Gold. Thirdly, Gold, which is priced in US Dollars (XAU/USD), rose in value because the US Dollar weakened.
Read the full article here