The US Dollar pulled back from overnight gains posted after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes revealed a united board that supported the 25 basis point move at the gathering earlier month The minutes reinforced the notion that the Fed is determined to get inflation under control and that any rate cuts are...Read More

Tuesday’s drop below key support has somewhat dented the bullish outlook in US equities. However, the uptrend hasn’t reversed on the daily timeframe yet. Stronger-than-expected US data since the start of this month has led to a reassessment that the Fed may not be as dovish as some of the pricing seemed to suggest until...Read More

The Swedish Krona eased slightly today after having a blistering rally yesterday with EUR/SEK hitting a 2-month low. The Riksbank monetary policy meeting minutes revealed a very hawkish tone and core CPI data was higher than anticipated for January, coming in at 0.4% m/m rather than -0.2% anticipated. The central bank raised rates by 50...Read More

The US Dollar has started the week slightly firmer as the markets contemplate a Federal Reserve turning more hawkish at their Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in late March. The possibility got legs after Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard made hawkish comments last week. They both indicated...Read More

Gold prices sank about 0.6 percent on Monday, extending losses from last week. The anti-fiat yellow metal inversely tracked a boost to 2-year Treasury yields during the first half of the day. XAU/USD can be quite sensitive to the direction of US Treasury rates. That is because of gold’s inherent lack of return for holding...Read More

Crude oil gave up some ground today after making a 2-week peak on Friday. The WTI futures contract has traded under US$ 79 bbl while the Brent contract is approaching US$ 85.50 bbl. Concerns around another hot US inflation figure on Tuesday have led to speculation that the Federal Reserve might need to be more...Read More

U.S. stocks have been under pressure going into next week’s key economic data releases after the carry over effects of the recent Non-Farm Payroll (NFP) report hurt valuations (in particular rate-sensitive growth stocks). The chart below shows both the 2-year (orange) and 10-year U.S. government bond yields rising of recent leaving future earnings for these...Read More

The Swedish Krone piled on a staggering rally in the aftermath of the Riksbank lifting its target rate to 3.0% from 2.5% and paved the way for further tightening of monetary policy. Before the meeting, the market had been leaning toward a pause in the hiking cycle, but it signalled that it is now looking...Read More

The US dollar is slightly weaker across the board today with more significant declines against the Aussie and the Kiwi. The dip comes after a solid rally going into the New York close. the greenback was supported by a change in perceptions of where the federal funds peak might be. Overnight saw four Fed speakers...Read More

The Australian Dollar bumped high after the RBA raised its cash rate target to 3.35% from 3.10%, a total of 325 basis points has been added since the first hike in May 2022. It has since retraced most of the gains. It seems that the re-acceleration of CPI has caused some concern at the top...Read More