Over the past 24 hours many of our clients have asked if the U.S. dollar
has peaked and now prime for a major reversal. This question is largely
sparked by the 2-day decline in the Dollar Index and the fact that it
is aiming for 98.00. While USD/JPY remains strong, the
greenback is beginning to lose momentum versus the euro, British pound,
Swiss Franc and commodity currencies. What’s interesting about the move
is that U.S. data was good allowing Treasury yields to resume their
rise. The country’s trade balance narrowed significantly in the month of
September from -$59B to -$56B, its best level since March 2016. New
home sales and Markit PMI’s services and composite index also rose
strongly, boosting expectations for Friday’s third quarter GDP report.
Economists are calling for a sharp increase in growth and while today’s
trade report is encouraging, the weakness of retail sales over the past 3
months makes us skeptical of a sharp rise. Treasury yields may be up
but it is worth noting that Fed fund futures have fallen slightly.
Durable goods, jobless claims and pending home sales are scheduled for
release on Thursday. These reports are not expected to have a dramatic
impact on the dollar but with USD/JPY eyeing 105, stronger reports could
give the pair the push that it needs to make a run for this key level.
The euro extended its gains for the second day in a row but its struggle
to move beyond 1.0950 indicates that the bears still remain in control.
The latest Eurozone economic reports reinforce the recent
strength that we’ve seen in other releases. Import prices grew at a
faster pace in the month of September and while German consumer
confidence ticked lower slightly and French consumer confidence
increased. However the dialogue out of the central bank remains dovish
with insiders saying that bond purchases will almost certainly extend
beyond March. ECB member Praet feels that there are material downside
risks to the economic outlook with very little indication of rising core
inflation. His concern center around Brexit and the uncertainty that it
poses to export demand. Yet we still like buying EUR/USD below 1.09
for a move to 1.10. The ECB may be dovish but they have no plans to
ease until December and for now, data has been very good. Speculative
short positions are at extreme levels which means the currency pair is
prime for a short squeeze.
For the first time in 6 trading days, the British pound rallied against the U.S. dollar. Although loans for house purchases increased, the move had more to do with Bank of England governor Carney’s comments yesterday and the short covering that it induced. With that in mind, gains have still been capped at 1.2250. BBA Loans for House Purchase rose 38,252 in the month of September up from 37,241 in August. Low interest rates continue to support housing market activity and that is a welcome development post Brexit. For the time being, GBP/USD remains confined to a 200-pip range but that could change tomorrow. Sterling will be in focus with Q3 GDP numbers scheduled for release. Economists are looking for a dramatic slowdown in growth courtesy of Brexit but retail sales have been strong so growth may not slow as much as they fear and if they beat expectations, we could see a sharp rise in GBP/USD.
The Canadian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar and Australian Dollars ended the
day mixed against the greenback. The big story was AUD which gave up
all of its post data gains. Consumer prices grew 0.7% in the
third quarter, beating the 0.5% increase and taking the year over year
rate up to 1.3% from 1.0%. Immediately after the release, the Aussie
jumped above 0.77 but it swiftly met resistance and ended the day below
that round number. The increase was largely due to higher food and
energy prices. As reported by our colleague Boris Schlossberg, on a core
basis the inflation readings were more subdued coming in at 1.3% versus
1.4%, but the data was strong enough to convince traders that the RBA
will likely remain stationary for the rest of the year. Unfortunately
77 cents is a very important resistance level and while the data helped
to take the currency up to that level, they were met with sellers
quickly. The reversal gained momentum during the North American session
when U.S. dollar bulls reemerged. The New Zealand dollar also traded
lower ahead of tonight’s trade balance report. Given the rise in the PMI
index and rebound in dairy prices, we are looking for a stronger report
that could recover some gains for NZD. The Canadian dollar on the
other hand is poised for more losses with oil prices falling nearly 2%
and the U.S. – Canadian yield pointing to further gains for USD/CAD.