FX Update – August 18 – Dollar in the Doldrums

USDIndex, H4 & Monthly

The Dollar has continued to weaken, which pushed the USDIndex (DXY) to a new 27-month low at 92.30. EURUSD correspondingly rose to a 12-day peak at 1.1943, and another 27-month peak. Cable rallied by 0.5% in making a 5-month high at 1.3198, while EURGBP reversed most of the gains it saw yesterday in making a 0.9035 low. AUDUSD pegged an 6-month high at 0.7252, and USDCAD descended to a 7-month low at 1.3155. Aside from the generally softer US Dollar, the Canadian currency has been buoyed by continued perkiness in oil prices. Yesterday the OPEC+ group said there was near full compliance on supply quotas amount members, lifting front-month WTI crude futures to a $42.99 peak, which is just over 50 cents shy of the five-month peak that was clocked in early August. In the mix has been a measure of Yen outperformance, with USDJPY ebbing to a 12-day low at 105.41 while EURJPY and AUDJPY drifted to respective six- and four-day lows, although both recouped losses during the London AM session.

In stock markets, yesterday’s tech-led rally on Wall Street inspired the MSCI Asia-Pacific index to rally to near to its pre-pandemic January high, while Europe’s STOXX 600 was showing a moderately 0.3% gain in early PM trading. The White House announced yesterday further restrictions on China’s Huawei, which are aimed at limiting the company’s access to commercially available chips and which has the potential to disrupt global supply chains. President Trump, meanwhile, stated that China is meeting its obligations under the Phase 1 trade deal, although a review of the deal has been delayed. Beijing announced that it will be making an anti-dumping inquiry on Australian wine imports. In focus is tomorrow’s publication of the minutes from the recent FOMC meeting, which comes amid market speculation that the Fed may adopt an average inflation target, specifically with the aim of pushing inflation above the 2% target. This has been a Dollar negative, as it has driven real Treasury yields deep into negative terrain.

US Equity markets have opened in positive tones on the back of strong quarterly earnings from key retailers Walmart and Home Depot, USA30 trades at today’s pivot point at 27,855, USA100 sits at 11,338 and the USA500 tests intra-day all-time highs at R1 level at 3391.

 

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Stuart Cowell

Head Market Analyst

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