Bailey speech: Bank rate may have to go up further

 Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey is delivering his remarks on the policy outlook and responding to questions from the press following the bank's decision to hike the policy rate by 75 basis points to 3%.

Key takeaways

"If we do not act forcefully now, it will be tougher later."

"Bank rate may have to go up further."

"We think bank rate will have to up by less than priced in markets."

"We are increasing bank rate because inflation is too high."

"Low and stable inflation is the bedrock of a stable economy."

About Andrew Bailey (via bankofengland.co.uk)

"Andrew Bailey previously held the role of Deputy Governor, Prudential Regulation and CEO of the PRA from 1 April 2013. While retaining his role as Executive Director of the Bank, Andrew joined the Financial Services Authority in April 2011 as Deputy Head of the Prudential Business Unit and Director of UK Banks and Building Societies. In July 2012, Andrew became Managing Director of the Prudential Business Unit, with responsibility for the prudential supervision of banks, investment banks and insurance companies. Andrew was appointed as a voting member of the interim Financial Policy Committee at its June 2012 meeting."

UK PM Truss Spokesman: Working in preparation for a medium-term fiscal plan on October 31

 UK PM Liz Truss's spokesman said in a statement on Friday, “we are working in preparation for a medium-term fiscal plan on October 31.”

 He added that “the new PM will decide whether it will be delivered then.”

Market reaction

GBP/USD found some support on the above headlines, as it moved away from weekly lows at 1.1100, currently trading at 1.1130, still down 0.91% so far.

Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD to slide below the $1,620 support – ANZ

 Gold prices are likely to fall back to the previous low of $1,620 as bearish momentum is set to continue, economists at ANZ Bank report.

Bearish trend to continue

“Strong US job reports, and higher inflation led gold to resume its downtrend, and it is likely to fall below $1,600.”

“Immediate support lies at $1,620, the previous low. A break of this support should see prices touching the lower bound of the downward channel, which will be below $1,600.

“Immediate resistance is at $1,715, and an upward break of this level would see the next resistance point at $1,800, which will also mark a reversal of downtrend.”

South Korea: BoK raised rates by 50 bps – UOB

 Economist at UOB Group Ho Woei Chen, CFA, comments on the latest interest rate decision by the Bank of Korea (BoK).

Key Takeaways

“Bank of Korea (BoK) ratcheted up its benchmark base rate by an outsized 50bps to 3.00% in Oct. This was the second time that the central bank had hiked by a 50bps pace following a similar move in Jul. The strengthened policy move was in response to the high inflation as well as sharp depreciation in the won which was seen adding more inflationary pressure through higher imported prices.”

“Despite opting for a larger 50bps hike, BoK’s tone was evidently more downbeat as Governor Rhee Chang-yong flagged weaker growth outlook for the global and South Korean economies.”

EUR/JPY Price Analysis: Still scope for a move to 144.00

 

• EUR/JPY comes under some pressure and fades two daily gains in a row.
• There is still room for a potential rebound to the 144.00 region.

EUR/JPY seems to have met decent resistance around daily highs near 142.30 at the end of the week.

The continuation of the bounce off last week’s lows remains on the table in the very near term. That said, the cross could therefore extend the bullish attempt to the weekly top at 144.04 (September 20), which is deemed as the last defense for a move to the 2022 peak at 145.63 (September 12).

In the meantime, while above the key 200-day SMA at 135.84, the constructive outlook for the cross should remain unchanged.

Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD plunges to new two-year-lows below $1640

 

• Gold price tanked to new two-and-half years low at $1638.90.
• Global S&P PMIs revealed in the EU, UK, and the US sparked investors’ recession fears, increasing appetite for the safe-haven US dollar.
• Gold Price Analysis: A break below $1638 to send XAU/USD towards $1600.
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Gold price slides to fresh two-and-half-year lows dampened by a risk-off mood and flows towards the US dollar, which rose to new two-decade highs. Overall, US dollar strength and higher US Treasury bond yields are two reasons for the fall in the precious metals complex, mainly the yellow metal. At the time of writing, XAU/USD is trading at $1643.50 a troy ounce.

US equities dropped as Wall Street closed with hefty losses between 1.62% and 1.80% on Friday. The US 10-year benchmark note rate retraced from yielding 3.829% and is set to end the week below the 3.70% threshold. On the same note, the US 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) bond yield weighed on the non-yielding metal, set to finish at 1.33%.

USD strength to persist into early next year – Rabobank

 In the view of economists at Rabobank, the US dollar is set to remain well supported for several months with the hawkish position of the Fed underpinning the attraction of the greenback as a safe haven.

Scope for further dips in EUR/USD below parity

“As the Fed still has a lot of work to do in taming price pressures and ensuring that inflation expectations are well anchored into the medium-term, it can be assumed that the FOMC will not be ready to relinquish its hawkish position just yet. Since this will impact risky assets, we see risk that USD strength persists into early next year.”

“We expect the USD to remain the favoured safe haven relative to either the JPY or the CHF in view of higher US short-term interest rates.”

“Given also that the eurozone is facing a difficult winter which includes the possibility of energy rationing for some businesses, we see scope for further dips in EUR/USD below parity.”

BOE’s Pill: All inflation forecasts are dependent on very volatile gas prices

 

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Bank of England (BOE) Chief Economist Huw Pill is testifying on the bank’s Monetary Policy Report (MPR) before Parliament's Treasury Committee on Wednesday.

Also read: Bailey speech: Confident BOE will respond to price shock

Key comments

Goldman Sachs UK inflation forecasts are mechanical implication of wholesale gas markets.

Goldman Sachs forecasts illustrate how much market prices have changed since BOE prepared Aug inflation forecast.

Some of rise in gas prices has reversed since Goldman inflation forecast.

All inflation forecasts are dependent on very volatile gas prices.

Inflation forecast also depends on machinery by which wholesale gas prices translate into retail prices.

Politicians are considering transmission of wholesale gas prices to consumer.

Seems clear to me we will see changes in this area.

Inflation impact of future fiscal stimulus depends on details.

Supporting household incomes will boost demand, leading to slightly stronger inflation.

I would expect headline inflation to decline in short term.

Implication for inflation at monetary policy relevant horizon is unclear, given lack of detail.

Very short-term impact on government measures on inflation may not be most important thing for BOE.

Must emphasise importance of BOE inflation target as anchor, not consider new regime.

We are here to ensure fiscal policy does not generate inflation.

We think output measures of GDP are better measures of activity, as less distorted by problems with trade figures.

Hopefully quality of trade data will improve over time.

UK: Liz Truss wins contest to become the next UK Prime Minister

 Liz Truss won the Conservative Party leadership race to become the next British Prime Minister.

"I will deal with long-term issues on energy supply," Liz Truss said in her acceptance speech and noted that she will deal with the crisis in households' energy bills.

Additional takeaways

"I will govern as a conservative."

"I intend to deliver what we promised voters in 2019."

"I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy."

"We will deliver a great victory for the conservative party in 2024."

Market reaction

The UK's FTSE 100 Index showed no immediate reaction to these comments and was last seen losing 0.6% on a daily basis. Meanwhile, the GBP/USD pair continues to fluctuate at around 1.1500 during the European trading hours.

US Dollar Index Price Analysis: The surpass of the YTD high exposes 109.77

 

• DXY remains bid and flirts with the 2022 top near 109.30.
• Further north of comes the September 2002 high around 109.80.

DXY keeps the rally well and sound and trades at shouting distance from the YTD highs near 109.30 on Tuesday.

The continuation of the upside momentum looks increasingly likely in the very near term. That said, beyond the 2022 high at 109.29 (July 14) the index could challenge the September 2002 peak at 109.77 prior to the round level at 110.00.

In the meantime, while above the 6-month support line near 105.10, the index is expected to keep the short-term positive stance.

Looking at the long-term scenario, the bullish view in the dollar remains in place while above the 200-day SMA at 100.49.

USD/TRY leaps to fresh 2022 peaks past 18.00 after CBRT cut rates

 

• USD/TRY clinches new YTD tops beyond the 18.00 mark.
• The pair now targets the all-time top at 18.25 (December 20 2021).
• The Turkish central bank reduced the policy rate by 100 bps.
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The Turkish lira debilitates to fresh lows vs. the greenback and pushes USD/TRY past the 18.00 yardstick for the first time since December 2021.

USD/TRY now targets the all-time high at 18.25

USD/TRY leaves behind the key barrier at 18.00 after the Turkish central bank (CBRT) caught the markets off guard and reduced the One-Week Repo Rate by a full point to 13.00% at its meeting earlier on Thursday. the central bank also cut the Overnight Borrowing Rate and the Overnight Lending Rate by 100 bps to 11.50% and 14.50%, respectively.

In its statement, the CBRT continues to see domestic inflation largely driven by higher energy costs exclusively on the back of geopolitical events and “effects of pricing formations that are not supported by economic fundamentals”.

When is the Canadian monthly jobs report and how could it affect USD/CAD?

 

Canadian employment details overview

Statistics Canada is scheduled to publish the monthly employment details for July later this Friday at 12:30 GMT. The Canadian economy is anticipated to have added 20K jobs during the reported month, up sharply from the 43.2K decline reported in June. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is expected to edge higher to 5.0% in July from the 4.9% previous.

Analysts at TD Securities (TDS) are more optimistic about the report and explain: “We look for job growth of 38k in July, driven by a partial rebound for trade services and natural resources after their sharp decline in June. Full-time hiring should lead the increase, while stronger labour force participation should keep unemployment stable at 4.9%. We also expect to see wage growth firm to 6.0% y/y in July, although AHE (Average Hourly Earnings) should slow on a m/m basis.”

Fed's Bostic: Fed is going to have to do more with interest rates

  "The Federal Reserve is going to have to do more with interest rates but details depend on the flow of data in coming months," Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said on Friday, as reported by Reuters.

Additional takeaways

"The country is not in recession, but the real question is whether current conditions are creating hardship, inflation needs to be addressed."

There is still more work to be done on bringing demand and supply into balance."

"Rate hikes could hurt job growth, but so far seems there is momentum for continued hiring."

"Possible to control inflation while limiting the number of families who have really bad outcomes."

"The US is a ways from a recession, though concerned that recession fears could become self-fulfilling."

Market reaction

These comments don't seem to be having a significant impact on the greenback's performance against its rivals. As of writing, the US Dollar Index was down 0.25% on the day at 105.92.

Germany's Habeck: We want to prevent a domino effect in gas market

  

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Tuesday that they will stick to their plan of prioritizing private households in case of a gas emergency, as reported by Reuters.

"The gas market situation is tense, cannot say whether more protection measures will be needed," Habeck added. "We want to prevent a domino effect in the gas market."

Market reaction

Safe-haven flows continue to dominate the financial markets following these remarks. As of writing, Germany's DAX 30 Index was down 1.5% on the day at 12,580.50 points.

USD/CHF pares intraday gains to fresh YTD peak, downside seems limited amid stronger USD

 

• USD/CHF jumped to a fresh YTD peak on Wednesday amid the prevalent USD buying interest.
• Bets for aggressive Fed rate hikes, a bleak global economic outlook continued boosting the USD.
• The risk-on impulse could undermine the safe-haven CHF and supports prospects for further gains.

The USD/CHF pair retreated a few pips from its highest level since May 2020 touched during the first half of the European session and was last seen trading just below the mid-0.9600s.

The pair prolonged its recent strong bullish run witnessed since the beginning of this month and gained follow-through traction for the fifth successive day on Wednesday. The momentum was sponsored by sustained buying around the US dollar, which climbed to a more than two-year peak amid the prospects for a more aggressive policy tightening by the Fed.

Investors now expect the Fed to raise interest rates by 50 bps at each of its next four meetings in May, June, July and September. The bets were reaffirmed by the recent hawkish comments by influential FOMC members, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell. This, along with the deteriorating global economic outlook, boosted the greenback's reserve currency status.

Expectations for rapid interest rate hikes in the US, prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict and the latest COVID-19 outbreak in China have raised fears of stalling global growth. Investors now seem worried that Russia could follow through on its threat to halt gas flows to countries that refuse to pay for fuel in roubles and cut off supplies to Europe.

That said, extremely overbought conditions held back traders from placing fresh bullish bets and kept a lid on any further gains for the USD/CHF pair, at least for now. The intraday bias, however, remains tilted in favour of bulls amid the prevalent strong bullish sentiment surrounding the USD and the risk-on impulse, which tends to undermine the safe-haven Swiss franc.

Market participants now look forward to second-tier US economic releases for some impetus later during the early North American session. The data, along with Fed rate hike expectations, would influence the USD price dynamics. Traders will further take cues from the broader market risk sentiment to grab some short-term opportunities around the USD/CHF pair.

When is the US monthly jobs report (NFP) and how could it affect EUR/USD?

 

US monthly jobs report overview

Friday's US economic docket highlights the release of the closely-watched US monthly jobs data. The popularly known NFP report is scheduled for release at 12:30 GMT and is expected to show that the economy added 490K new jobs in March, down from the 678K reported in the previous month. The unemployment rate is expected to edge lower to 3.7% from 3.8% in February. Apart from this, investors will take cues from Average Hourly Earnings amid expectations for a more aggressive policy response to contain high inflation. 

As Joseph Trevisani, Senior Analyst at FXStreet, explains: “It is becoming clear that the reconstitution of the labor market is not enough to prevent inflation from crippling the economic recovery. The crucial factor is consumer spending. About two-thirds of US economic activity can be directly traced to personal expenditures. The availability of jobs and the ability of workers to seek higher wages are the main supports for consumer spending.”

GBP/USD Price Analysis: Seems vulnerable near 1.3100 mark, bearish flag breakdown in play

The GBP/USD pair extended last week's retracement slide from the 1.3300 mark, or the 200-period EMA on the 4-hour chart and witnessed some follow-through selling on Monday. This marked the fourth successive day of a negative move and dragged spot prices to over a one-week low, around the 1.3110 region during the mid-European session.

The US dollar continued drawing support from rising bets for a 50 bps Fed rate hike move at the May meeting. Conversely, the sterling was weighed down by dovish remarks from the Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, saying that we are starting to see evidence of a growth slowdown. This, in turn, exerted downward pressure on the GBP/USD pair.

 Looking at the broader picture, the pair on Friday confirmed a break through an ascending trend channel, which constituted the formation of a bearish flag pattern. Sustained weakness below the 1.3100 round-figure mark will further validate the bearish bias and set the stage for a further near-term depreciating move for the GBP/USD pair.

The next relevant support is pegged near the 1.3070 region, below which the downward trajectory could further get extended towards the 1.3035 intermediate support. The GBP/USD pair could eventually drop back to challenge the key 1.3000 psychological mark, or the lowest level since November 2020 touched earlier this month.

On the flip side, attempted recovery moves might now confront stiff resistance near the 1.3150-1.3160 region. Any subsequent move up is more likely to attract fresh selling and remain capped near the 1.3180-1.3185 zone. This is closely followed by the 1.3200 mark, which if cleared decisively might prompt some short-covering around the GBP/USD pair.

GBP/USD 4-hour chart

Euro edges higher as focus on Ukraine, yen rebounds vs dollar

The euro was edging higher on Friday, but concerns about a potential slowdown of the economy kept it in a tight range, while the dollar weakened as investors priced in the expected monetary tightening from the Federal Reserve.

"The combination of lingering Russia-related risks, high energy prices and Fed-ECB policy divergence still points to a weaker, rather than stronger, EUR/USD,” ING analysts said.

"EUR-USD remains quite stuck at around 1.10, with better-than-expected PMI surveys across the eurozone for March not sufficient to induce buying interest,” Unicredit (MI:CRDI) analysts said in a research note.

German business morale deteriorated in March due to worsening supply chain issues resulting from high petrol prices and driver shortages, a survey showed on Friday.

The single currency rose 0.1% to $1.1016

Derek Halpenny, head of global research markets at MUFG, said in a note to clients that some renewed optimism over the prospect of the end of the conflict in Ukraine “helped improve financial market conditions and weaken the U.S. dollar.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainians "need to achieve peace" and halt Russian bombardment.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against six peers, edged 0.1% lower to 98.631

BofA analysts underlined markets priced in next moves from the Fed even before it started and a lot more rapidly than during the previous tightening cycle between 2015 and 2018.

Money markets are betting on 190 bps of Fed rate hikes by year-end, including an 80% chance of a 50 bps in May. [IRPR]

Japan’s yen staged a rebound versus the greenback, up 0.6%, after hitting a fresh low since December 2015 overnight on the difference in rate hike expectations between the Bank of Japan and other major central banks.

Analysts flagged that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) provided a bullish signal as it refrained from stepping into the market Friday morning, even as the 10-year government bond yield rose above the level at which the central bank had offered to buy an unlimited amount in February.

However, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda clarified that a weak yen benefits the economy.

“We don't expect a significant further depreciation of the yen versus the dollar. We think that at 115, it is fairly valued considering the Japanese central bank's dovish stance,” Roman Ziruk, market analyst at Ebury, said.

The Norwegian crown was down 0.2% lower against the euro after rising the previous day as the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate and said it now plans to hike at a faster pace than previously intended.

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