Currencies

Watch today’s US Open for insights on the blowout results of AI pioneer Nvidia, poor EZ &UK PMIs and monetary policy outlook ahead of the Fed’s Jackson Hole Symposium

The pair is subdued today as markets await Friday’s speeches by Fed’s Powell and ECB’s Lagarde at Jackson Hole Symposium, amidst uncertain monetary policy outlook

Constrained economic activity in the Euro Area is negatively impacting the EURUSD and influencing ECB policy. As such, the currency pair is sensitive to economic releases. Whilst the central bank has inflation foremost on its mind, the level of Euro Area slowdown cannot be ignored. Flash PMIs that were released today continue to indicate a challenging environment, implying contraction in both the manufacturing and services sectors.

The 10-year real yield and dollar were showing signs of moderation earlier today. However, both instruments’ trend-following indicators have now crossed up.

The 2-year yield serves as a good general proxy for monetary policy direction. The top chart shows the German 2-year yield, representing European monetary policy, and the chart underneath is the US 2-year yield. Since mid-July, the German 2-year has been trending down and the US 2-year has been trending up.

The 10-year real yield, adjusted for inflation, continues to climb. It is trading close to 2% at 1.96%. The last time real yields were at these levels was back in June 2009. This post-inflation yield will be appealing to a significant number of investors, adding increased rivalry for stocks, particularly stocks with elevated valuations. The daily candles in Chart 1 show that the 10-year real yield has charted a higher…

The Peoples Bank of China has stepped up efforts to defend the renminbi. The Chinese currency has been declining off the back of poor economic data and woes in its property sector. This includes a weakening in exports and fragile consumer confidence.

Today’s CPI data from Japan came in mixed, but showed that inflation remains elevated and the pair slides after its 2023 highs, hovering around last year’s intervention levels

The Aussie falls to new lows for the year today, weighed by the increase in Australian unemployment, which can help the central bank stay on the sidelines again

UK headline CPI came in at 6.8% y/y, which was lower than the previous print of 7.9% y/y. However, core CPI is 6.9% y/y, the same as the prior month. Inflation is down from current cycle highs but is still far above the Bank of England’s (BoE) target of 2%.

The UK’s average earnings index 3m/y (including bonuses) printed at 8.2%. This is higher than the previous 7.2% and higher than the forecast of 7.3%. In fact, regular pay grew by 7.8%, which is the highest rate since records began in 2001. This suggests another rate hike by the BoE in September is a distinct possibility.