市場新聞與洞察

Data releases this week have hinted that the strong US activity story may be about to turn. The ISM services index declined more than expected, with the “prices paid” component slowing meaningfully to a four-year low. Yesterday, the NFIB reported that small business was looking to cut back on hiring and with small businesses accounting for almost half of total US jobs suggest we could see sub-50k payrolls by June.

Today’s March NFP figure is expected at 214k with some economists predicting a miss to the downside, a print below 200k should put pressure on the dollar given it’s high sensitivity to data recently as the market tries to get ahead of future Fed actions. The US Dollar Index (DXY) is currently trading between resistance at 105, which was the February high, and support at the psychological 104 level. Both these levels will be in play on the back of today’s NFP, FX traders will be watching for breaks or holds of these key levels to gauge short term momentum for DXY.

A May cut from the Fed looks off the table, but June remains in play with odds currently at 60% in the Fed Funds futures market. Should the pricing for a June cut move from 60% to 100%, the dollar may well take a bigger hit than what the swing in rate differentials would imply.

USD continued the move lower sparked by a somewhat dovish Powell in Wednesdays FOMC meeting. And ahead of today’s key NFP print. DXY did hit highs after hot labour costs data, though quickly reversed to hit 3-week lows of 105.29, closing at session lows and looking to test the major support at 105.

JPY was the clear outperformer of G10 currencies, helped by a Reuters report that BoJ data suggesting that the sharp spikes in Yen strength on Monday and Wednesday this week were indeed BoJ intervention. USDJPY dropping almost 4.5% from the spike high early in Monday’s session to be hovering just above the 153 mark coming in to today’s APAC session. CHF was also an outperformer in Thursday’s session, led higher by a hot April Swiss CPI print where the headline figure of 1.4% Y/Y was well above the expected 1.1%.

USDCHF dropped to a low of 0.9094 before finding some buyers at the April support level of 0.9085, this will be a key level to watch in this pair ahead oh US NFP later today.

Mondays FX trade was relatively quiet on ahead of a some key central bank meetings today in the RBA and especially the BoJ. USD saw gains with the Dollar Index (DXY) rising from lows of 103.33 to highs of 103.65, with the index heading into APAC trade near Monday’s session high after yields were higher across the curve ahead of key risk events this week. JPY stuttered against the Dollar with USDJPY rising slightly and holding above the 149 level ahead of today’s BoJ rate decision.

The latest from Nikkei suggests the BoJ is set to end NIRP, end YCC and also end ETF purchases at today’s meeting. Markets are not fully convinced though with rates futures pricing in around a 50-50 chance of a move from the BoJ today, with April being the timeline some economist’s favour. AUDUSD was flat ultimately flat with AUDUSD rallying modestly in the APAC and UK session before paring gains in the US session ahead of today’s RBA meeting.

The Aussie central bank is widely expected to hold rates, but it will be the statement and presser to see what level of tightening bias (if any) the RBA still holds that will move the Aussie. Gold bounced back modestly, despite a mostly bid USD and higher yields, finding buyers and holding the key 2150 USD an ounce support level.

The negative dollar reaction to a modest tick-up in US jobless claims yesterday (231k versus consensus 212k) where the US Dollar Index (DXY) dropped from session highs at 105.74 to close at session lows of 105.20 seems to be telling FX traders that tells us that: a) markets are probably lacking some sense of direction in the period between payrolls and US CPI. b) the generally overbought dollar remains quite vulnerable to even slightly softer US data releases. c) markets may be buying in more convincingly on the softening US jobs market narrative. Beyond very short-term price movements, it’s looking like the key for the USD to trend materially lower remains inflation. Consensus is looking at 0.3% month-on-month core CPI print on Wednesday, which is still too high for the Fed to start cutting rates this summer.

Today’s US calendar includes only the University of Michigan surveys. Markets will be watching closely whether the medium and long-term inflation expectations have moved at all from April’s 3.0/3.2% levels. From the Fed the most interesting speaker will be Neel Kashkari, who recently argued for a higher neutral rate, which would suggest current monetary policy is not as restrictive as perceived.

USD was notably lower after what was seen as a dovish FOMC meeting on Wednesday. The Fed 2024 median dot was left unchanged with 3 cuts for 2024 still the Fed forecast but the dovish part came at the presser where Fed Chair Powell downplayed the hot January and February CPI numbers. This dovish tilt saw risk assets surge and the USD dump.

USDJPY bucked the weak Dollar trend pushing up to 152 before the result from the FOMC saw it pare some of those gains. A hawkish BoJ source reporting in Nikkei that suggested another hike could come in July or October also supporting the Yen somewhat. There is also speculation if the Yen weakness were to continue the BoJ/MoF could step in to intervene, with ING noting that local accounts felt that 155 would be red line.

Gold ripped to all time highs, with XAUUSD hitting a high of 2222 USD an ounce on the back of USD weakness and falling yields post FOMC, before falling back just above the old high at 2195 heading into the APAC session. Today ahead, more Central Bank action out of the BoE and SNB for FX traders to look forward to.

USD was slightly lower on Monday with DXY hitting a low of 104.140, holding above the 104 support level. News was light with only New Home Sales of any note, which missed modestly to the downside (662k vs the expected 675k). There was some Fed speak, the highlight being Fed hawk Bostic where he reiterated his desire of just one rate cut in 2024, this failed to make much impact on the Dollar though.

AUD and NZD saw gains to differing degrees against the USD with AUD outperforming, continuing the steep rally in AUDNZD to see the pair touching on 1.09 and firmly in overbought territory. Both AUD and NZD supported by the surprise Yuan fix by the PBoC that was much firmer than forecast. AUDUSD initially tested Friday's low at 0.6510, before the fix and improving risk sentiment saw it reverse course to hit a high of 0.6546.

USDJPY was ultimately flat in a tight ranged session. Some more jawboning from top currency diplomat Kanda saying that the BoJ has been closely watching “FX moves with a high sense of urgency and will take appropriate steps to respond” saw the talk of intervention arise with Bank of America noting that intervention is seen as a 'realistic option' to support the Yen, especially if the USDJPY cross rises to the 152-155 zone.