Dollar Swells Without Break as S&P 500 Drops, Fisher Warns of Hikes
The dollar was up against most of its major counterparts this past session and the Dow Jones FXCM Dollar Indexposted its first gain in three trading days. Yet, despitethe breadth of the currency’s performance, its momentum was lacking the necessary muscle to revitalize the July bull run. With the dollar, GBP/USD, USD/JPY and AUD/USD still facing boundaries to progress; the focus turns to what can motivate bulls to advance the market. Both of the dollar’s principal drivers were receiving air time on the financial headlines – yet neither has secured conviction. On speculative appetite front, ‘risk aversion’ continues to play out on some markets and is absent in others. Global equities on the one hand are starting to break through critical technical foundations to the bull phase of the past three years, and the S&P 500 stands at its 100-day moving average. On the other, the FX market is showing little of the aversion to risk. And, for the dollar, the safety appeal is through liquidity – an extreme degree. Meanwhile, the timing of the Fed’s return to rate hikes found a big push from known hawk Richard Fisher. The Dallas Fed President suggested the FOMC is coming around to his views and the timing of a hike was moving “further forward”. These are certainly the most hawkish remarks to date, but yields and Fed Funds futures showed little conviction his view was spreading.
British Pound Top Performer as Data Revives BoE Hopes, More Ahead
Among the majors, the British pound was easily the best performer Tuesday with gains against the high yield and safe haven counterparts. Given the currency’s struggles over the past weeks, it would be a stretch to call the advance a tide change; but the performance was well founded via fundamentals. Markit’s service sector PMI for July posted its strongest rate of growth in eight months. Currency and yields responded. Yet, a NIESR report that suggests there is greater labor market slack than appreciated and the series-low BRC inflation index remind us just how fragile the bullish effort can be. Ahead, we have data for housing inflation, industrial production and the NIESR’s GDP estimate.
Euro Faces Top Event Risk in 2Q Italian GDP Release
THe EUR/USD officially closed at its lowest level in 9 months in part on hefty selling pressure this past session (the dollar’s own gains would amplify that particular pair’s performance as well). The data listings were of limited interest, but the universal uptick in Eurozone sovereign bond yields captured the market’s attention effectively enough. In the upcoming session, traders keeping their finger on the Euro’s pulse will watch cautiously to see if the retreat in government debt interest is just another hiccup or the start of something more pervasive. There will also be a risk concern as the region’s equity indexes didn’t suffer the late-NY session drop Tuesday. On the calendar, we have Italy’s 2Q GDP release.
New Zealand Dollar Drops, as Unemployment Rate Drops
The Kiwi was the worst performer amongst the majors this past session and it is already taking the title into morning trade Wednesday. This push is an extension of a three-week decline that has seen the currency drop between 1.7 and 4.0 percent – versus the Canadian and US currencies respectively. As mixed as its motivations may be, risk aversion is certainly contributing to this push. When the market is already in a bearish frame of mind, catalysts tend to be easily found. What is interesting, though, is the Kiwi’s slide this morning. A reported 0.4 percent increase in employment through 2Q – though short of the consensus would still lower the jobless rate to a five-year low 5.6 percent. Then again, a focus on ‘qualitative’ aspects to jobs data recently may leverage the earnings growth miss and drop in participation rate.
Australian Dollar Traders Move on to the Next Round of Data: July Jobs Report
The RBA’s monetary policy decision did little to sway the Aussie dollar one way or the other. A reiteration of keeping interest rates steady for an extended period and lamenting what they consider a still-high exchange rate does little to alter the market’s own view of the currency. Yet, where the in-line policy decision was staged for a volatility disappointment, the upcoming July employment statistics offer a greater chance of volatility. The jobs data has a history of both printing far from consensus and stirring volatility for the Aussie Dollar. Heading into the release, the consensus is for a mild 13,200 net increase in payrolls and a hold for the jobless rate at a decade high 6.0 percent.
Emerging Market Currencies and Bonds Retreat Accelerates
Top, scheduled event risk for the Emerging Markets did little to prompt speculators’ appetites or fear. The Reserve Bank of India maintained a benchmark lending rate of 8.00 percent, while Russia’s service sector and composite PMI figures for July both bested expectations. And yet, the USD/INR only managed a 0.2 percent gain on the USD while the USD/RUB fell another 0.5 percent to a three-month low versus the US currency. The economic rations did little to alter the general performance of the EM segment with investor sentiment under pressure. The MSCI ETF dropped 1.5 percent on the day while the Bloomberg EM sovereign bond index looks to be making a bearish turn in earnest.
Gold Volume Rebounds but Progress Still Elusive
On Tuesday, volume behind Gold futures sunk to its second lowest level – around 78,000 contracts – of 2014. While turnover did pick up this past session (just above 103,000), it is still well below the monthly average. More importantly, the rebound in trading activity meant little for price action. The commodity is still hemmed into a tight congestion pattern with a distinctly bearish bias. For the burgeoning concern in financial market stability, the lack of severity to the move leaves the metal’s performance handily offset by the dollar’s gains. Neither does the drop in yields from the US to the Eurozone to Asia doesn’t seem to leverage the appeal of the commodity with no interest income but a higher standard volatility level. Gold traders await one of the market’s major drivers to finally generate conviction.