The dollar index strengthened overnight as a segment of the
markets seemed to see some marginal signal from Yellen on a possibility of an
earlier hike despite a somewhat balanced prepared testimony. In Yellen’s
semi- annual testimony to the US Senate Committee yesterday, there were no
drastic changes in bias and in her prepared testimony, Yellen reiterated that
interest rates are likely to stay low for a “considerable period” after the
Fed ends its asset-purchase program, which she repeated from the June FOMC
minutes that it could happen following the October meeting. In response to
questions on when the Fed will start to hike rates, she replied “There are
mixed signals concerning the economy...We need to be careful to make sure
that the economy is on a solid trajectory before we consider raising interest
rates,” . But she also said that “If the labour market continues to improve
more quickly than anticipated by the [FOMC] committee, resulting in faster
convergence toward our dual objectives, then increases in the federal funds
rate target likely would occur sooner and be more rapid than currently
envisioned.” Which suggests a 2015 hike. We still have another testimony
tonight.
Equity indices slipped into red. DJI closed flat while S&P and
NASDAQ were down -0.2% and -0.5% respectively. Earlier in the session, dollar
already gained on the back of soggy EUR when the German ZEW survey missed
expectations at 61.8 in Jul vs. 67.7 previously. Survey expectations also slipped
to 27.1 from previous 29.8. Most majors weakened against the greenback but
GBP was the clear outlier which gained +0.4% against the USD for Tue after
its Jun CPI beat consensus. More GBP cues to come from ILO unemployment.
Early starters in Asia already see cautious trade with Nikkei and
Kospi flat. China’s 2Q GDP came in at 7.5%y/y, in line with the annual
target. Focus is quickly shift back to the West for second half of Fed
Yellen’s testimony tonight. Thereafter, the Beige Book is due for release.
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