The US dollar looks set to end a third week higher against most major currencies amid mounting evidence that the US economy started the year on strong footing . In particular, hawkish FOMC minutes and a strong monthly rise in US PCE supported the dollar …
24th February 2023
It has been a tumultuous year since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Energy markets are still in a state of flux, though they have calmed significantly. (The prices of European gas and Brent crude have fallen ~85% and ~35% from their respective peaks.) …
Another round of robust US economic data and renewed hawkish rhetoric from Fed officials has given the US dollar a boost this week. With economic activity holding up better than we and most others had anticipated and price pressures appearing more …
17th February 2023
Most commodity prices fell this week (1 & 2) due to concerns about the persistence of high inflation in the US. Data showed US CPI inflation coming in slightly stronger than expected in January, pushing up interest rate expectations and giving a boost …
The US dollar is set to end the week a touch stronger against most currencies, adding to its gains last week. But, aside from the Japanese yen round-tripping on news over the next BoJ governor, it’s been a relatively quiet week for the greenback – not …
10th February 2023
It was a fairly quiet week in commodities markets, although oil prices rose on concerns about earthquake-related disruption to exports from the Turkish port of Ceyhan and Russia’s announcement of a 0.5m bpd cut to production in March. By contrast, the …
The US dollar looks likely to record its largest weekly rise against other major currencies since its cyclical peak in September of last year. While investors’ dovish interpretations of announcements by the Fed, BoE, and ECB led the dollar on a roundtrip …
3rd February 2023
The EU’s ban on imports of Russian petroleum products will come into force on Sunday, which could raise EU fuel prices and weigh on Russia’s product exports. However, we suspect Russia will offer steep discounts to non-EU buyers , which will help to …
After rising sharply for much of this year, the Lunar New Year holiday in China meant that commodity prices generally took a bit of a pause this week. The only exceptions were natural gas prices, which continued to plunge, owing to lower-than-normal …
27th January 2023
The US dollar looks set to end another week broadly unchanged against most major currencies. Activity data released this week seemed consistent with resilience in European economies and near-recessionary conditions in the US , and we have revised our …
The US dollar looks set to end the week broadly flat against most other major currencies after, by recent standards, a quiet week in FX markets. But Wednesday may have offered a glimpse of what is to come over the coming months – weak US retail sales and …
20th January 2023
The end of China’s zero-COVID policy continued to support most commodity prices this week, with many industrial metals prices extending their recent rallies. Economic activity appears to be recovering unexpectedly quickly in China and we have upgraded our …
The dismantling of China’s zero-COVID policy has come quicker than we and many had expected. Whereas we previously thought the first quarter would bring the worst of the economic disruption from surging COVID cases, it now appears the worst is behind us …
13th January 2023
The US dollar has remained under pressure as hopes of a “soft landing” continue to build and risk sentiment improves. While yesterday’s key US CPI data came out roughly in line with consensus expectations, and the market reaction was more limited than …
Financial markets have begun 2023 on a cautious note, see-sawing on mixed data. Although it has dropped back today, the US dollar has started the new year on the front foot, rising against most other major currencies on the week as a whole. That said, …
6th January 2023
Most commodity prices declined this week, with energy prices falling especially sharply. Unseasonably mild weather in Europe and the US weighed on heating demand, prompting a plunge in gas prices. The European natural gas price currently sits at levels …
The BoJ’s surprise decision to widen the tolerance band around its yield curve control target earlier this week will hopefully prove the final curveball of what has been an eventful year across currency markets. The yen has surged around 3% against the …
23rd December 2022
It was a fairly quiet week in commodity markets. The only notable move was a slump in natural gas prices. The EU eventually agreed its long-discussed natural gas price cap early in the week, but it comes with so much conditionality that it is difficult to …
After a choppy few days in financial markets, the US dollar is ending the week a touch stronger against most other major currencies as risk sentiment has worsened sharply in the wake of the latest round of central bank meetings. We suspect this will …
16th December 2022
The raft of inflation data and central bank policy decisions were key drivers of prices this week, but to some extent China stole the show. We now think that a dismantling of the zero-COVID policy is well underway. On paper, the removal of restrictions …
Even after a small boost following the release of US PPI data today, the US dollar seems set to end this “data-light” week broadly unchanged against most major currencies. By contrast, we suspect next week will prove more volatile given the ten major …
9th December 2022
A few weeks ago, we flagged the growing downside risks to our oil price forecasts due to weak Chinese demand. Despite the loosening of China’s COVID restrictions since then, we think the end to the flagship zero-COVID policy will only come in April 2023 …
Today’s US non-farm payrolls data provided some relief to the US dollar, but it still looks set to end the week lower against most major currencies. This weakness mostly reflects the market reaction to Fed Chair Powell’s much-anticipated speech on …
2nd December 2022
There have been a few developments this week that have exacerbated downside risks to our current commodity price forecasts. First, new COVID-19 cases continued to surge to record highs in China, increasing the possibility of harsh widespread lockdowns . …
25th November 2022
The US dollar came under renewed pressure and is set to end the week lower against most major currencies. To a large extent, this weakness came in response to surprisingly strong durable goods data easing recession fears, as well as the minutes from the …
Banxico tightening debate set to heat up Data and developments this week suggest that the debate at Banxico over when to end the tightening cycle is set to heat up. The risks are tilting towards rates rising a bit more than we currently expect. …
The dollar has recouped a bit of ground this week as Treasury yields have stabilised and the rally in risky assets has stalled, but the greenback remains well below its late September peak. As we suggested that they might, Fed officials have pushed back …
18th November 2022
Most prices fell this week as soaring COVID-19 cases in China raised concerns about the country’s commodity demand. Given the negative impact of COVID-related lockdowns on travel, it is no surprise that there was particular weakness in the price of …
Commodity prices surged late in the week on the back of a slump in the US dollar, a fall in US real yields and some easing of COVID-related restrictions in China. However, we doubt that this heralds the start of a renewed upturn in prices. The …
11th November 2022
The dollar is set to end the week substantially lower, adding today to its broad-based weakness following the softer-than-expected US October CPI report . The data were in line with our view that inflation in the US economy is easing, and investors have …
After another turbulent week in currency markets, the US dollar looks set to end the week a touch lower against most major currencies after a mixed US payrolls report and hopes that China is about to relax its “zero-COVID” policy offset the …
4th November 2022
Most commodity prices rallied on Friday as rumours circulated that China was considering a relaxation of its zero-COVID policy. However, in the absence of any official statements to that effect and the relatively low levels of vaccination, we are …
Currencies in some of the largest frontier markets, including Nigeria and Vietnam, have come under pressure recently as the external backdrop has deteriorated and domestic policy concerns have mounted. With FX reserves generally limited, this will put …
3rd November 2022
Most commodity prices tracked the US dollar this week, falling sharply at the start of the week before staging a partial recovery in the latter half. Further dollar appreciation is likely given that the Fed looks set to raise its target rate by a chunky …
28th October 2022
The dollar looks set to end the week lower against most major currencies after an article today by the WSJ’s often well-informed Fed reporter, Nick Timiraos, suggesting some FOMC officials favour a (somewhat) less aggressive pace of tightening sent …
21st October 2022
The big story this week has been the roughly 20% week-on-week fall in the European natural gas price , as mild autumn weather has combined with weak economic activity and the still-high gas price to drag demand lower than usual for the time of the year. …
The dollar is ending another volatile week in FX markets a touch higher against most major currencies. The market reaction to the upside surprise in September’s US CPI data (released yesterday) was perplexing, with US yields and the dollar initially …
14th October 2022
This week, commodity prices continued to be caught in the middle of an ongoing tug of war between tight supply and deteriorating demand. We ultimately expect that to play out in two different ways over the rest of this year. On the one hand, the deficit …
The dollar looks set to end the week on the front foot, having rallied over the past three days after a weak spell following the BoE’s intervention in the Gilt market last Wednesday. The key driver behind this rebound has been robust US data: September’s …
7th October 2022
Crude oil prices rose by around 10% this week as OPEC+ announced a 2m bpd cut to its production quota, which all but guarantees that the market will be in a deficit in Q4. Accordingly, we are sticking to our forecast that the oil price (Brent) will be …
During yet another tumultuous week in financial markets, the dollar has dropped back over the past couple of days after intervention by the BoE (in the gilt market) and the PBOC (in the renminbi) provided a degree of relief across equity, bond, and …
30th September 2022
The US dollar completed a round trip this week, continuing its relentless rise against most currencies early in the week, but then started to fall back from Wednesday afternoon and is now a touch lower than where it started. Predictably, this weighed on …
Another eventful week in financial markets has seen the US dollar strengthen across the board as the FOMC’s 75bp hike and Chair Powell’s hawkish message hammered risk sentiment. The dollar is now near, or through, many of our (previously …
23rd September 2022
Most commodity prices plunged this week on the back of monetary tightening by many major central banks, including the Fed, and an appreciation of the US dollar. There is still considerable uncertainty about the scale of the global economic downturn, but …
The US dollar has added to its post-CPI surge, leaving it stronger this week against all major currencies on the back of expectations for even tighter Fed policy and weaker appetite for risk. Although our central forecasts imply that yield gaps will …
16th September 2022
Most commodity prices have struggled to make gains since the US August CPI data were published on Tuesday. The unexpectedly strong reading prompted a rise in Treasury yields and US dollar appreciation, both of which are negatively correlated with …
Energy markets took centre stage this week as demand concerns outweighed supply concerns, dragging prices down. Even the decision by OPEC+ on Monday to cut oil output quotas for October by 100,000 bpd failed to prevent the Brent crude oil price sliding …
9th September 2022
Today’s sell-off in the US dollar has left it little changed against most major currencies since last Friday. The catalysts for today’s decline, from fresh multi-decades highs, seem to be the ongoing hawkishness of the ECB and the rebound in risk …
While the dollar eased back a little after today’s US non-farm payrolls report led to a reversal in US interest rate expectations, news that the Nordstream pipeline may not reopen as planned has seen it rebound. The greenback looks set to end the week …
2nd September 2022
Growing fears about demand hit all commodity groups hard this week as China tightened restrictions in response to renewed virus outbreaks. Energy prices took a big leg down from their highs reached last week , particularly natural gas, despite gas flows …