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Currency Pair of the Week: GBP/USD GBP/USD is one of the most popular pairs to discuss over the last month. When Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced the plans for Prime Minister Truss’s new mini-budget program, markets were concerned as to where the money would come to fund it. The Bank of England had been slowly raising interest rates and investors were weary that the government would now have to borrow money at much higher rates. As a result, the Gilts and the GBP got hammered. A few days later, the BOE intervened in the Gilt market, which brought yields lower the value of the Pound higher. The Central bank said it would continue to intervene in the market as necessary, buying up to 5 billion GBP per day worth of Gilts through October 14th, in order to keep liquidity in the markets. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

EUR/USD trades below 0.9535 as US dollar recovers EUR/USD updated another 20 years low last month, lowest at 0.9535. This was followed by a correction, and the pair came close to the equality level on Tuesday, October 04, rising to 0.9999. However, the happiness of the bulls was short, followed by another reversal to the south and the finish line at 0.9737. The depressed state of the economy against the background of continuing inflation suggests the threat of stagflation in the Eurozone. The increase in energy prices adds to the negative. And it is likely to continue, as the OPEC + countries decided to seriously reduce oil production. Recall that these prices were one of the most powerful triggers for the global wave of inflation. Another negative factor is the proximity of the EU countries to the theater of Russian-Ukrainian military operations, especially since Russian President V. Putin constantly threatens to use nuclear weapons. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

A Turning Point for Policy The RBA surprised markets this week by slowing the pace of rates increase, opting for a 25bp move against expectations of a 50bp increase. Meanwhile, the RBNZ continued to show a heavy hand against domestic inflation pressures, having delivered a fifth consecutive 50bp rate hike. In explaining their decision to raise the cash rate by only 25bp to 2.60% at their October policy meeting, the RBA referenced the considerable amount of financial tightening that has already been implemented, a total of 250bps to date. While the Board were cognizant of the domestic risks around inflation; consumer spending; housing and the labor market, a greater emphasis was placed on concerns around the deterioration in the global economy, likely in response to recent volatility within financial markets. As discussed by Chief Economist Bill Evans, we saw that developments in the global economy actually favored a larger increase at the October meeting, given the strength of US consumer inflation and it’s expected consequences of a more aggressive tightening cycle from the Federal Reserve, and hence further upward pressure on global interest rates. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

U.S. Dollar Index Overview The USD was the most strongest currency yesterday, supported by rising US yields and softer import/export data. And whilst the prices paid component of the ISM services PMI softened to a 20-month of 68.8, it remains historically high relative to its long-term average of 59.8- which suggests the aggressive Fed tightening is yet to make an impact on the inflationary forces of the robust services sector. The main economic event for the dollar this week is tomorrow’s NFP report. There was some excitement that it may come in soft due to the notable fall in job openings, but ADP employment came in slight above expectations at 280k yesterday. But it is all to easy to get caught in the noise of individual data prints, so best to take a wider broader view of underlying trends. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

Oil Prices Mixed as Markets Digest OPEC+ Supply Cut OPEC meeting tomorrow to determine what should be done about the amount of crude oil that is supplies to the market. Two weeks ago, the talk looked like to be whether the countries should do anything at all. However, as the price of oil continues to fall, along with weaker manufacturing data and growing fears of a recession, worries of a lack of demand had set in. Rumors started circulating that OPEC would cut supply by 500,000 bpd to 1,000,000 bpd. Over the weekend, the rumors were that OPEC would cut up to 1,500,000 bpd. Russia is said to be leading the way for the supply cuts, as western countries would then need to look to alternative sources for energy. Earlier today, OPEC canceled the Joint Technical Committee meeting scheduled for 4th October. WTI Crude Oil has been moving aggressively lower since June 14th when oil traded as high as 123.66. The price is moving in a downward sloping channel with brief false breaks above and below the channel. On September 26th, WTI made near-term low of 76.28. Today, Crude Oil has bounced to the top trendline of the channel, up 5%, as traders speculate on the amount of oil OPEC will cut today. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

Recession Fears: The Ukraine war is affecting markets The Ukraine ware is affecting markets around the world and generating extreme volatility. Worries over inflation in Europe have been brewing even before Russia war with Ukraine in February. While some considered it was temporary, others warned that it was a sign of a deeper crisis. Now, six months since the start of the war in Ukraine, is a recession inevitable in Europe? The impacts of the conflict will likely vary depending on geographical location. Europe, and countries such as the Baltic states and Poland, are likely to experience more difficulties than countries that depend less on Russia for energy. Western Europe, in particular Germany, also has no easy alternative energy source to replace natural gas from Russia. After Moscow decided to temporarily suspend its gas supply to Germany, gas prices climbed to 295 Euro per Megawatt-hour. Recent data showed that business activity in Germany and France contracted in August due to falling demand and rising prices. The Euro hit a new 20-year low against the USD, making it more expensive to buy energy on international markets, which is paid with the USD. Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, forecast that inflation, which is at 7.5%, will hit double figures in autumn. In the US there are already signs of improvement as inflation fell in July from 9.1% to 8.5% due to drop in gas prices. However, Europe continues to pay for its dependence on gas and inflation in Europe is already greater than the figure in the US. Falling food prices and fall in oil prices have not been enough to counteract the increase in gas prices in Europe. But some analysts argue that a recession could help deal with inflation, as long as it is not a prolonged recession. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

NZ business sentiment is less dire, RBNZ hint at rate cycle high Business outlook is now -37.6, up 25.9 points higher than the June low. Business outlook rose for a third month and at its fastest m/m pace since December 2020. Activity outlook rose from-4 to -1.8. Import intentions expanded for a second month. A large improvement for profit expectations, even though it remains negative overall. Credit conditions highest since mid-2021. All sectors see improved activity vs 1-year ago. Pricing intentions are still high, but inflation expectations dipped below 6% for the first time in six months. Business sentiment may not be going from strength to strength, but to see pessimism lose its grip after multi-year lows certainly a step in the right direction. Besides, investors tend to look at the rate of change over the absolute level of such indicators, and right now it looks very likely that business sentiment hit its low in June. The inflation and higher rates are having a negative effect on business sentiment. At 3%, RBNZ has one of the highest cash rates among the major economies and second place to the BOC and Fed at 3.25%. It’s likely we’ll see another 25bp hike but it’s also possible we could be nearing the terminal rate. Governor Orr said in August that the next rate move is not obvious and earlier today he said, whilst there’s still work to do regarding rates, the tightening cycle was already very mature. So against that backdrop, we suspect a 25bp hike on October the 5th, and may even see a pause-and will look for such clues in the October statement and minutes. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

US Housing data, Core PCE inflation The slowing US housing market is making alive some memories from the 200—2009 great recession but there is some confusion about whether it’s a red flag for the economy these days. New home sales have been trending downwards so far this year and the August reading is expected to mark a new low at 500k from 511k previously, the lowest in six years. Pending home sales due today could show a steeper contraction of -1.4% from -1.0% previously, remaining negative for the third consecutive month. A stabilization in the red-hot rent market in August, perhaps on the back of state limits in some regions, was probably a catalyst to a softer house demand too. However, more than half of the renters are still facing elevated prices year-on-year and given the inflation in construction materials as well as the tight supply of houses, there is little prospect for a significant slowdown in the market. The strength in the labor market is also a tailwind for the real estate sector, delaying any defaults in loan payments. Personal income and consumption figures and together the core PCE inflation on Friday could provide some updates on that front. Although expectations are for a minor monthly pickup to 0.3% and 0.2% respectively, the indicators may not rise any concerns if they stay within normal levels. A potential mild increase in the core PCE inflation to 4.7% y/y would not be something new either after similar pace in the core CPI inflation reading. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

EUR/USD approaches 0.9600 lows as recovery loses There was a sharp movement in euro which may be missed. The single currency dropped to a fresh low on the year against the greenback, reaching a low of 0.9551 before bouncing back to hit 0.9700, from where it has since drifted back lower. The EUR/USD has now fallen for the fifth consecutive day. However, it was still off the lows at the time of writing, along with the GBP/USD. Will there be any dup buying as we had to the European close? There are no obvious sings of a bottom in the EUR/USD yet, there’s the possibility we may see some short-covering at the start of this week, primarily due to the prospects of some coordinated central bank action while the lack of fresh news may encourage short-side profit-taking. In addition, the ECB is acknowledging that the growth and inflation outlook has bad and that the risks on latter are on the upside because of a weaker exchange rate. This is what President Lagarde said earlier today, which cause a bit if a bounce in the euro, although the upside remained capped as investors worried about the health of the economy. Any front-loading of interest rate hikes will only bring forward the time the ECB cuts again to help boost the economy. The central bank’s hands are tied, like the BoE and others. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

GBP down during Asian Trade The pound was aggressively lower during Asian trade. CME stopped trading of GBP futures. GBP/USD touched a record low. Combination of the UK’s mini budget and flight to the dollar weigh on sterling. The GBP was already facing heavy selling pressure on Friday when the UK’s new chancellor unveiled his new mini budget. The plan has been perceived as a tax cut for the rich alongside higher levels of debt, with one former treasury minister calling budget a “high risk gamble. The week closed with GBP/USD falling to just shy of its all time low set in 1985. And that level did not last very long. In today’s session there is an aggressive selloff for the British pound, which has sent GBP.USD to a fresh record low. Currently down around -2.4%, its within its fifth consecutive down day, which includes a -3.6% decline on Friday. Such levels of volatility have not been seen since March 2020, and not restricted to GBP/USD. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

BOE: Another 50bp hike and we expect more to come The BOE hiked policy rates by 50bp, bringing the bank rate to 2.25. The extent to which fiscal policy is set to boost demand and hence impact policy setting is still highly uncertain. Call for a 50bp hike in November and December and 25bp in February with risks of skewed towards additional hikes in 2023. The Bank Of England increased the Bank Rate by 50bp to 2.25% with 5 member voting for 50bp increase, 3 members voting for 75bp and one member voting for 25bp. As expected, BoE announced that outright government bond selling will start with a total reduction in bond holdings of 80 billion pounds over 12 months. The BoE repeated its meeting-by-meeting approach stating that “Policy is not on a pre-set path” giving close to no forward guidance to markets. One of the key takeaways from the Monetary Policy Summary is that the BoE no longer seem to pencil in a recession by Q4 2022. Note no inflation or growth forecast were published at this interim meeting, but not mentioning a recession gives a hint that the recession won’t hit as soon as BoE predicted in August. This feeds well into our narrative of the Fiscal stimulus providing near-term support to the economy. With newly elected PM Lizz Truss having announced the energy relief plan, which will cap energy prices for households, BoE now sees the peak in CPI inflation to be just below 11% compared to the 13% projected in August. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

How Much FOMC Interest Rate Hike By Fed? The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee lifted the federal funds rate to the 3.0% to 3.25% range and reaffirmed a continuation of its balance sheet runoff. The Fed updated its language stating the “recent indicators point to modest growth in spending and production. Job gains have been robust in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to pandemic, higher food and energy prices, and broader price pressures”. The Summary of Economic Projections was updated from June:- The median projection for real GDP growth was downgraded in 2022. The forecast for 2023,2024,2025 and the longer run came in at 1.2%, 1.7%, 1.8% and 1.8% respectively. The median unemployment rate forecast was 3.8% for 2022. 4.4% for 2023, 4.4% in 2024 and 4.3% in 2025. The longer-run estimate of the unemployment rate stayed the same at 4.0%. On inflation, the median estimate for core PCE was assumed to be 4.5% in 2022, 3.1% in 2023, 2.3% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2025. The median projection for the fed funds rate was lifted to 4.4% in 2022, 4.6% in 2023, 3.9% in 2024, and 2.9% in 2025. The long-run neutral rate was assumed to be 2.5%. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

SNB could surprise (again) with a larger than expected hike The central bank entered ZIRP between 2011-2015 before switching to NIRP with a rate of -0.75%, where it remained until June this year. And with seemingly few paying attention, they not only hiked rates but came out swinging with a 50 bp hike and sent shockwaves across currency markets. This quickly saw the yen strengthen as traders assumed the BOJ would be next to follow, but we’re still waiting and will likely be for some time. But the main point is that the SNB is likely to hike again tomorrow, and it would be wise to at least be prepared for a larger hike than some expect. A recent poll saw economists up their 50bp hike for the SNB to 75bp. But in light of Sweden’s Riksbank hiking by 100bp, wholesale prices in Germany exploding higher and the potential for the Fed to hike by 100bp, the potential for the SNB to join to 100bp club. Besides, they hiked by 50bp when the consensus was for no change at all and have a track record with an element of surprise. Furthermore, the Swiss government upgraded 2022 CPI from 2.5% to 3%, and for 2023 from 1.4% to 2.3%- so perhaps they know something. There are some examples of a strong bullish trend on a currency chart, than CHF/JPY right now. Momentum has been increasing during each impulse move higher, the moving averages are in bullish sequence and fanning out, and prices are respecting the closest average as support. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

Reserve Bank of Australia raises rates again The Reserve Bank Board should slow the pace of rate increases once it reaches its assessment of neutral. That is particularly because of the treacherous lags that will have built up as the inevitable result of such a sharp rate increase in rates, from 0.1% back in May. The Governor has certainly indicated that intention, both in the speech to the Australian Business Economists on September 8 and in the Parliamentary hearing last Friday. The scaling back to a slower pace of tightening could begin from the October meeting, with the cash rate having reached the neutral zone at 2.35%. There has always been some uncertainty as to whether a starting point of 2.35% would be too far below the Governor’s assessment of neutral. He has argued in the past that the real neutral is at least zero, implying a 2.5% nominal rate given longer term inflation expectations. That is above the 2.35% starting point for the October meeting. That 1% growth rate now has some downside risks but for now given the current momentum in the economy, it’s decided not to mark 2023 growth down any further. It’s also noted that since the forecast is 1% growth rate in 2023 we have revised down our 2022 growth rate from4.4% to 3.4% meaning that the level of GDP by end 2023 will be considerably lower than we had expected when we first made the 1% growth forecast. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex

USD Index COT Data from the commitments of traders report US bond yields have continued to rise in an almost parabolic fashion, with 1 year note now just shy of 4%, and the 2-year at 3.8% with an increasingly inverted yield curve. And large speculators are not shy in capitalizing on these lower bond prices- which move inversely to bond yields. Last week they were net-short the 2 year treasury note by-358k contracts, which is their most bearish position since April 2021. The net-short exposure over time it could be argued it is approaching a sentiment extreme. Net-short exposure hasn’t ever spent much below -350k. It’s 3-year Z-score is -2.3 standard deviations. It’s 1-year SD is 2.9 There are 4.6 bears for every bull. Read More : Daily & Weekly Analysis On Xtreamforex