The U.S. Dollar Index is down by 0.24% today, reaching an overnight low of 102.001, the weakest point for the dollar benchmark since the first week of this year. The dollar has been on a steady decline since early July when Nonfarm Payrolls were revised lower and the Unemployment Rate reached 4.1% (highest since November 2021), some of the earliest hints of weakness in the labor markets. The next support level for the dollar is at 100.617, the 2023 year-end low.
The dollar is lower in all G10 pairs with the primary loss vs. JPY currently -0.85% (was down as much as 1.62% overnight). Dollar losses are concentrated against commodity currencies NOK (-0.58%), AUD (-0.43%), SEK (-0.39%), and NZD (-0.33%).
The Fed’s Jackson Hole annual economic symposium (titled this year ‘Reassessing the Effectiveness and Transmission of Monetary Policy’) begins this coming Thursday and runs through Saturday. The symposium’s key focus will be on Fed Chairman’s speech on Friday at 10am ET and is virtually guaranteed to be more interesting than the title suggests.
U.S. Treasury yields are little changed vs. Friday’s close. Global equity indexes are mostly higher and the VIX index (equity fear index) is lower for the 8th consecutive day.
The price of gold surged 2.08% last Friday setting a fresh all-time high at $2,509.65oz.
Other economic events for the week include Wednesday’s data release of Mortgage Applications, Weekly Initial Jobless Claims, Manufacturing PMI, and Existing Home Sales on Thursday, and Friday’s New Home Sales.
