Currency markets were quiet in overnight trading with a gain of 0.09% vs. EUR and 0.25% loss vs. SEK defining the dollar’s high-low ranges vs. the G10. The dollar index is -0.01% after rebounding from a 0.20% drop early in today’s trading session.
U.S. yields are higher following today’s better-than-expected weekly jobless claims data, 212k vs. 215k estimate. And the monthly Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook (Fed survey of 125 CEOs taken the first week of April) was 15.5, sharply higher than the 2.0 estimate. Strong data is seen keeping the Fed’s rate policy on hold.
Notable comments from The Fed’s John Williams at a DC summit this morning: I don’t feel urgency to cut rates; the Fed has work to do to lower inflation; rate cuts will be determined by economic activity; Fed rate hikes are not my baseline forecast.
USD/JPY dropped as much as 0.28% overnight after Japan’s Masato Kanda addressed the harmful effects of excessive swings in currency markets. USD/JPY reached 154.78 on Tuesday, a new all-time high which will now operate as short-term resistance.
Oil is +0.45% after dipping 1.37% overnight. The threat of an Israeli retaliatory strike on Iran and a widening conflict in the Middle East is keeping a bid under energy prices.
