World
US Dollar Weekly Forecast: DXY Breaks Higher Ahead of the Fed’s Key Inflation Gauge

The US Dollar rallied against its major counterparts this past week. In fact, the DXY Dollar Index rose about 1.9% over the past 2 weeks. That is the best 10-day period for the world’s reserve currency since the middle of September. Let us take a closer look at what happened to the US Dollar and why there could be more strength in store ahead. For one thing, the US Dollar’s ascent has been met with a similar uptake in front-end Treasury Yields. That is a sign that financial markets are slowly pricing out near-term rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, which were aggressively priced ever since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) triggered liquidity and recessionary concerns. In recent weeks, ebbing financial market volatility, sticky underlying US inflation and what appears to be a still-tight labor market underscored economic resilience amidst the most aggressive monetary tightening cycle in decades. Meanwhile, during a speech on Friday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell confirmed that interest rates might not have to rise as far as given recent credit stress. That said, he noted that he did not yet decide about future tightening and highlighted that the market rate path is much different from the central bank’s forecast. As such, markets are only pricing in about a 25% chance of another rate hike in June. As usual, incoming economic data will continue deciding the fate of monetary policy. The US Dollar will be closely eyeing the PCE Core Deflator on Friday, due at 12:30 GMT. The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge is expected to remain unchanged at 4.6% y/y in April. That is not a good sign from the perspective of the central bank. Initial jobless claims will be another interesting print, due at the same time but on Thursday. There may yet be more room to cool near-term rate-cut bets, offering support for the US Dollar. Looking at the daily chart, the US Dollar broke above the 100-day Simple Moving Average (SMA). This might be an early warning sign that the dominant downtrend since September might be turning. Key resistance appears to be the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level at 104.11. Clearing that exposes the March high at 105.88. Otherwise, key support is the 100.82 – 101.29 zone.

Banking
HSBC, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley And RBC Traders May Have Broken Competition Law, Watchdog Finds

Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority said on Wednesday it had provisionally found five major global banks allegedly broke UK competition law by exchanging sensitive information on government bond trading activities in one-to-one online chats. In a statement, the watchdog alleged Citi, Deutsche Bank (ETR: DBKGn), HSBC, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), and Royal Bank of Canada each unlawfully shared information by participating in one or more one-to-one conversations in Bloomberg chatrooms between a small number of traders at varying times between 2009 and 2013. The conversations allegedly related to buying and selling of UK government bonds – specifically, gilts and gilt asset swaps – and included details on pricing and other aspects of their trading strategies, the watchdog said. Deutsche Bank and Citi have admitted to involvement in anti-competitive activity, while HSBC, Morgan Stanley, and Royal Bank of Canada have not admitted any wrongdoing. At this stage, no assumption should be made that any of the banks have broken the law, the CMA said. “A properly functioning, competitive bond market benefits tens of millions of taxpayers and pension savers as well as being at the heart of the UK’s reputation as a global financial hub,” Michael Grenfell, Executive Director of Enforcement at the CMA, said. “These alleged activities are therefore very serious and warrant the detailed investigation we have undertaken. This could have denied taxpayers, pension savers and financial institutions the benefits of full competition for these products, including the minimization of borrowing costs.” The CMA said it would now consider further representations from the banks before reaching a final decision on next steps.
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