AUD Bounces Off 0.70 Ahead of RBA Outlook
By Kathy Lien The U.S. dollar rallied on Monday against some but not all of the major currencies. Our readers should not find the rally in USD/JPY or decline in EUR/USD surprising because we talked about how a soft jobs report changes nothing for U.S. policymakers on Friday who are laser focused on…
Antipodeans battle to stem Omicron slide; cryptos lick weekend wounds
By Tom Westbrook SYDNEY (Reuters) – Riskier currencies fought for a foothold on Monday against a dollar, buoyed by uncertainty around the Omicron variant and the expectation of more hot U.S. inflation data putting upward pressure on interest rates. Cryptocurrencies nursed big losses from a wild weekend that at one stage crushed bitcoin…
Dollar – Unfazed by Omicron, Looks Ahead to Good NFP
By Kathy Lien, Health experts around the world are worried about Omicron but investors are not – at least, that’s what the 2% rally in stocks and rebound in the U.S. dollar suggests. Everyone knew that the first cases of Omicron in the U.S. was only a matter of time and having lived…
Aussie, rand flounder as Omicron spooks investors
By Kevin Buckland (Reuters) – The safe-haven yen hovered near a seven-week high on Thursday while the rand and riskier currencies languished as the Omicron coronavirus variant established itself as the dominant strain in South Africa and continued to spread globally. Early indications suggesting Omicron may be markedly more contagious than previous variants…
Dollar Rumbles on Powell vs. Omicron News
By Kathy Lien, Currencies and equities sold off sharply today after Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said, “it is time to retire the word transitory regarding inflation.” Investors bid up the U.S. dollar but having sold off before Powell’s announcement, the greenback was unable to turn positive against all of the major currencies. Today’s…
Currencies stabilise as worst Omicron fears recede
By Kevin Buckland (Reuters) – The dollar hovered on Tuesday above the one-week low against major peers it hit last week, as fears eased that the new Omicron coronavirus variant would derail the U.S. recovery and delay Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. The safe-haven yen stabilised some half a percent off its strongest…
Currencies recover from Omicron chaos but analysts warn more volatility ahead
By Kevin Buckland OTTAWA (Reuters) – Currency markets calmed on Monday in Asia after the initial shock of the discovery of the Omicron coronavirus variant sent investors scurrying for cover last week, but analysts warned of more volatility with little still known about the new strain. The risk-sensitive Australian dollar rose 0.37% to…
Stocks slip, havens rally as new COVID-19 variant spooks investors
By Tom Westbrook SYDNEY (Reuters) – Stocks fell and headed for their largest weekly drop in nearly two months on Friday, while safe haven assets such as bonds and the yen rallied as a new virus variant added to swirling concerns about future growth and higher U.S. interest rates. The variant, detected by…
More Fed officials open to speeding up bond-buying taper, rates liftoff
By Lindsay (NYSE:LNN) Dunsmuir (Reuters) -A growing number of Federal Reserve policymakers indicated they would be open to speeding up the elimination of their bond-buying program if high inflation held and move more quickly to raise interest rates, minutes of the U.S. central bank’s last policy meeting showed. The readout released on Wednesday…
Will Dollar Trot Ahead to Turkey Day?
By Kathy Lien, The U.S dollar rose to 4.5 year highs against the Japanese Yen and 16 month highs against the euro today as Treasury yields extended their gains. With Federal Reserve Chairman Powell’s renomination, investors doubled down on tightening next year. Some market participants looking for as many as three quarter point…
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