US bonds remain under selling pressure ahead of the release of the US inflation report today. This makes it more difficult for yields to rise further in the event of a positive surprise, however, the near end of the curve may be more sensitive to the release, since the Fed, as we know, can only influence short-term market rates. In addition, inflation data may finally affect expectations regarding the Fed’s decision to sell bonds from the balance sheet (quantitative tightening).
The first half of the week proved to be trendless for the dollar, the US currency erased gains fueled by the strong unemployment report published last Friday. There will be a major event today in terms of implications for Fed policy that is likely to be the most important not only this week, but even this month. The US CPI is expected to indicate a weakening in headline inflation and an acceleration of core inflation above 6% YoY.
Sustained high core inflation, which is more difficult to control via monetary tightening should be an argument in favor of the Fed’s position, which says that much remains to be done to restore price stability. In addition, core inflation, in line with the forecast, should reinforce expectations that the Fed will raise rates by another 125 bps before the end of the year. If there is no significant acceleration above the forecast, which will be very unexpected, because preliminary data indicate a reversal in the price growth trend, then the impact of the report on the foreign exchange market will be limited to keeping the dollar within its current range (106-107 on DXY). There is still a little more than a month before the Fed meeting in September, and if volatility remains low, interest in carry trading will additionally provide moderate support to the dollar due to the fact that the supply of low-yield currencies such as EUR and JPY will increase.
EURUSD continues to dangle near annual lows, and apart from an increase in expectations of easing of the Fed’s tightening pace, there are no reliable fundamental grounds to hold a bullish view on the pair. Geopolitical risks and uncertainty in the EU’s energy security continue to be a source of significant premium in the common currency. Since there are no reports on the EU economy today, the movement in the pair will most likely be tied to the release of the CPI. The decrease in potential volatility in currency options suggests that the market has no desire to test lower levels (1.00-1.01). At the same time, technical analysis indicates a gradual increase in pressure from buyers after the main rebound wave, which increases the chances of an upward breakout:
China’s June decline in inflation, both manufacturing and consumer, increases the chances of seeing a favorable outcome for the markets with the US CPI release today. Today’s report on China showed that consumer inflation was 2.7% against the forecast of 2.9%, manufacturing inflation – 4.2% against the forecast of 4.8% in July.
Source: Tickmill