Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly said on Friday that the latest Omicron wave will extend the time period that inflation will remain high. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said on Friday that he expects the Omicron wave to temporarily prolong and intensify …
Read More »Market Drivers – US Session – 13 January
The market has stabilized, with the US dollar consolidating losses on Thursday. Risk appetite retreated, preventing the dollar index from falling further. Intraday gains of the American currency helped correct oversold conditions reached one day following Wednesday’s selloff.The Federal Reserve’s hawkish language was much assessed and digested in ahead of …
Read More »Despite Edging Lower, Gold Exhibits Innate Ability To Rally When Consensus Is bearish
Gold futures edged lower on Thursday, with prices on track to post their first loss in five sessions, after a rise in the US producer price index reading for December came in below market expectations.It could be argued that the bullish case for gold is its reputation as an inflation …
Read More »Waller: Fed Balance Sheet Start Shrinking By Summer
Federal Reserve’s Christopher Waller said three hikes in 2022 are still a good baseline but he said if inflation stays high there could be four or even five hikes.Additional QuotesCould also allow the balance sheet to run off earlier.Doesn’t favour 50bps Fed hike in March.Could start shrinking Fed balance sheet …
Read More »Crude Oil Edges Lower On Profit-Taking, Rate Hike Concerns
Crude oil prices edged lower on Thursday as investors took profits after two days of gains amid fears of aggressive US interest rate hikes.Losses were cushioned by expectations of a strong economic recovery that will boost demand in a tightly supplied market. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled down …
Read More »World Central Banks Start Turning Off Cash Taps
Global Central Banks Start Turning Off Cash TapsAs speculation grows about when the US Federal Reserve will begin reducing the size of its balance sheet, some analysts say the era of “quantitative tightening” has already started and “quantitative easing” is over.Central bank balance sheets have ballooned since the pandemic struck …
Read More »EUR/USD Rallies As Traders Test US Dollar’s Long-Squeeze
The EUR/USD pair buying hit overdrive on Wednesday, but the pace of gains has been more measured on Thursday. The pair is now consolidating in the 1.1450 area as traders assess whether the recent dollar long-squeeze is over.While the pair continues to trade with modest gains of about 0.1% on …
Read More »Outgoing Clarida: Policy Normalization In 2022 Consistent With Fed’s AIT Framework
Outgoing Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida, who will resign from his position on Friday, two weeks before the end of his term, said on Thursday that commencing policy normalization in 2022 would be entirely consistent with the Fed’s new flexible average inflation targeting framework. The US economy is well above …
Read More »Fed’s Evans expects four rate hikes in 2022 if inflation doesn’t abate
Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said on Thursday that three rate hikes in 2022 would be a good “opening bid”, though it could be four if inflation doesn’t improve fast enough.Evans added that he is reluctant to declare that the US has reached full employment, but that inflation is …
Read More »Do US Wholesale Prices Signal Easing Hot Inflation?
Wholesale inflation still shows lots of upward pressure on prices in the economy. The numbers: Wholesale prices rose just 0.2% in December to mark the smallest increase in 13 months, perhaps a sign that high inflation is finally starting to ease after the biggest run-up in nearly 40 years.The increase …
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