{"id":127645,"date":"2026-05-28T17:29:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/?p=127645"},"modified":"2026-05-28T17:29:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:29:39","slug":"dollar-firms-as-iran-strikes-and-pce-inflation-test-grip-markets-yen-approaches-dreaded-160-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/dollar-firms-as-iran-strikes-and-pce-inflation-test-grip-markets-yen-approaches-dreaded-160-level\/05\/28\/market-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Dollar Firms as Iran Strikes and PCE Inflation Test Grip Markets: Yen Approaches Dreaded 160 Level"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Takeaways<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Dollar rises:<\/strong> The DXY climbed 0.2% to 99.36, hovering around its strongest level since April.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Euro and pound retreat:<\/strong> EUR\/USD slipped 0.1% to $1.1614, while GBP\/USD fell 0.2% to $1.3396.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strikes resume:<\/strong> The U.S. attacked targets in southern Iran, drawing IRGC retaliation against a U.S. base in Kuwait.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Trump rejects Hormuz deal:<\/strong> The president dismissed the 30-day reopening timeline and the Iran-Oman joint control proposal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Treasury sanctions Iran toll entity:<\/strong> Washington sanctioned the Iranian entity created to collect Hormuz transit fees.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Oil spikes 4%:<\/strong> Thursday&#8217;s strikes sent crude surging, intensifying inflation and rate hike fears.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>PCE data due:<\/strong> April PCE price index is expected to show core inflation well above the Fed&#8217;s 2% target.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hawkish Fed bets grow:<\/strong> Energy-driven inflation concerns are reinforcing expectations of tighter monetary policy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CMC&#8217;s Lipkow warning:<\/strong> &#8220;The conflict in Iran is currently overshadowing all other market influences and making reliable macroeconomic forecasts difficult.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Yen near danger zone:<\/strong> USD\/JPY approaches 160 \u2014 the level that reportedly triggered Bank of Japan intervention in early May.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>BOK holds at 2.50%:<\/strong> South Korea&#8217;s central bank kept rates unchanged in its first meeting under new Governor Shin Hyun-Song.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>BOK turns hawkish:<\/strong> Some policymakers expressed concern over the inflationary impact of high oil prices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The U.S. dollar firmed on Thursday, hovering around its strongest level since April, as safe-haven demand was bolstered by uncertainty surrounding diplomatic efforts to end the war in Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By 06:17 ET (10:17 GMT), the U.S. dollar index \u2014 which tracks the greenback against a basket of currency peers \u2014 had risen 0.2% to 99.36. The euro was down 0.1% at $1.1614, and the British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3396.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Markets were also focused on a key U.S. inflation reading due later in the day for more cues on the impact of the Iran war and the path of interest rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Broader currencies largely retreated as oil prices surged after Thursday&#8217;s attacks, spooking markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Strikes and Sanctions Deepen the Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The U.S. military struck targets in southern Iran in the early hours of Thursday, drawing retaliatory attacks from Iran against a U.S. base in Kuwait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The attacks were preceded by U.S. President Donald Trump dismissing recent reports that Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz in 30 days. Trump also rejected the prospect of Iran and Oman controlling traffic through Hormuz, while the U.S. Treasury sanctioned an Iranian entity that had been created to collect tolls for passage through the waterway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oil prices ticked higher by as much as 4% following Thursday&#8217;s attacks \u2014 spooking broader markets and deepening concerns that energy-driven inflation will elicit a more hawkish stance from the Federal Reserve and other major central banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">PCE Data Could Define Fed&#8217;s Next Move<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>PCE price index data for April, due later on Thursday, is expected to offer more insight into the inflationary impact of the Iran war. Core PCE data \u2014 the Fed&#8217;s preferred inflation gauge \u2014 is expected to come in well above the central bank&#8217;s 2% annual target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other inflation prints for April, released earlier this month, showed a sharp increase in price pressures due to higher energy costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The conflict in Iran is currently overshadowing all other market influences and making reliable macroeconomic forecasts difficult,&#8221; said Andreas Lipkow, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets, in a note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Yen Approaches Danger Zone; BOK Turns Hawkish<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Elsewhere, the Japanese yen was within sight of the 160-yen level \u2014 a threshold that reportedly spurred Bank of Japan currency market intervention in early May \u2014 with Japanese authorities warning they will step in to support the yen again if needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The South Korean won&#8217;s USD\/KRW pair rose after the Bank of Korea left interest rates unchanged at 2.50%, as widely expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the meeting \u2014 the BOK&#8217;s first under new Governor Shin Hyun-Song \u2014 showed a hawkish shift among some policymakers as they fretted over the inflationary impact of elevated oil prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Dollar rises: The DXY climbed 0.2% to 99.36, hovering around its strongest level since April. Euro and pound retreat: EUR\/USD slipped 0.1% to $1.1614, while GBP\/USD fell 0.2% to $1.3396. Strikes resume: The U.S. attacked targets in southern Iran, drawing IRGC retaliation against a U.S. base in Kuwait. Trump rejects Hormuz deal: The &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":112137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6827,49,37,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-forex-markets","category-market-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127645"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127646,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127645\/revisions\/127646"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}