US 2-year yield

The US 2-year yield fell sharply, while the S&P500 ended flat after hitting a fresh high since last summer on optimism that the US will finally agree to raise the debt ceiling.     The House will vote today to decide whether the debt limit bill gets approved at time to get a Senate approval by next Monday deadline.     The deal between Biden and McCarthy freezes discretionary spending for the next two years, which excludes weighty plans like Medicare or social care, and will only have a minor impact on around $20 trillion budget deficit projected for the next decade. Frozen spending means a spending cut in real terms as long as inflation remains high. The higher the inflation, the higher the spending cut in real terms.   But the problem is that at least 20 conservative Republicans of the House rejected Kevin McCarthy's compromise on debt ceiling, saying that spending cuts are not enough. One hardcore Republican, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, threatened to vote to oust McCarthy because he 'capitulated' to Democrats. Democrats, on the other hand, are not fully happy either as they don't want to freeze or to cut spending.     This is what a compromise is: accepting something without being fully satisfied to avoid a self-induced world economic crisis!    Anyway, any misstep at today's House vote could send the US yields higher and stocks lower.     So far, there has been a widening gap between the way the stock and bond markets priced the threat of a US government default. While the US sovereign bonds cheapened across the board, and violently at the short end, stock investors were confident that a ceiling deal would be reached and weren't discouraged by the rising US yields to stop buying.     And even the fact that the Federal Reserve's (Fed) hawkish stance has a material impact on yields' upside trajectory since the bank-stress dip, stock markets kept on climbing. Looking at how Nasdaq behaved since the bank stress rebound in yields, you could barely guess that there are rate-sensitive stocks in it.    But the reality check is that Nasdaq stocks are rate sensitive, and cannot be rate-hike proof if the Fed continues hiking the rates. It would, however, also be a good thing for the Fed members to consider pulling some liquidity out of the market as the Fed's balance sheet is still worth more than before the bank crisis.    What if Russia refuses to cut output?  In energy, US crude tanked nearly 5% yesterday, and tipped a toe below the $69 pb mark on worries that Russia may not follow OPEC's output cuts, in which case the internal conflict may prevent the cartel from reducing supply in a way to give a jolt to oil prices.   There is little chance that we see the kind of discord like back in 2020, as the Ukrainian war strengthen the ties between two allies. But any Russian veto could materially reduce OPEC's power of hit on oil prices.    Elsewhere, the Chinese manufacturing PMI showed that contraction in activity accelerated in May instead of stepping back to the expansion zone. The faster Chinese manufacturing contraction also weighs on the sentiment this morning.     We shouldn't expect China to post growth numbers comparable to levels pre-2020 because China under Xi Jinping's rule is willing to avoid euphoric, and unhealthy growth.   This is why the government put in place severe crackdown measures on real estate, tech and education. That does not mean that China won't get back in shape, but recovery will likely take longer, and growth will likely be more reasonable and a better reflection of the reality of the field.    

The Federal Reserve (Fed) refrained from raising interest rates at this week's monetary policy meeting. Yet the median forecast on the Fed's dot plot suggested that there could be two more rate hikes before the end of this year. That came as a slap on the face of those expecting a rate cut by the end of the year, even though, I think that the doves haven't said their last word just yet. The credit conditions in the US are tightening, inflation is falling. Yesterday's PPI data revealed a faster than expected contraction in producer prices in May, while both headline and core CPI figures continued to ease over the same month.    Why, on earth, has the Fed started playing a guessing game, instead of hiking the rates right away?   It is because the US policymakers know that the idea of a 25bp hike - or two 25bp hikes - is more powerful than a 25bp hike itself, as future rate hikes are more effective in managing market expectations. The market is keen to go back to pricing the end of rate hikes - and rate cuts - when they know that the Fed is coming toward the end of the tightening cycle. To avoid that end-of-tunnel enthusiasm from jeopardizing tightening efforts, the Fed keeps the tightening suspense alive, without however acting on the rates. If all goes well - if inflation continues easing, and tighter financial conditions begin weighing on US jobs market - the Fed will have the option to step back and simply... not hike.  But for now, 'nearly all policymakers' remain concerned with the moderate cooling in core inflation, and they don't see inflation going below 3% this year.       Mild reaction  The US 2-year yield continues pushing higher, while enthusiasm at the long end of the yield curve is lesser, as higher rates increase recession odds. The S&P500 hit a fresh high since last year but closed almost flat. The US dollar rebounded off its 100-DMA, and the EURUSD rallied above its own 100-DMA and holds ground above the 1.08 mark this morning, into the widely watched European Central Bank (ECB) decision.    A hawkish ECB hike?  The ECB is broadly expected to hike the interest rates by 25bp when it meets today, and ECB chief Lagarde will likely sound hawkish at the press conference following the decision and insist that despite the recent easing in inflationary pressures – and perhaps the deteriorating economic outlook, the ECB will continue its efforts to fight.  Note that 500-billion-euro TLTROS will mature on June 28th and will pull a good amount of liquidity out of the market. While there is still around 4 trillion euros of excess liquidity in the financial system, the draining liquidity could cause anxiety among investors, especially if some European banks fail to find enough financing in the market to replace their TLTRO funding – a scenario which could sap investors' confidence and appetite in the coming weeks.     In this respect, Italian banks are under a close watch as they are behind their European pears in repaying their TLTRO and the funding through TLTROs are more than the excess cash its lenders parked with the ECB. That means that Italian banks must find money somewhere else – but where? – to repay their TLTROs.   I am not particularly worried about the stability of the European financial system, but I can hardly imagine European stocks extend rally in the environment of draining liquidity and rising rates. The Stoxx 600 index spiked above its 50-DMA yesterday, as a stronger euro may have reinforced appetite, yet European stocks will likely return to the 435-450 area.       China cuts.  In China, we have a completely different ambiance when it comes to inflation and monetary policy. The Chinese inflation remains flat and under pressure near 26-month lows, growth is not picking up the anticipated post-Covid momentum, and the People's Bank of China (PBoC) cut its one-year MLF rate by 10bp today, as broadly expected, to give a shake to the depressed Chinese economy. The problem is, there is now a talk that China could be entering a liquidity trap, meaning a period where lower rates fail to boost appetite and don't translate into faster growth.  

BoE decides after another bad inflation report.     Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Powell didn't say anything we didn't know, or we wouldn't expect in the first day of his semiannual testimony before the American lawmakers yesterday. He said that the Fed will continue hiking rates, but because they are getting closer to the destination, it's normal to slow down the pace. He repeated that two more hikes are a good guess, and that the economy will suffer a period of tight credit conditions, below-average growth, and higher unemployment to return to lower inflation.   The US 2-year yield pushed higher. The 10-year yield was flat given that higher short term yields point at higher recession odds for the long term. The gap between the 2 and the 10-year yield is again at 100bp.  In equities, the S&P500 gave back some field, but not all sectors suffered. Tech stocks pulled the index lower, financials and real estate were down, but energy stocks led gains as US crude jumped past $72pb on news that the US inventories dipped by around 1.2 mio barrel last week. Industrial, materials and utilities were up, as well, as a sign that a rotation toward the laggards could be happening rather than a broad-based moody selloff.  In currencies, the US dollar fell and is now testing the April-to-date ascending base - not because the Fed's Powell sounded more dovish, but because what's happening beyond the US borders makes the Fed look more dovish than what it really is.     By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank

Economic data released in the US yesterday further fueled the hawkish Federal Reserve (Fed) bets. The US Q1 GDP was revised up from 1.3% to 2%, while analysts had penciled in an improvement to 1.4%. The surprise jump came from a quickened growth in exports and consumer spending, which jumped 4.2% in the Q1. 4.2%! Corporate profits fell, but they fell less than expected, as initial jobless claims fell by the most since 2021.   The only good news for the Fed, and its inflation battle, was a slightly softer than expected core PCE figure, which extended to 4.9%, a bit less than 5% expected by analysts. But the rest of the data pointed in the same direction than in the past days and weeks: the US economy seems to be doing FINE! Combined with the Fed's bank stress test results comforting that the big US lenders are in a position to shoulder further shocks, like recession and chaos in real estate, the US 2-year yield jumped more than 3% to 4.90% for the first time since the mini banking crisis. The probability of a 25bp hike from the Fed in the July meeting jumped to 87%, while the pricing in the market suggests that the Fed's two rate hikes are now likelier than not.   And perhaps because the aggressive Fed tightening doesn't impact economic strength as badly ass expected, stock investors saw no urgence in selling their stocks on rising hawkish Fed expectations. The S&P500 advanced 0.45%, Nasdaq was slightly lower, as the small caps of Russell 2000 outperformed with a 1.23% rise yesterday. The US dollar index rallied past its 100-DMA and broke above a one-month descending channel top. Trend and momentum indicators turned positive hinting that a further advance in the US dollar is likely against major currencies in the run up to next week's all important jobs report, especially if today's PCE data, the Fed's gauge of inflation, shows further advance in inflation from 4.4% to 4.6%.   Yet, a further rise in US yields could weigh on stock appetite before the weekly closing bell.   In the Eurozone, investor mood was a bit tricky because inflation data released this week in the Eurozone revealed that inflation in Italy eased more than expected, inflation in Spain eased below the European Central Bank's (ECB) 2% policy target, but inflation in Germany ticked higher this month, to 6.8%, because of an unfavourable base effect from last year, when Germany offered its citizens ultra-cheap rail tickets. French, and the eurozone's aggregate preliminary inflation data for June is due today.   The EZ inflation is expected to have eased to 5.6%, and the divergence between Germany and the others may not be a long-term concern, but the ECB will certainly remain well alert, and well hawkish into this summer.   More importantly, the end of ECB's cheap loans should increase the yield spread between the Eurozone's core and periphery and weigh on the EURUSD. The pair is now testing the 50-DMA to the downside, and if the Fed hawks continue gaining field, which seems to be the most likely scenario before next week's US jobs data, we could see the pair correct deeper toward the 1.08/1.0820 region.   In China, the latest economic data didn't enchant investors. Chinese manufacturing PMI remained below 50, in the contraction zone, for the third consecutive month, despite recurrent policy easing from the People's Bank of China (PBoC). Nothing seems to be boosting the Chinese recovery because consumer and investor confidence have been severely damaged as a result of government crackdowns and Covid.   The initial forecast for this year - US recession and Chinese rebound - is not happening. On the contrary, the US is growing, and China is slowing. At this point, the Chinese government has no choice but to regain people's and investors' confidence if it doesn't want to become too old before becoming rich enough.  

US crude jumps above 50-DMA  Minutes from the Federal Reserve's (Fed) latest policy meeting were more hawkish than expected. The minutes revealed that some officials preferred another 25bp hike right away instead of a pause. Almost all of them said that additional hiking would likely be appropriate, and the forecasts showed that they also expect mild recession.     The minutes came to confirm how serious the Fed is in further tightening monetary conditions, and boosted the Fed hike expectations. The US 2-year yield came very close to 5%, the stocks fell, but very slightly. The S&P500 closed the session just 0.20% lower, while Nasdaq 100 gave back only 0.03%. The US dollar gained however, the EURUSD slipped below its 50-DMA, as the Eurozone services PMI fell short of expectations. The June number still hinted at expansion, but the composite PMI slipped into the contraction zone for the first time since January, hinting that activity in Eurozone is slowing because of tightening monetary conditions in the Eurozone as well. On the inflation front, the producer prices fell 1.5% y-o-y in May, the first ever deflation since February 2021. The expectation for the 12-month inflation in EZ fell to 3.9% in May. It's still twice the ECB's 2% policy target, but it's coming down slowly. And the trajectory is certainly more important than the number itself.     Moving forward, further opinion divergence will likely appear along with softening data, but the ECB will continue hiking the rates because officials will be too afraid to stop hiking too early. And as the economic picture worsens, the credit conditions become tighter, the cheap loans dry up and the post-pandemic positivity on peripheral countries fade, we will likely see the yield spread between the core and periphery widen. And the latter could have a negative impact on the single currency's positive trajectory against the US dollar.     Due today, the ADP report is expected to reveal that the US economy added around 228K new private jobs in June, while the JOLTS is expected to have slipped below 10 mio job openings in May.      By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank  

Chinese deflation Asia began the trading week digesting the news of a softer-than-expected NFP read, faster-than-expected wages growth in the US, combined with deflation in Chinese consumer and producer prices. Lower job additions came as a relief for Fed watchers on Friday, but the wages grew faster than expected, and the unemployment rate fell slightly to 3.6%. All in all, the US jobs data was still hot, and backed the Federal Reserve's (Fed) campaign of policy tightening with further rate hikes. This being said, the US 2-year yield slipped below 5%, the 10-year yield consolidated above 4%, as the US dollar index was sold off aggressively below the 50 and 100-DMAs. Due Wednesday, US inflation is expected to have fallen from 4% to around 3% in June, with a possibly uptick in the monthly data. But core inflation could prove stickier at around the 5% mark. In all cases, softening, and ideally softer-than-expected inflation figures carry the potential of pushing the Fed hawks back. That could give quick support to the US stocks which ended the first week of July, and the first week of H2, in the negative.   By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank

Other than that, it was a day of digesting and scaling back the recent rise in hawkish Fed expectations as used-car prices, which has been a good indication for inflation in this inflation cycle, fell 4.2% in June, the largest drop since the beginning of the pandemic. The prices came down by more than 10% in a year. Plus, according to the New York Fed's latest survey, inflation expectations for the next 12-month fell to 3.8% in June, from 4.1% printed a month earlier, although the 3-year expectations ticked higher to 3%. The same survey also showed that consumers were more pessimistic about the job market outlook, and median expected spending growth over the next year declined to the lowest levels since September 2021.   Capital flew into treasuries yesterday, the US 2-year yield for example declined about 10bp, while the US dollar plunged below a long-term ascending channel base despite the hawkish Fed expectations. The dollar bears are now targeting the 100 level as their next destination.   The dollar-yen plunged below the 141 level and is preparing to test the 50-DMA, which stands near the 140 level, to the downside. The EURUSD rallied past 1.10 mark despite a sentiment index that showed a faster deterioration for July in Eurozone. Today the German CPI will likely confirm a latest rebound in inflation – as the low-price train tickets that government had distributed last year are creating a positive base effect for inflation in Germany, and the ZEW index is expected to warn of worsening mood. Higher German inflation is positive for the euro, but I am not sure that Christine Lagarde or her colleagues at the European Central Bank (ECB) care much about sentiment indicators. The softening US dollar despite the hawkish Fed expectations, and hawkish ECB expectations could support a further rise in the EURUSD toward the 1.12 mark.  

US stocks extend rally  But it doesn't seem to be a concern for the US equities, as despite the morose mood in Asia and Europe yesterday, the S&P500 advanced yet to another high since April 2022, as Nasdaq 100 reached levels last since at the start of last year. The US 2-year yield which consolidates near the 4.70% level on hope that the Federal Reserve's (Fed) tightening cycle is soon over. And the 7-9% drop expected in S&P500 earnings is nothing compared to a chance that the US economy could avoid a hard landing following the Fed's steep interest rate hikes.   After all, the Fed's balance sheet only slowly drops, as the Fed's reverse repo operations tank, which means that the Fed is keeping the market liquidity in a sweet spot as the US Treasury general account is being refilled after the debt limit crisis. And all that liquidity continues to be supportive of stock prices, no matter how fast the Fed increases its interest rates.

A week packed with earnings and central bank decisions Last week ended on a caution note after the first earnings from Big Tech companies were not bad, but not good enough to further boost an already impressive rally so far this year. The S&P500 closed the week just 0.7% higher, Nasdaq slipped 0.6%, while Dow Jones recorded its 10th straight week of gains, the longest in six years, hinting that the tech rally could be rotating toward other and more cyclical parts of the economy as well.   This week, the earnings season continues in full swing. 150 S&P500 companies are due to announce their second quarter earnings throughout this week. Among them we have Microsoft, which is pretty much the main responsible of this year's tech rally thanks to its ChatGPT, Meta, Alphabet, Visa, GM, Ford, Intel, Coca-Cola and some energy giants including Exxon Mobil and Chevron.   On the economic calendar, we have a busy agenda this week as well. Today, we will be watching a series of flash PMI figures to get a sense of how economies around the world felt so far in July, then important central bank meetings will hit the fan from tomorrow. The early data shows that both manufacturing and services in Australia remained in the contraction zone, as Japan's manufacturing PMI dropped to a 4-month low in July. German figures could also disappoint those watching the EZ numbers.   On the central banks front, the Federal Reserve (Fed), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will meet this week, and the first two are expected to announce 25bp hike each to further tighten monetary conditions on both sides of the Atlantic.     Zooming into the Fed, activity on Fed funds futures gives almost 100% chance for this week's 25bp hike. But many think that this week's rate hike could be the last of this tightening cycle, as inflation is cooling. But the resilience of the US labour market, and household consumption will likely keep the Fed cautiously hawkish, and not announce the end of the tightening cycle this Wednesday. There is, on the contrary, a greater chance that we will hear Fed Chair Jerome Powell rectify the market expectations and talk about another rate hike in September or in November. Therefore, the risks tied to this week's FOMC meeting are tilted to the hawkish side, and we have more chance of hearing a hawkish surprise rather than a dovish one. Regarding the market reaction, as this week's Fed meetings falls in the middle of a jungle of earnings, stock investors will have a lot to price on their plate, so a hawkish statement from the Fed may not directly impact stock prices if earnings are good enough. Bond markets, however, will clearly be more vulnerable to another delay of the end of the tightening cycle. The US 2-year yield consolidates near the 4.85% level this morning, and risks are tilted to the upside. For the dollar, there is room for further recovery as the bearish dollar bets stand at the highest levels on record and a sufficiently hawkish Fed announcement could lead to correction and repositioning.  Elsewhere, another 25bp hike from the ECB is also seen as a done deal by most investors. What investors want to know is what will happen beyond this week's meeting. So far, at least 2 more 25bp hikes were seen as almost certain by investors. Then last week, some ECB officials cast doubt on that expectation. Now, a September rate hike in the EZ is all but certain. The EURUSD remains under selling pressure near the 1.1120 this morning, the inconclusive Spanish election is adding an extra pressure to the downside.   Finally, the BoJ is expected to do nothing, again, this week. Japanese policymakers will likely keep the policy rate steady in the negative territory and the YCC policy unchanged. The recent U-turn in BoJ expectations, and the broad-based rebound in the US dollar pushed the USDJPY above the 140 again last Friday, and there is nothing to prevent the pair from re-testing the 145 resistance if the Fed is sufficiently hawkish and the BoJ is sufficiently dovish.     By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank  

Microsoft falls, Google jumps, Fed decides Surprise, surprise: Microsoft failed to meet investor expectations when it announced its Q2 results yesterday. Both revenue and earnings beat expectations, but the company reported a decelerating demand for its cloud computing services to 26%, and projected Azure to grow between 25%-26% for the current quarter. We are far from the 35% growth that we got used to in the good old days. Microsoft stock plunged up to 4% in the afterhours trading. Alphabet on the other hand a strong quarter for its search business advertisement, hinting that Google search withstood so far with the AI competition and its cloud business posted a 28% growth, more than Microsoft's. Google shares jumped 6% after the bell. Elsewhere, Snap tanked almost 20% as the overall sales declined and the forecasts remained short of analyst expectations, while GM lost 3.50% yesterday after raising its earnings forecast. But there is a catch: the forecast holds only if the workers don't go on a strike, and according to Evercore ISI, the chances of a strike is about 50-50. Today, Meta, Coca-Cola and Boeing will be among the big names that will report their earnings. The S&P500 advanced to the highest levels since April 2022, while Nasdaq 100 was up by 0.73% yesterday.    IMF raises global growth outlook  Zooming out, the IMF raised its outlook for the world economy this year and it now expects the global GDP to expand 3% in 2023. But it also warned that Germany will probably be the only G7 economy to suffer an economic contraction this year. Of course, the IMF also warned that there are some risks to their optimistic forecast, including the higher interest rates, the Chinese recovery that doesn't come, the debt distress and shocks from war and climate related disasters. But all in all, the US economy will likely end this year as the champion of soft landing – if all goes well.   I insist - if all goes well - because PacWest has been the latest US regional bank to succumb to this year's bank stress and its shares plunged 27% after Banc of California agreed to buy it.     Decision time!  Anyway, positiveness around the US economy is obviously giving some hawkish ideas to the Federal Reserve (Fed), which will likely announce another 25bp hike today, and warn that there could be more in the store. The US 2-year yield is in a wait-and-see more near the 4.90% level, either it will go back above the 5% with a hawkish Fed statement or it will retreat toward the 50-DMA, near the 4.65%, with a reasonably hawkish Fed statement, if the Fed opts for another 'skip' for example. The US dollar index pushes higher as expectations for other central banks soften due to the softer-than-expected economic data suggesting softer action from the likes of European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) in the coming months. The EURUSD continued its nosedive yesterday on IMF's less than ideal Germany outlook and the news that corporate loan demand plunged by the most on record in Q2, as higher rates started to bite European businesses.   Unfortunately, however, inflation expectations are getting stronger globally as the rising energy and crop prices hint that the upcoming inflation figures won't be a piece of cake. The barrel of US crude flirted with the $80pb level on Chinese stimulus hopes and the pricing of a soft landing, while wheat futures continue rising along with the escalating tensions in the Black Sea and Danube. Corn and soybean futures rise as well as hot weather in the US belt is adding to the positive pressure for corn.     By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank  

Resilient US retail sales fuel inflation expectations, Fed hawks  By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank   The Americans continue spending and that's bad news for the entire world. Announced yesterday the July retail sales data came in better-than-expected in the US. Sales grew 0.7% on a monthly basis and more than 3% on a yearly basis - the biggest figure since January, when sales soared by 3% as well. Amazon's Prime day apparently helped boost online sales, while demand for bigger items including furniture and auto parts declined. But all in all, the American consumer spent 3% more compared to a year ago, Home Depot reported small earnings beat yesterday and its CEO confirmed that 'fears of a recession have largely subsided, and the consumer is generally healthy... while adding that 'uncertainties remain'. Uncertainties remain, yes, but the resilience of the US consumer spending sapped investor sentiment by fueling inflation expectations and Federal Reserve (Fed) hawks, yet again. The US 2-year yield spiked above the 5% mark, but bounced lower, certainly helped by a big drop in Empire State manufacturing in August, the 10-year yield flirted with 4.30%, while major stock indices fell. The S&P500 closed below the 50-DMA, which stands at 4446, Nasdaq 100 remained offered below its own 50-DMA, at 15175, while Russell 200 slipped below the 50-DMA.  In the FX, the strength of the US consumer spending is reflected as a stronger US dollar across the board. The US dollar index remains bid, while Cable bulls resist to the bears around the 1.27, and above the 200-DMA, which stands near 1.2620, as the data released yesterday showed that wages in Britain accelerated at a record pace. Happily, this morning's inflation data poured some cold water on the fire, as the CPI fell from 7.9% to 6.8% in July, as expected, yet core inflation remained steady at 6.9%, while the core PPI came in higher than expected. On the food front, grocery prices also fell more than 2 percentage points to 12.7%. But 12.7% is still a very high number. As a result, odds for a 50bp hike at the Bank of England's (BoE) September meeting is given a 1 over 3 chance, the 2-year gilt yield is back above 5%, and looks like it's there to stay, as the peak BoE rate is seen at 6%.       Across the Channel, the 10-year bund yield is also pushing higher near a decade high, and all eyes are on the European GDP and industrial production data this morning. The European economy is weakening due to the rising rates, tightening credit conditions and high energy prices, but the fact that the labour market remains tight in Europe as well remains a major concern for inflation expectations for the European Central Bank (ECB), which will let the economy sink further if it doesn't take further control over inflation. Therefore, the EURUSD will certainly react negatively to a weak European data set today, and the pair could re-test the minor 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level, at 1.0870, but figures more or less in line with expectations should not change the ECB's hawkish tilt. The problem is, there is nothing the ECB could do - other than restricting financial conditions - regarding the energy and gas prices – which move parallel to completely external factors like the Ukrainian war and labour strikes in Australia.   In this sense, the Dutch TTF futures were again up by 12% yesterday, while US crude tanked near the $80pb level, pressured lower by 1. the surprise Chinese rate cut's inability to spark interest in risk assets, 2. news that China's imports of sanctioned Iranian hit a record high of 1.5mbpd this month - that oil trading at around $10 discount to Brent and 3. the latest data from the API hinting at an almost 7mio barrel decline in US crude inventories last week. The more official EIA data is due today, and the consensus is a 2.4 mio barrel fall. US crude could well slip below the $80pb on slow growth concerns, but Saudis will fight to keep the price above $80pb in the medium run.     Back to the inflation talk, the recent rise in energy and food prices is concerning for the euro area's inflation in the next readings. Therefore, the falling inflation trend remains in jeopardy, as the discussion of an ECB pause on rate increases.     The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) held its cash rate unchanged for the 2nd consecutive month but warned that there is a risk that activity and inflation measures do not slow as much as expected, and that they won't be cutting rates until the Q1 of 2025. The kiwi extended losses against the greenback, but the selloff remained contained.      Due today, the FOMC minutes will likely show that the Fed officials remain cautious despite the latest fall in inflation numbers, for the same reasons: rising energy and food prices that are sometimes driven by geopolitical events and that the Fed could only watch and adopt. The Fed is expected to hold fire on its rates in the September meeting, but nothing is less guaranteed than the end of the tightening cycle before the year end.      

China's surprise cut won't be enough.  By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank   China surprised by cutting its one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) rates by 15bp to 2.50% today to give a jolt to its economy that has not only completely missed the expectation of a great post-Covid recovery, but that deals with deepening property crisis, morose consumer, and investor sentiment – which is worsened by Country Garden crisis and missed payments from the finance giant Zhongzhi Enterprises. Data-wise, things looked as worrying as we expected them to look when China released its latest set of economic data today. Growth in industrial production unexpectedly dipped to 3.7%, retail sales unexpectedly fell to 2.5%, unemployment worsened, while growth in fixed investments dropped further. Foreign investment in China fell to the lowest levels since 1998, and the 13F filings showed that Big Short's Michael Burry already exited Alibaba and JD.com, just months after increasing his exposure to these Chinese tech giants. People's Bank of China's (PBoC) surprise rate cut will hardly reverse appetite for Chinese investments as meaningful fiscal stimulus becomes necessary to stop halting.       The Hang Seng remains under pressure, the Chinese yuan fell to the lowest levels against the US dollar since last November, before the post-Covid reopening, and crude oil stagnates around the $82.50pb, close to where it was yesterday morning at around the same time. Tight supply and warnings of increased risk to shipping near the Strait of Hormuz, which is a strategic waterway for oil transit for exporters like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, certainly helped tempering the China-related selloff. But the demand side is weakening and that could stall the oil rally at the actual levels, forcing a return of the barrel of US crude toward the $80pb level, as worries regarding the Chinese recovery are real, and China will have to deploy further stimulus measures to fix things and bring investors back on their side of the table. If that's the case however, oil prices could take a lift.      Elsewhere, Argentina devaluated its currency by 18% to 350 per dollar and hiked its interest rates by 21 percentage points to 118% after populist Javier Milei won the presidential primary, while the dollar ruble traded past the 100 mark for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine and the Indian rupee traded near record, as well. So all that helped the US dollar index shortly trade above its 200-DMA yesterday, a day before the release of the FOMC minutes which could hint that most Federal Reserve officials were certainly happy with the progress on inflation, but not yet convinced that the war against inflation is won just yet. And given the rebound in global energy and food prices, the Fed officials' careful approach to inflation looks like it makes sense. That's certainly why the US 2-year yield continued its advance toward the 5% mark yesterday, even though the latest survey from New York Fed showed that inflation expectations recorded a sharp drop to 3.6% for the next twelve months and fell to 2.9% for the next three years. The same survey showed that the mean unemployment expectation fell by 1 percentage point, giving support to goldilocks or to the soft landing scenario. Goldman now expects the Fed to cut rates in the Q2 of next year. It also said it expects core PCE to have fallen below 3% by that time.       Today, investors will focus on the US Empire manufacturing index and the retail sales data, and earnings from Home Depot will also hit the wire. While expectation for Empire manufacturing points at a negative number, consensus for July retail sales is a slight acceleration on a monthly basis. Any improvement on the US data is poised to further back the pricing of soft landing and give a further boost to both the US dollar and the US stocks.  The S&P500 recovered yesterday, as Nasdaq 100 advanced more than 1% with technology stocks leading the rebound. Nvidia was one of the best performers with a 7% jump after a Morgan Stanley analyst reiterated his $500 per share price target yesterday. But Tesla didn't benefit from the tech rally of yesterday and closed the session below $240 per share after cutting its car prices in China, yet again.    

'Significant upside risks to inflation'  By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank  FOMC minutes released yesterday showed that most Federal Reserve (Fed) officials see 'significant upside risks to inflation that may require more tightening'. Policymakers cited a range of scenarios that included the rising commodity prices that could lead to 'more persistent elevated inflation'. Two of them favoured halting rate hikes, but the minutes showed no official dissenters. The Fed economists also expect a small rise (only) in jobless rate in the US, but they warned that commercial real estate fundamentals could worsen.   The regional banks are under a rising pressure, as a Fitch analyst warned that dozens of US bank credit ratings are at risk – just a week after the rating agency downgraded the US' credit rating, and Moody's downgraded 10 US small and mid-sized banks.   The US 2-year yield remained little changed at around the 5% mark, while the 10-year flirts with the 4.30% level, approaching last October's peak, raising questions among investors on whether levels above 4% are a good entre point in the US 10-year papers, or could it go higher? Looking at the net speculative positions, the rising US treasury yields attract investors. Asset managers' combined treasury positions hit a record in August, but that also means that these positions could be unwound and give way to a deeper selloff. The conclusion is, even though the actual levels look appetizing for US long-dated papers – especially with the Fed's nearing the end of its tightening cycle and trouble brewing in China. risks prevail. Activity on Fed funds futures gives less than 15% chance for a September rate hike in the wake of the latest FOMC minutes. That's slightly higher than around 10% assessed to a 25bp hike before the release of the minutes yesterday. But the pricing for a potential 25bp and even 50bp hike in November meeting are in play.   The US dollar extends gains, and the dollar index is now marching above its 200-DMA, into the overbought market territory, with little reason for investors to step back given the Fed's decided hawkish stance on its rate policy. The S&P500 extended losses below its 50-DMA yesterday and is preparing to test the 4400 support to the downside, while Nasdaq 100 closed below the 15000 level for the first time since end of June. Tesla dropped another 3% yesterday on news that it cut its car prices in China for the second time this year, and the shares closed the session at a spitting distance from the major 38.2% Fibonacci retracement, which should distinguish between the positive trend building since the beginning of this year and a bearish reversal.   Elsewhere, Target jumped nearly 3% yesterday after beating profit expectations when it released Q2 earnings yesterday. Lower costs boosted profit margins, and gross margins jumped 27% last quarter compared to 21.5% printed a quarter earlier, net income more than quadrupled. Shiny results helped investors overcome the 11% drop in online sales – vs. 5% growth nailed by Amazon, and the slashed sales and profit outlook. Again, despite the risk that US consumers may not spend much in the next few quarters, what we see in most data is that... they continue spending – and the resilience of spending starts weighing more on Fed expectations than the risks that don't materialize. 

Stocks rebound, but volatility rises.  By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank       Stocks rebounded on Monday, in a move that looked more like a correction than a reaction to fresh news, as there was no fresh news that went against the slowing China rhetoric, nor against the fear that we will hear something sufficiently hawkish this Friday from Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech. At this point, the hawkish Federal Reserve (Fed) expectations are mostly priced in, leaving room for some up and down moves. So yesterday's session was not only marked by a rebound in the S&P500 from the October to July ascending baseline, but also by a visible rise in volatility. Nasdaq 100 jumped 1.65% as well, but the US 2-year yield returned well above 5%, and the 10-year yield pushed to a fresh high since 2007.     One interesting thing is, in 2007, when the US 10-year yield was at these levels, the positioning in the market was deeply negative – meaning that investors expected the yields to rebound, while today the positioning is deeply positive, meaning that investors expect the yields to bounce lower. And that's understandable: the US 10-year yield was on a steady falling path in 2007, so there was a reason for investors to expect a rebound – which did not happen. In a similar way, today, we are just coming out of a long period of near zero rates, so for our eyes, the actual levels seem very high. That explains why many asset managers expect the yields to fall. There is also a growing interest in US 10-year TIPS – which are protected against inflation, and which hit the 2% mark for the first time since the GFC as well. But there is not much reason other than our low comparison levels that gives reason to an imminent reversal in market direction. The US data is strong, the labour market is tight, and inflation is slowing but 'significant upside risks' prevail. A recent study warned that unless the monthly CPI stays below the 0.2%, inflation is headed higher in 2024. So there is a chance that we won't see a downside correction in the US 10-year yield, and if that's not the case, the selloff could extend until the 10-year yield settles somewhere between 5-5.50%.     Anyway, the market mood got significantly better yesterday. Tech stocks fueled the rally in the US, as Nvidia jumped 8.5% yesterday, a day before the release of its Q2 results. Nvidia'd better meet its $11bn sales forecast for last quarter, otherwise, there is a chance that we will see a sizeable downside correction.     In Europe, oil stocks shouldered yesterday's rally, as the barrel of US crude made an attempt above the $82pb, on lower OPEC+ exports and on the back of a golden cross formation on a daily chart where the 50-DMA crossed above the 200-DMA. But yesterday, that wasn't the case. Oil's positive attempt remained short-lived, on the contrary, and the barrel of crude is preparing to test the $80pb support to the downside again this morning. The market is driven by two major forces: the supply tightness and the Chinese demand expectations. These days, the Chinese demand expectations are very much in focus, which could help the oil bears take advantage for selling the recent rally in oil prices. But tighter OPEC rhetoric will remain a major support into the 200-DMA, near $76pb.  

PMI disappointment  The US 2-year yield slipped below 5% as both manufacturing and services PMI fell unexpectedly in August, adding a layer of complexity to US data, which strong enough to push Atlanta Fed's GDP forecast for Q3 to 5.8% last week.   August PMI numbers in Europe printed even worse numbers than in the US. The manufacturing PMI was slightly better than expected but remained well below the 50 threshold – in the contraction zone. More disquietingly, the euro-area's services PMI slipped below 50 – to the contraction zone for the first time since January. What's even more worrying is that, the services PMI fell into the contraction for the busiest summer month for mass holidays.   As a result, traders now price around 40% chance for a 25bp hike in European Central Bank's (ECB) next policy meeting, down from 55% before the release. The EURUSD tested the 200-DMA to the downside and remains under the pressure of rising dovish voices for the ECB. And the European bond markets rally: the German 10-year yield fell more than 5.5% yesterday. We see the same gloom across the Channel. All British PMI figures were below 50, and came in worse than expected, pushing Cable shortly below its 100-DMA, which stands near 1.2635. The EURGBP on the other hand fell to a fresh year low, as the continent is now expected to join the UK in its economic demise.   This being said, slow PMI numbers could eventually convince the ECB to slow down on its rate normalizing policy, but it won't be enough to reverse the policy stance if inflation remains high. The ECB, as the Fed, won't hesitate to push economies into further economic trouble if inflation doesn't come down toward their 2% policy target.    The set of morose economic data kept the US crude below the $80pb level, even though the US inventories dived more than 6 mio barrels for the second consecutive week. Trend and momentum indicators remain comfortably negative, and the market conditions are far from the oversold territory, meaning that there is room for a deeper downside correction in oil prices. The key level to watch is the $78.40 level, the major 38.2% Fibonacci retracement on the latest rally and which should, if broken to the downside, call the end of the rally and encourage a bearish reversal, which would then pave the way for a further fall to the 200-DMA, which stands near $75.80pb.   

Calm before the storm?  By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank   The week started in a relatively good mood. The S&P500 posted its first back-to-back gains this month, even though the US 2-year yield advanced to a fresh high since July with the 2 and 5-year treasury auctions hitting the highest yields since before the 2008 crisis. One would think that the Chinese stimulus measures have lifted up the sentiment across global equities, but the CSI 300 closed yesterday just around 1% higher. In this sense, yesterday was just another day the Chinese stimulus measures didn't get the attention Chinese officials were hoping for. And that's the new normal. Before 2020, any stimulus news from China would move oceans, but now, China can cut rates, inject liquidity, half stamp duty, prevent big names from becoming net sellers... nothing is enough to bring investors back apart from a massive fiscal stimulus. And the chances are that, China won't do that, because Xi doesn't want to explode the national debt levels – which are already alarmingly high – to kick start another unsustainable growth in China. That's not bad in the long run, but it sure costs China a lot of investment. MSCI's EM ex-China ETF has outperformed the MSCI China since the beginning of the year and the trend in Chinese equities, and the latest surveys hint at around 5% growth in 2023, in line with the government's growth target, but not enough to bring money on board.     Focus on US growth & jobs data  The softer US dollar gave some breathing room to other currencies yesterday. The EURUSD bulls won a battle near the 200-DMA, and the pair is slightly above that level this morning, while the USDJPY is steady around 146.50. Crude oil steadied above the $80pb with the news that the tropical storm Idalia could interrupt crude production in the Gulf Coast and put an additional short-term pressure on oil prices. Gold is better bid above the $1900 thanks to a retreat in the US 10-year yield.  Today, the US JOLTS data is expected to post a third month below 10mio job openings. A number lower than expectations would point to loosening jobs market and could soften the hawkish Federal Reserve (Fed) expectations, while a strong figure will keep the economists and the Fed officials in a state of confusion. It is now increasingly certain that the Covid disruption in jobs market has largely passed, which means that the fact that the jobs figures remain resilient to rate hikes is due to another reason! And that reason could be the ageing population. Looking at the CBO projections, the participation rate in the US is not at shocking levels compared to the long-term projections. On the contrary, the actual participation rate (62.6%) is even higher than the long-term projection (62.4%).   Strong jobs figures have potential to boost Fed hawks as tightness of the jobs market means people ask for more money for doing the same job than they would otherwise. 

Dream JOLTS data By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank     Yesterday was a typical 'bad news is good news' day. Risk sentiment in the US and across the globe was boosted by an unexpected dip in US job openings to below 9 mio jobs in July, the lowest levels since more than two years, and an unexpected fall in consumer confidence in August. The weak data pushed the Federal Reserve (Fed) hawks to the sidelines, and bolstered the expectation of a pause in September, and tilted the probabilities in favour of a no hike in November, as well. $    Note that the latest JOLTS data printed the ideal picture for the Fed: Job vacancies eased, but hiring was moderate and the layoffs remained near historically low levels. The data also suggested that the era of Great Resignation, where quit rates hit a record, could be over, as people quitting their jobs retreated to levels last seen before the pandemic. The US 2-year yield dived 15bp, the 10-year yield fell 8bp, while the S&P500 jumped nearly 1.50% to above its 50-DMA and closed the session at a spitting distance from the 4500 level. 90% of the S&P stocks gained yesterday; even the Big Pharma which had a first glance at which medicines will be subject to price negotiations with Medicare held their ground. But of course, tech stocks led the rally, with Nasdaq 100 closing the session with more than a 2% jump. Tesla was one of the biggest gainers of the session with a more than a 7.5% jump yesterday.    US and European futures suggest a bullish open amid the US optimism and news of upcoming deposit and mortgage rate cuts from Chinese banks.    On the data front, all eyes are on the US ADP report and the latest GDP update. The ADP report is expected to reveal below 200K new private job additions in August, while the US growth is expected to be revised from 2% to 2.4% for the Q2 with core PCE prices seen down from 4.90% to 3.80%. If the data is in line with expectations, we shall see yesterday's optimism continue throughout today. Again, what we want is to see – in the order of importance: 1. Slowing price pressure, 2. Looser, but still healthy jobs market, 3. Slowing but not contracting economy to ensure a soft landing. We will see if that's feasible.     In Europe, however, that slow landing seems harder to achieve. Today, investors will keep an eye on the latest inflation updates from euro-area countries, and business and sentiment surveys. We expect to see some further red flags regarding the health of the European economy due to tighter financial conditions in Europe and the energy crisis. German Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned yesterday that German businesses are cutting investments and move production abroad due to high energy prices at home. The EURUSD flirted with 1.09 yesterday, as investors trimmed their long dollar positions after the weak JOLTS data. The AUDUSD rebounded, even though the latest CPI print showed that inflation in Australia slowed below 5% in July, a 17-month low. In the UK, shop prices fell to a 10-month low. But it won't be enough for central bankers to cry victory just yet, because the positive pressure in energy prices remains a major concern for the months ahead. The barrel of American crude is pushing toward the $82pn level, with improved trend and momentum dynamics hinting that the bullish development could further extend.  

Gold buoyed by JOLTS data US 2-year yield slipped below 5% Could $1,950 be a major level of resistance?   Gold made decent gains on Tuesday, buoyed by a softer dollar and lower yields on the back of the US JOLTs data. The US 2-year yield slipped back below 5%, while the greenback has come off its highs to trade down on the day. The summer narrative of higher yields for longer that has lifted the dollar and longer-term yields at the expense of the yellow metal could be put to the test this week with GDP, inflation, jobs, and PMI releases all still to come. It’s started well for gold but it may still have a mountain to climb after coming under significant pressure since late July.   While yesterday’s recovery was encouraging, it is still in retracement territory so it may be too early to get carried away.   XAUUSD Daily   The key level at this stage may be $1,950 with it falling around the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level – July highs to August lows – and the top of the 55/89-day simple moving average band. A move above this may suggest there’s more to the recent gains since the rebound off the 200/233-day SMA band. That said, a rebound lower now could see that prior support come under pressure and a break of that could be very bearish.  

Wishful thinking?  By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank    America had another 'bad news is good news' moment yesterday; softer-than-expected ADP and growth data further fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) is – maybe – good for a pause. The ADP report, released yesterday, showed that the US economy added 177K new private jobs in August, lower than expected and more than half the number printed a month earlier, while the US GDP was revised from 2% to 2.1% instead of 2.4%, due to lower business investment than initially reported and to downside revisions in inventory and nonresidential fixed investment. Household spending, however, continued leading the US economy higher; it was revised up to 1.7%. All in all, the data was certainly weaker than expected but the numbers remain strong, in absolute terms.     The S&P500 gained for the 4th consecutive session yesterday, the index is now above the 4500 level and has around 85 points to go before recovering to July highs. The US 2-year yield settles below the 5% level on expectation that the Fed has no reason to push hard to hike rates; it could just wait and see the impact of its latest (and aggressive) tightening campaign.  In the FX, the softening Fed expectations are weighing on the US dollar. The dollar index fell to its 200-DMA and could sink back to its March to August descending channel. But the seasonality is on the dollar's side in September. Empirical data shows that the US dollar performed better than its peers for six Septembers in a row since 2017, and it gained 1.2% on average, thanks to increased quarter-end dollar buying, and an increased safe haven flows before October – which is seasonally a bad month for stocks, according to Bloomberg.       But the dollar's relative performance is also much influenced by the growth and price dynamics elsewhere. Looking at the latest Euro-area CPI numbers, the picture in Europe is much less dovish despite morose business and consumer sentiment in Europe and weak PMI numbers printed recently. Despite the dark clouds on the European skies, the latest inflation numbers showed that inflation in both Spain and Germany ticked higher in August for the second month – a U-turn that could be explained by the re-surge in oil prices since the end of June. This morning, the aggregate CPI number may not confirm a fall to 5.1% in headline inflation. And a stronger-than-expected CPI print will likely boost the ECB hawks and get the euro bulls to test the 50-DMA, near 1.0970, to the upside.     Later today, investors will focus on the US core PCE data, which has a heavier weight on the international platform.  Therefore, the strength of the US core PCE will say the last word before tomorrow's jobs data. Analysts expect a steady 0.2% advance on a monthly basis, and a slight advance from 4.1% to 4.2% on a yearly basis. A bad surprise on the topside could eventually wash out the past days' optimism regarding the future of the Fed policy. So, fingers crossed, we really need the US inflation to fall, and to stay low.    But looking at energy prices, a sustainable fall in headline inflation could be wishful thinking for the upcoming months. US crude remains upbeat near the $82pb, as the latest EIA data showed that crude inventories fall more than 10mio barrel last week, as separate data showed that crude stored on ships at sea fell to the lowest levels in a year - a clear indication that OPEC's supply cuts are taking effect. Plus, Russia is discussing with OPEC to extend oil-export cuts and Saudi is expected to prolong its supply cuts.    

Uncomfortably strong US outlook.  By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank   Eurozone services PMI were disappointing in August, yet the ISM services index printed its strongest expansion across the Atlantic Ocean. The US ISM services index flirted with 55; employment, new orders, and ISM prices also showed significant progress last month. The strong ISM data bolstered the speculation that the Federal Reserve (Fed) could opt for another rate hike before the year end and keep the rates at restrictive levels for longer. The US 2-year yield advanced above 5%, the 10-year yield is around the 4.30% mark. Oh, and by the way, the US yield curve has been inverted since more than a year, but the resilience of the US economy continues surprising, and recession is nowhere around (at least in the data).  The US dollar index extends gains toward the 105 level. At 105.40, traders will decide whether the dollar deserves to reverse its yearly bearish trend, and step into a medium-term bullish configuration. Even though Fed's Waller sounded happy and satisfied with last week's weakish economic data – both for inflation and jobs – James Bullard said that the Fed should stick with a plan of one more hike this year. Maybe in November? For now, the market is positioned for no rate hike this year, but strong data and rising oil prices could change that expectation in the next few weeks. There is a growing chatter that the Fed could double its growth projection when it publishes an updated outlook later this month. I hope for the rest of the world that that does not happen!   

Beyond Apple...  When a tech giant like Apple, with a market cap of nearly $2.8 trillion sneezes, the whole market catches a cold. The S&P500 fell for the third day to 4451 yesterday, while Nasdaq 100 slipped below its 50-DMA. Apple selloff also affected suppliers and other mega cap stocks. Qualcomm for example fell more than 7%, while Foxconn remained little impacted by the news.   Zooming out, the US small caps were also under pressure yesterday, the Russell 2000 fell below its 100-DMA and came close to the 200-DMA, as the latest data showed that the US jobless claims fell to the lowest levels since February, defying the latest softness in jobs data. Other data also showed that the labor unit cost didn't fall as much as expected in Q2. But happily, the US treasuries were not much affected by the latest jobless claims data. The US 2-year yield fell below 5%, although the US dollar index extended its advance toward fresh highs since last March.   The selloff in the Japanese yen slowed against the US dollar. The USDJPY pushed below the 147 mark this morning despite a slower than expected GDP print in Japan in the Q2. Capital expenditure fell 1%, private consumption declined 0.6%, making the case for a softer Bank of Japan (BoJ) more plausible. But the Japanese officials dared traders to continue buying the USDJPY to 150, saying that they would intervene.   The EURUSD sees more hesitation into the 1.07 mark, and into next week's European Central Bank (ECB) meeting. The base case is a no rate hike, and yesterday's morose growth figures came to cement the no change expectation. But the economic weakness may have little impact on inflation. Any bad surprise in German inflation due this morning could convince some ECB doves that the European policymakers may announce another 25bp hike when they meet next week.  

Tesla fuels market rally By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank    Tesla jumped 10% yesterday and reversed morose mood due to the Apple-led selloff. Tesla shares flirted with the $275 per share on Monday, thanks to Morgan Stanley analysts who said that its Dojo supercomputer may add as much as $500bn to its market value, as it would mean a faster adoption of robotaxis and network services. As a result, MS raised its price target from $250 to $400 a share.   Tesla rally helped the S&P500 make a return above its 50-DMA, as Nasdaq 100 jumped more than 1%. Apple recorded a second day of steady trading after shedding almost $200bn in market value last week because of Chinese bans on its devices in government offices, and Qualcomm, which was impacted by the waves of the same quake, recovered nearly 4%, after Apple announced an extension to its chip deal with the company for 3 more years. Making chips in house to power Apple devices would take longer than thought.   Speaking of chips and their makers, ARM which prepares to announce its IPO price tomorrow, has been oversubscribed by 10 times already and bankers will stop taking orders by today. The promising demand could also encourage an upward revision to the IPO price, and we could eventually see the kind of market debut that we like!    Today, at 10am local time, Apple will show off its new products to reverse the Chinese-muddied headlines to its favour before the crucial holiday selling season. The Chinese ban of Apple devices in government offices sounds more terrible than it really is, as the real impact on sales will likely remain limited at around 1%.   In the bonds market, the US 2-year yield is steady around the 5% mark before tomorrow's much-expected US inflation data. The major fear is a stronger-than-expected uptick in headline inflation, or lower-than-expected easing in core inflation. The Federal Reserve (Fed) is torn between further tightening or wait-and-see as focus shifts to melting US savings, which fell significantly faster than the rest of the DM, and which could explain the resilience in US spending and growth, but which also warns that the US consumers are now running out of money, and they will have to stop spending. So, are we finally going to have that Wile E Coyote moment? Janet Yellen doesn't think so, she is on the contrary confident that the US will manage a soft landing, that the Fed will break inflation's back without pushing economy into recession. Wishful thinking?   But everyone comes to agree on the fact that the Eurozone is not looking good. The EU Commission itself cut the outlook for the euro-area economy. It now expects GDP to rise only 0.8% this year, and not 1.1% as it forecasted earlier, as Germany will probably contract 0.4% this year. The slowing euro-area economy has already softened the European Central Bank (ECB) doves' hands over the past weeks. Consequently, the EURUSD gained marginally yesterday despite the fresh EU commission outlook cut and should continue gently drifting higher into Thursday's ECB meeting. There is no clarity regarding what the ECB will decide this week. The economy is slowing but inflation will unlikely to continue its journey south, giving the ECB a reason to opt for a 'hawkish' pause, or a 'normal' 25bp hike. 

The fear of strong jobs By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank   Even a hint of an improving US jobs market sends shivers down investors' spines.  This is why the stronger than expected job openings data from the US spurred panic across the global financial markets yesterday. Although hirings and firings remained stable, the financial world was unhappy to see so many job opportunities offered to Americans as the data hinted that the US jobs market could be going back toward tightening, and not toward loosening. And that means that Americans will keep their jobs, find new ones, asked better pays, and keep spending. That spending will keep US growth above average and continue pushing inflation higher, and the Federal Reserve (Fed) will not only keep interest rates higher for longer but eventually be obliged to hike them more. Alas, a catastrophic scenario for the global financial markets where the rising US yields threaten to destroy value everywhere. PS. JOLTS data is volatile, and one data point is insufficient to point at changing trend. We still believe that the US jobs market will continue to loosen.  But the market reaction to yesterday's JOLTS data was sharp and clear. The US 2-year yield spiked above 5.15% after the stronger than expected JOLTS data, the 10-year yield went through the roof and hit the 4.85% mark. News that the US House Speaker McCarthy lost his position after last week's deal to keep the US government open certainly didn't help attract investors into the US sovereign space. The US blue-chip bond yields on the other hand have advanced to the highest levels since 2009, and the spike in real yields hardly justify buying stocks if earnings expectations remain weak. The S&P500 is now headed towards its 200-DMA, which stands near the 4200 level. The more rate sensitive Nasdaq still has ways to go before reaching its own 200-DMA and critical Fibonacci levels, but the selloff could become harder in technology stocks if things got uglier.  In the FX, the US dollar extended gains across the board. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) kept the interest rate steady at 5.5% as expected. Due today, the ADP report is expected to show a significant slowdown in US private job additions last month; the expectation is a meagre 153'000 new private job additions in September. Any weakness would be extremely welcome for the rest of the world, while a strong looking data, an - God forbid – a figure above 200K could boost the Federal Reserve (Fed) hawks and bring the discussion of a potential rate hike in November seriously on the table.   The EURUSD consolidates below the 1.05 level, the USDJPY spiked shortly above the 150 mark, and suddenly fell 2% in a matter of minutes, in a move that was thought to be an unconfirmed FX intervention. Gold extended losses to $1815 per ounce as the rising US yields increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-interest-bearing gold.  The barrel of American crude remains under pressure below the $90pb level. US shale producers say that they will keep drilling under wraps even if oil prices surge to $100pb, pointing at Joe Biden's war against fossil fuel. A tighter oil supply is the main market driver for now, but recession fears will likely keep the upside limited, and September high could be a peak.   

Inflation fever breaks By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank   The Federal Reserve (Fed) doves got a big energy boost yesterday by a slightly lower-than-expected inflation report. The headline inflation fell to 3.2% in October from 3.7% printed a month earlier, and core inflation eased to 4% from 4.1% printed a month earlier. Services excluding housing and energy costs – the so-called super core figure closely watched by the Fed - rose only 0.2% and shelter costs rose only 0.3%, down from a 0.6% advance printed a month earlier. The soft set of inflation print cemented the expectation that the Fed is done hiking the interest rates. The US 2-year yield – which best captures the rate bets – tanked 24bp to 4.81%. The 10-year slipped below 4.50% and activity on Fed funds futures gives around 95% chance for a no rate hike in December. That probability stood at around 85% before yesterday's US CPI data.   In equities, the S&P500 jumped past its 100-DMA, spiked above the 4500 mark, and closed the session a few points below this level. Nasdaq 100 extended its gain to 15850. In the FX, the US dollar took a severe hit. The index fell 1.50% on Tuesday, pulled out a major Fibonacci support and sank into the medium-term bearish consolidation zone. The EURUSD jumped to almost the 1.09 level. Yes, there is no mistake – to nearly 1.09 level, and Cable flirted with the 1.25 resistance. What a day!   A small parenthesis on UK inflation   Good news came from Britain this morning, as well. Inflation in the UK fell 6.7% to 4.6% in October, lower than the 4.7% penciled in by analysts. Core inflation also eased more than expected to 5.7%. There is growing evidence that the major central banks' efforts are bearing fruit. Cable is sold after the CPI data, but the pullback will likely remain short-lived if the USD appetite continues to wane globally.   

Therefore, the US 2-year yield may have bottom at 4.80% level and should be headed back toward 5%. The US 10-year yield should hold ground above 4.50%. As per equities, the direction is unclear to everyone, but the recent dovish shift in Fed expectations and the dropping yields gave a great energy boost to the US stocks. The S&P500 jumped more than 10% since end of October, the rate-sensitive Nasdaq 100 is now flirting with the highest levels since summer while the Russell 2000 index is having a blast since its October dip. The index rallied almost 12% in 3 weeks, pulled out the 50-DMA, the major 38.2% Fibonacci retracement and consolidated gains in the medium-term bullish consolidation zone yesterday.   As equities move higher and inflation slows, the anxiety regarding short positions mount – hence short covering is adding to the positive pressure.   The Big Short's Micheal Burry reportedly exited his short position against SPDR's P&P500 and Invesco's QQQ and began betting against semiconductor stocks, including Nvidia.   Nvidia, on the other hand, is flirting with its ATM levels near the $500 per share level. A quick glance at Nvidia's long-term price chart clearly suggests that the chances are that we are in the middle of an AI-led bubble and that the exponential move cannot extend infinitely. Yes, AI is boosting Nvidia's revenue and profits, but the revenues that will flow into the pockets of Nvidia thanks to AI are already embedded in the share price, and we will likely see the price bubble burst. But there are two things to keep in mind when you bet against a bubble. 1. A bubble is a bubble only when it bursts – it's like 'you are innocent until proven guilty'. And 2. You can wait a while before the market comes back to its senses. For now, we are in the middle of making eye-popping predictions and beating them. The company is due to release earnings on November 21st.  One big risk for Nvidia is the tense relations between the US and China, and the extension of chip export curbs to a bigger range of Nvidia chips. This week's meeting between Biden and Xi carried hope that the high-level communication could help melting ice. There has apparently been some 'real progress' in restoring military communication and foreign policy... Then, Joe Biden said that Xi is a dictator.

When fantastic falls short...  By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank   The minutes from the Federal Reserve's (Fed) latest monetary policy meeting showed that the Fed members agreed to 'proceed carefully' with their future rate decisions. Carefully doesn't mean that the Fed is done tightening, it means that it will 'proceed carefully' in the light of the economic data and the market conditions to decide whether it should hike, pause, or cut the interest rates. Note that 'most' members 'continued to see upside risks to inflation'.   Alas, the cautious tone in Fed minutes went completely unheard as the latest CPI data acted as a shield against the Fed hawks. As such, the market reaction to the Fed minutes was muted. The US 2-year yield remained little changed near the 4.90% level, the 10-year yield rebounded past 4.40%, and is still around 60bp lower than the October levels. The S&P500, which is now trading in the overbought market, retreated 0.20% and Nasdaq 100 fell 0.60% from an almost 2-year high, as investors didn't want to do much before seeing the Nvidia's results.   When fantastic falls short...  Nvidia's Q3 results were strong. The company exceeded the $16bn revenue forecast by $2bn. They earned more than $18bn, made more than $4 profit per share and said that they will be earning around $20bn this quarter. But the latter forecast couldn't meet the top forecast ($21bn) and the share price fell in the afterhours trading, though by less than 2%; investors couldn't decide whether they should buy the fact that the company exceeded the sky-high expectations, or they should sell the reality that the chip sales to China will slow this quarter and that would weigh on revenue – although Nvidia stated that the 'decline will be more than offset by strong growth in other regions' and that they are working to comply with regulations to sell to China, anyway.   Taking a step back: Nvidia is growing, it is growing fast, it has potential to grow further, but the valuation of the company is also sky-high, its price got multiplied by almost five since October 2022. Its PE ratio stands around 120 versus a PE ratio of around 25 in average for S&P500 companies. And its market capitalization is more than $1 trillion more than Intel's, which used to be the world's biggest chipmaker. In summary, the company is growing but that strong growth is already priced in and out. Therefore, we will probably not see a big profit taking post-earnings, we will likely see correction and consolidation instead below the $500 psychological hurdle.   And with that – the Nvidia earnings – out of the way, the S&P500 and Nasdaq futures are slightly in the negative at the time of writing. The market will likely digest the Fed minutes and the Nvidia results in a calm mood before the Thanksgiving holiday.   

Disinflation is on this year's Thanksgiving menu The US dollar index rebounded yesterday, and the rebound was on the back of some data points that cooled down the Fed doves' enthusiasm. First, the short-term inflation expectations advanced to a seven-month high in November, with Americans expecting a 4.5% jump in prices over the next year. Then, the University of Michigan's sentiment index improved more than expected, and the weekly jobless claims fell the most since June – all negative for the Federal Reserve (Fed) doves.   Adobe Analytics said that Thanksgiving shopping will be up by 5.4% this year, and no it is not because of inflated prices. On the contrary, according to Adobe e-commerce prices fell for the 14th straight month, by 6% from last October to this October and if we factor in the online deflation, the Thanksgiving spending growth would be an eye-popping 12%. But it's always the same old story. Americans spend, but they spend their savings, and worse, they spend on debt. In this context, the use of buy now spend later options has jumped by 14.5% since last year – and it will certainly hit back, one day. For now, the US 2-year yield remains real steady around the 4.90% level, the US 10-year is headed back to fresh lows since this fall, after a short attempt for a rebound yesterday and the dollar index is back to testing the 200-DMA to the downside.  Happily, for the American people, the Fed doves and all of us, disinflation is on the menu of this Thanksgiving. Turkey prices cost around 5.6% less than last year, stuffing mix costs nearly 3% less, pie crusts are nearly 5% cheaper and cranberry prices are down by more than 18%. It is said that an average 10 people Thanksgiving feast would cost less than $62 - that's less than $6.2 per person, down from around 4.5% compared to last year.   Last word  Thanksgiving is one of the calmest trading days of the year. Expect thin trading volumes and higher volatility.  

Mixed feelings By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank   The Federal Reserve (Fed) President Jerome Powell pushed back against the rate cut bets at his speech given in Atlanta last Friday. He is of course playing the card of 'high for long' rates to tame inflation, yet he hinted that the Fed will probably not hike rates when it meets this month. He said that the US monetary policy is 'well into restrictive territory' and that the fell of effect of higher rates to combat inflation is working its way through economy. 'We are getting what we wanted to get,' said Powell. And indeed, inflation is cooling, people start to spend less, and the job market loosens. But in parallel, the financial conditions are loosening fast, as well. Hence the market optimism and stocks/bond gains become increasingly vulnerable to hawkish Fed comments, and/or strong economic data. The US jobs data will take the center stage this week. Investors expect further fall in US jobs openings, less than 200'000 job additions last month with slightly higher pay on month-on-month basis. The softer the data, the better the chances of keeping the Fed hawks away from the market.   Unsurprisingly, the part of Powell's speech where he pushed back against rate cut expectations went fully unheard by investors on Friday. On the contrary, the Fed rate cut expectations went through the roof when it became clear that the Fed will stay pat again this month. The US 2-year fell to nearly 4.50% on Friday, the 10-year yield tipped a toe below the 4.20% mark. The S&P500 flirted with the summer peak, flirted with the 4600 level and closed the week a touch below this level, while the rate sensitive Nasdaq closed a few points below the 16000 and iShares core US REIT ETF jumped nearly 2.70% last Friday.   The SPDR's energy ETF, on the other hand, barely closed above its 200-DMA, as last week's OPEC decision to cut the production supply by another 1mbpd and to extend the Saudi cuts into next year barely impressed oil bulls – even less so given the apparent frictions at the heart of the group regarding this supply cut strategy when prices keep falling. The decline in oil prices continues this Monday. The barrel of US crude remained aggressively sold near the 200-DMA last week, and we are about to step into the $70/73pb region which should give some support to the market. With the clear deterioration of the positive trend, and the lack of any apparent boost to the oil market following last week's OPEC meeting, there is a chance that we will see oil finish the year below the $70pb mark. An increasingly shaky OPEC unity, record US production, a slowing global economy, deteriorating global demand outlook and efforts to shift toward cleaner energy sources weigh heavier than the supply worries. As such, the $100pb level becomes an increasingly difficult target to reach. And even though the COP28 president Mr. Al Jaber said last weekend that there is 'no science' behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels – yes 70'000 people flew to Dubai to hear that there is no evidence that fossil fuel is destroying climate – efforts to phase-out fossil fuel continues at full speed with solar panel installation surpassing the most optimistic estimates according to Climate Analytics.  In the FX, the US dollar's positive attempt above the 200-DMA was halted by Powell's speech on Friday – or more precisely by investors' careful extraction of all the dovish elements in that Powell speech. Both the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Bank of Canada (BoC) will likely keep their rates unchanged this week, but the RBA will certainly sound hawkish faced with worries of 'home-grown' inflation. The AUDUSD stepped into the bullish consolidation zone following a 6+% jump since the October dip and could gather further strength this week. The EURUSD, on the other hand, remains under growing selling pressure despite FX traders' hesitancy regarding what to do with the US dollar. The pair sank to 1.0830 on Friday and is preparing to test the 200-DMA, which stands near 1.0820, to the downside. The easing Eurozone inflation, along with slowing European economies, boost the dovish ECB expectations. The final PMI data will confirm further contraction in the Eurozone last month, as the Eurozone GDP read will likely confirm a 0.1% contraction last quarter. Coming back to the EURUSD, the pair will likely see a solid support near 1.0800/1.0820, which includes the 200-DMA and the major 38.2% Fibonacci retracement on October – November rebound. And clearing this support should pave the way for an extended selloff toward 1.0730.    

Too dovish Falling energy prices help softening global inflation expectations and keep the central bank doves in charge of the market, along with sufficiently soft economic data that points at the end of the global monetary policy campaign. This week, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Bank of Canada (BoC) kept rates unchanged – although the RBA said that they could hike again if home-grown inflation doesn't slow. But overall, the Federal Reserve (Fed) is expected to cut as soon as in May next year, and the European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to announce six 25 basis point cuts next year. If that's the case, the ECB should start cutting before the Fed, sometime in Q1. It sounds overstretched to me.   Data released earlier this week showed that French industrial production fell unexpectedly for the 3rd straight month in October, Spanish output declined, and German factory orders fell 3.7% in October versus a 0.2% increase penciled in by analysts. The slowing European economies and falling inflation help building a case in favour of an ECB rate cut, but I don't see the ECB cutting rates anytime in the H1. Remember, economic slowdown is the natural response that the ECB was looking for to slow inflation. Now that it happens, the bank won't leave the battlefield before making sure that inflation shows no sign of life. But the EURUSD is understandable extending its losses within the bearish consolidation zone, as the German 10-year yield sinks below the 2.20% level. The EURUSD is now testing the 100-DMA to the downside. Trend and momentum indicators are comfortably bearish and the RSI hints that we are not yet dealing with oversold market conditions. Therefore, the selloff could deepen toward the 1.07/1.730 region.  The direction of the EURUSD is of course also dependent on what the USD leg of the pair will do. We see the dollar index recover this week despite the falling yields driven lower by a soft set of US jobs data released so far this week. The JOLTS data showed a significant fall in job openings in October, while yesterday's ADP print revealed around 100K new private job additions last month, much less than 130K penciled in by analysts. There is no apparent correlation between this data and Friday's official NFP read, but the fact that independent data point at further loosening in the US jobs market comforts the Fed doves in the idea that, yes, the US jobs market is finally giving in. On the yields front, the US 2-year yield remains steady near 4.60%/4.65% region, while the 10-year yield fell to 4.10% yesterday, from above 5% by end of October. This is a big, big decline, and it means that investors are now ramping up the US slowdown bets. That's also why we don't see the US stocks react to the further fall in yields. The S&P500 and Nasdaq both fell yesterday, while their European peers extended gains regardless of the overbought conditions. The Stoxx 600 closed yesterday's session above the 470 level. The softening ECB expectations are certainly the major driver of the European stocks toward the ytd highs; German stocks hit an ATH yesterday despite the undoubtedly morose economic outlook. Actual levels scream correction.      

Surprise dovish twist By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank   The Federal Reserve (Fed) wraps up the year with a resounding finale. The Fed is not bothered to see the US yields fall in preparation for a rate cut. On the contrary, they endorsed the idea of a policy pivot thanks to an encouraging fall in inflation and sounded way more dovish than everybody expected at their announcement yesterday – which clearly exposed that the policy pivot is coming. This is the major take of the final FOMC meeting of the year, and it was totally unexpected. Jerome Powell still said – just for the sake of saying – that 'it is far too early to declare victory' over inflation, but the committee lowered their inflation forecasts for this year and the next, and the so-called dot plot – which plots where the Fed officials see the interest rates going – plotted a 75bp cut in Fed funds rate next year. The median expectation now suggests that the Fed rate will be lowered to 4.6% by the end of next year. And that's quite a big change compared to last time the Fed President spoke to say that the rates would stay high for long. It now appears that the rates won't stay high for so long. The first Fed rate cut is now expected to happen in March, with more than 85% probability.  As a result, the US 2-year yield – which captures the Fed rate bets – sank to 4.33% yesterday, and with the dovish message that the Fed sent to the market, the 4.50% level that I saw as a support at the start of this week should now act like a resistance. The US 10-year yield sank below 4%, reflecting the idea that the policy pivot suggests some meaningful slowdown in the US economy. The falling yields sent the S&P500 above the 4700 mark, to the highest levels in almost two years and the Dow Jones Industrial Index hit a record high. There is no reason to stop believing that the S&P500 will soon renew record as well, unless there is a meaningful decline in earnings expectations.   The dovish Fed echoed loudly across the FX markets as well. The US dollar was sharply sold, the EURUSD rebounded back above the 1.09 level, Cable extended gains to 1.2650 and the USDJPY fell almost 1.80% yesterday and slipped below the 141 level this morning. Trend and momentum indicators are comfortably negative, the fundamentals – meaning the narrowing divergence between the more dovish Fed and the more hawkish Bank of Japan (BoJ) – are comfortably positive for the yen, hence price rallies in the USDJPY are now seen as opportunities to strengthen the short USDJPY positions.  Now today, it's the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England's (BoE) turn to give their final policy verdict for this year. And both Mme Lagarde and Mr. Bailey are certainly annoyed to see the Fed go so soft yesterday, as Christine Lagarde had said herself that no reduction in rates should be expected in the next few quarters. It will be interesting to see if ECB and BoE officials feel comfortable about giving up their tough stance. I still believe that Lagarde will repeat that it's too early to talk about rate cuts, in which case we could see the EURUSD jump above the 1.10 level and finish the year above this level.   Across the Channel, the situation is less obvious. The UK economic outlook is not bright, and wages show signs of slowing. One big argument is that inflation has more than halved in the UK since the start of this year. Yes. But inflation in the UK – though halved – stands at 4.6% which is more than twice the BoE's 2% target. The latter makes the BoE less inclined to initiate rate cuts compared to the other two major central banks.   

European markets finished a choppy week with a modest rebound, with the FTSE100 breaking a 3-day losing streak, although it still fell for the second week in succession having sunk to a 3-week low midweek. US markets also had a more positive week with the S&P500 briefly pushing above the 4,800 level for the first time in 2 years.    The catalyst for Friday's push higher was a downside miss in US PPI for December which pulled forward speculation yet again about central bank rate cuts, which helped pull the US 2-year yield to its lowest level since May last year.   We also saw similar sharp declines in UK and German 2-year yields as well, although the market enthusiasm and pricing for rate cuts isn't anywhere near as aggressive as it is for the prospect of a cut in US rates. This comes across as a little bizarre given that of all the major economies now the US appears to be in much better shape, and therefore in less need of the stimulus of a rate cut. Last week's PPI numbers served to overshadow a hotter than expected CPI figure which saw headline inflation in the US push up from 3.1% to 3.4%, the second time we've seen US inflation rebound from the 3% level since June last year.     This uncertainty suggests that markets could be jumping the gun when it comes to the likelihood of March rate cuts, and it is the 2-year yield where this is being priced most aggressively. With earnings season now under way in the US with the first set of Q4 bank results garnering a rather mixed market reaction, although there was nothing significant in the numbers to suggest that the US consumer was feeling the pressure from current interest rate levels. Today the US is off for Martin Luther King Day which means markets in Europe could well be more subdued than normal, and so far this year there hasn't been that much to get particularly excited about anyway. The markets already know that the Federal Reserve is done when it comes to further rate increases, and currently have six 25bps rate cuts priced in for this year. That seems rather a lot and is more than the three the Fed have in their dot plot projections.     Nonetheless while markets in Europe and the US have got off to an uncertain start, one index that hasn't is the Nikkei 225 which has raced out of the blocks, pushing up to its highest levels in 34 years and up over 5% year to date already, and in so doing has got people speculating whether we can see a return to those 1989 peaks of 38,957. This week the focus is set to be very much on the UK economy in the wake of Friday's better than expected November GDP numbers, which raised the prospect that the economy may have avoided a technical recession at the end of last year, as a rebound in services activity saw the economy expand by 0.3%. This week we get data for wages and unemployment for November, as well as December CPI and retail sales, all of which have the potential to shift the dial on the timing of a first rate cut from the Bank of England. With inflation still almost double the Bank of England's 2% target and wage growth still upwards of 7% the idea that the central bank would look at cutting rates much before the summer seems unlikely. That said many are suggesting that inflation could be back at 2% by April, however even if that were the case we won't find out until the middle of May when the numbers are released. Against this sort of backdrop, it would be unlikely if he Bank of England were to act on rates until it sees the whites of the eyes of a lower inflation rate, especially since at the last meeting we still had 3 members of the MPC voting for a hike. It's unlikely they will vote the same way in February but nonetheless they are unlikely to go from hiking to cutting with only one meeting in between unless the wheels come off in spectacular fashion.     EUR/USD – currently looking to move higher but needs to move above the 1.1000 area to signal further gains. Short term support still at 1.0875 and the 200-day SMA at 1.0830. A break above 1.1030 has the potential to target the December peaks at 1.1140. GBP/USD – currently finding resistance at the 1.2800 area last week, slipping back to 1.2690 but remains in the wider uptrend with support just above the 1.2600 area. We need to get above 1.2800 to target the 1.3000 area. EUR/GBP – ran out of steam at the 0.8620 area last week, although we also have resistance at the 0.8670 area. Still have support just above the 0.8570/80 area, with the main support at the December lows at 0.8545. USD/JPY – ran into resistance at the 50-day SMA at 146.40 last week. Support currently at the 200-day SMA now at 143.80. We need to push above last week's high above 146.40 to keep 148.00 in sight or risk a return to 140.00. FTSE100 is expected to open 11 points higher at 7,636 DAX is expected to open 65 points higher at 16,769 CAC40 is expected to open 19 points higher at 7,484

UK inflation unexpectedly rises By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank   Yesterday was just another day where another policymaker pushed back on the exaggerated rate cut expectations. Federal Reserve's (Fed) Christopher Waller said that the Fed should go 'methodically and carefully' to hit the 2% inflation target, which according to him is 'within striking distance', but 'with economic activity and labour markets in good shape' he sees 'no reason to move as quicky or cut as rapidly as in the past', and as is suggested by the market pricing. So that was it. Another enlightening moment went down the market's throat in the form of a selloff in both equities and bonds. The US 2-year yield – which captures the rate expectations rebounded 12bp, the 10-year yield jumped past the 4%, the US dollar index recovered to a month high and is testing the 200-DMA resistance to the upside this morning, while the S&P500 retreated 0.37%.   Waller spoke from the US yesterday, but many counterparts are wining, dining and speaking in the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, which doesn't only offer snowy and a beautiful scenery this January, but it also serves as a platform to many policymakers to bring the market back to reason. Expect more comments of this hawkish kind during this week. It turns out that one of the most popular topics of this year's WEF is rising inflationary risks due to the heating tensions in the Red Sea which disrupt the global trade roads and explode the shipping costs.  

A dream comes true. By Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst | Swissquote Bank The EURUSD traded south yesterday, as the European Central Bank (ECB) Chief Christine Lagarde reckoned that growth and inflation are slowing, while insisting that the rate cut decision will be data dependent. The pair cleared the 200-DMA support, fell to 1.0820, it's a little higher this morning, but we are now below the 200-DMA and the ECB rate cut bets on falling inflation and slowing European economies remain the major driver of the euro weakness, with many investors now thinking that June could be a good time to start cutting the rates. Three more rates could follow this year. Across the Atlantic, the US released its latest GDP update and the data was as good as it could possibly get. The US economy grew 3.3% in Q4 versus 2% expected by analysts. It grew 2.5% for all of last year –quite FAR from a recession. The consumer spending growth slowed to 2.8%, but remained strong on healthy jobs market and wages growth, business investment and housing were supportive and... the cherry on top: the GDP price index, a gauge of inflation fell to 1.5%. Plus, data from rent.com showed that the median rent rate declined in December, and that's good news when considering that rents have been one of the major drivers of inflation lately, and they look like they are cooling down. In summary, yesterday's US GDP data was the definition of goldilocks in numbers: good growth, slowing inflation. A dream comes true. As reaction, the US 2-year yield fell below 4.30% and the 10-year yield fell below 4.10%. The strong numbers didn't necessarily hammer the Federal Reserve (Fed) cut expectations given that inflation slowed! Investors are not sure that March would bring the first rate cut from the Fed – as the probability of a March cut is around 50%, but a May cut is almost fully priced in. Today, all eyes are on the Fed's favorite gauge of inflation: core PCE – expected to have retreated to 3% in December. A number in line with expectations, or ideally softer than expected could further boost risk appetite.