The risk mood has darkened a little this week, with some sizeable corrections emerging in some equity markets. There has not been one catalyst per se, but lofty valuations must be leading to some profit-taking in uncertain conditions. For today, it's all about the US ADP jobs release and what it means for the December Fed meeting. Expect FX to stay defensive
Price pressures remained at a constant 9.9% in September, with seasonal food items offering mild relief. Services inflation continues to show resilience, and wage growth dipping below 5.0% adds further drag on demand. Our year-end projections remain 9.6% for 2025 and 4.5% for 2026
Seemingly defying a backdrop of high uncertainty even by the ECB’s own accounts, volatility in markets continues to decline. On the surface, it may look like complacency. But a perceived limited upside in rates, and a potentially bigger downside if they were to actually start falling, also gives spreads their backing
The oil market opened higher in the early trading session today following a modest output hike from OPEC+ for November 2025. Meanwhile, gold continued its rally to new record highs amid the prolonged US shutdown
Last week's US data was in general good, but today's sentiment and labour data remind us that not everyone is feeling so positive. This is a constraint on US growth prospects and suggests the Fed will retain an easing bias through the rest of the year
Federal Reserve (Fed) doves and risk-taking investors didn't necessarily welcome Jerome Powell's cautious tone in his speech yesterday, as the Fed Chair avoided committing to a rate cut at next month's meeting. He repeated that the risks to the labour market are tilted to the downside, while inflation risks remain to the upside – a mixed picture that requires careful policy adjustment.
Private sector employment fell further in August, which should help take wage growth below 4% by year-end. That keeps the door open to further Bank of England easing, though our call for a November rate cut hangs in the
After a couple of months of stability, we look for the dollar bear trend to resume into year-end. EUR/USD should be trading up at 1.20 by that stage after three Fed rate cuts. Even though valuations look stretched in equity and credit markets, we still prefer a benign decline in the dollar and a supported environment for risk assets and activity currencies
This weekend’s OPEC+ meeting is set to be a non-event, with the group expected to keep output levels unchanged
Unlike financial markets, we still think the odds are tilted slightly in favour of another Bank of England rate cut in November. Nothing is guaranteed, though, and these are the key data points that will decide the fate of the Bank's easing cycle later this year
The Market is going wild from Powell's speech, interpreted as largely dovish! In case you missed it, you can access the text and a review of his live speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on this page:
Chair Powell could have been super balanced, or even hawkish. But he effectively chose to endorse the market discount for a rate-cutting phase ahead. It's had quite the reaction. Risk assets are up, the dollar down, so's the front-end yield. Watch longer tenor yields though - the deep thinkers of the bond market, and not quite convinced cuts are all good
USD/CAD advances in the US session, trading above the 100-day MA as the potential for further gains grows. There are of course headwinds for the pair which could scupper a move higher in the coming days.
Polish headline inflation has been confirmed at 3.1% YoY in July, from 4.1% YoY in June, as the effect of the partial unfreeze of energy prices in mid-2024 died out. With inflation within the tolerance band of the National Bank of Poland's target (2.5%, +/- 1ppt), the central bank now has room to continue its monetary easing cycle
Markets are pricing in risks of tariffs with diverging movements across regions and asset classes.
Tariffs risks saw US and Asian equities retreat while European equities outperformed.
However, most G10 currencies outperformed the USD. Commodity- linked currencies like the CAD, AUD and NOK performed best.
Last week's FOMC meeting appeared to come as a relief to many market participants as two cuts remained in the dots for both this year and next (some had expected a cut to come out for this year). Further, Chair Powell seemed to downplay concerns about inflation, offering a bit more emphasis on the growth side of the mandate than perhaps assumed going into the meeting.
“When the path is uncertain you go a little bit slower” – Chair Powell. The expectation is for the Fed to leave their policy rates unchanged at 4.25-4.50%. To us, uncertainty around the macro environment and politics will likely equate to little changes to the Fed’s forward guidance. Powell will likely want to keep all the options open.
Wall Street plunged and Treasury yields fell on recession fears, triggered by relentless tariff wrangling and uncertainties surrounding U.S. trade policies. Economic growth and demand concerns weighed on oil prices too. The dollar weakened against the Japanese yen. Gold dropped on profit booking.
