The dollar trade in a narrow range on Thursday

Good Morning,

- Dollar trade stable, as FED disappoints the bulls mode…

- Asian shares prices edged away from five-month highs.

- The dollar trade in a narrow range on Thursday, having eased for a second straight session after recent remarks from the head of the FED prompted markets to push back the timing of an expected U.S. interest rate hike.

- Yellen told the Senate the Fed would first remove the word "patient" in describing its approach to interest rate hikes, then enter a phase in which moves are possible at any meeting. However, to the disappointment of dollar bulls she did not offer any additional news on the timing of a rate increase before the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

- German consumers are increasingly optimistic. The consumer climate has improved considerably. Following a value of 9.3 points in February 2015, the overall indicator is forecasting 9.7 points for March. Economic and income expectations as well as willingness to buy have all increased further. At present, German consumers are seemingly not be greatly affected by the recent escalation of the situation in eastern Ukraine, the ongoing tensions between Russia and the West as well as events in Greece. Instead, their optimism continues to grow, as is reflected in the stable upward trend in economic expectations.

- As investors anticipate that the FED will raise rates in a few months, they are also contemplating what this means for stocks. In a note Tuesday, Barclays noted that rate hikes happen when the economy is in good shape, meaning corporate earnings are likely also strong. Stocks rallied after previous rate hikes because earnings growth offset lower valuation multiples, which investors reduced in reaction to higher rates — higher rates raise the cost of borrowing for companies, affecting profits. However, earnings growth is lukewarm this time.

- Greece remained in focus after the country said on Wednesday it will struggle to make debt repayments to the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank this year while Germany's finance minister voiced open doubts about Athens' trustworthiness.

- Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said he’s counting on the European Central Bank to help the country avert default when it runs out of money next month, while bank deposits are also starting to flow back. The ECB owes Greece almost 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) from the return of profits from its program buying euro-region bonds to support the market, Varoufakis said in an interview with Bloomberg.

- Goldman Sachs on EUR/USD: GS cuts yesterday its EUR/USD forecasts stating that its conviction remains that the Dollar has a lot more room to strengthen, despite its sharp rise since mid-2014. "Underlying that view is a US activity picture that remains solid and a Fed that is gradually approaching lift-off, which will likely keep the 2-year rate differential against the G-10 moving in favour of the Dollar this year," GS argues. "The Dollar bull view has recently fallen out of favour, with many thinking the greenback will go sideways this year. This caution reflects the fact that US data have been more mixed recently and an expectation for a cyclical rebound in Europe, which some see as a catalyst for EUR/$ to rebound somewhat. ," GS adds. "In that context, the emerging compromise between Greece and its lenders is cited as a reason to buy the Euro. We don’t agree. "In that light, we mark to market our Euro down view, revising our 3- and 6-month forecast for EUR/$ down to 1.12 and 1.10, respectively, from 1.14 and 1.11 previously, while keeping our 12-month forecast unchanged at 1.08,"

- BOJ's Kuroda says Japan needs to hit price target soon to change expectations.

- S&P affirms 'AA-/A-1+' ratings on China, outlook stable.

- Crude Oil inventories surge for 7th week in a row to record highs amid record production data showed yesterday. Oil prices erased gains after surging on Wednesday, following comments from Saudi Arabia's oil minister that oil demand was growing.

Have a nice Day !