Forex Today: Powell powers the dollar.. and yields
|What you need to know on Friday, March 5:
The American dollar soared as US Treasury yields reached fresh one-year highs following words from Federal Reserve’s head, Jerome Powell. As he repeated several times, he noted that they are “a low way” from their goals. Regarding rates, he said that the outlook is becoming more positive, but remarked that “sustained” progress towards the Fed’s goals is needed for policymakers to change the current monetary policy. When asked about the recent run in yields, Powell said that they would be worried about “disorderly market conditions,” but repeated that they won’t hike rates until inflation runs above 2% for some time.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note is at 1.55% as the day comes to an end. Wall Street plummeted, with the three major indexes losing over 2% at some point, albeit bouncing some ahead of the close.
The EUR/USD pair plunged to the 1.1960 area, approaching February’s low at 1.1951. The GBP/USD struggles around 1.3900.
Commodity-linked currencies lost ground yet to a lesser extend. Despite spot gold fell sub-1,700, the AUD/USD pair held above 0.7700, helped by equities bouncing off lows.
The USD/CAD traded within familiar levels, as the greenback’s momentum was partially offset by oil strength. The black gold soared to fresh one-year highs, as the OPEC+ is reportedly close to agreeing to leave output unchanged in April. WTI hit $64.83 a barrel, while Brent gained over 4.5%.
The USD/JPY pair trades near 108.00, ignoring Wall Street and following yields.
The focus now shifts to US Nonfarm Payrolls out this Friday.
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