Forex Today: Yields continue to drive dollar valuation, investors eye key UK, EU, US data
|Here is what you need to know on Tuesday, November 16:
Following a calm start to the week, the dollar capitalized on rising US Treasury bond yields in the American session and the US Dollar Index climbed to its highest level since July 2020 before going into a consolidation phase. Investors await UK labour market data and third-quarter GDP figures for the euro area. Later in the day, October Retail Sales and Industrial Production will be featured in the US economic docket. Several FOMC policymakers will be delivering speeches as well.
The benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield gained traction in the second half of the day on Monday and reached its strongest level in more than two weeks at 1.632%. In the absence of fresh fundamental drivers and high-impact data releases, the sharp upsurge witnessed in yields suggested that investors continue to price the possibility of the US Federal Reserve hiking the policy rate sooner than expected.
Wall Street's main indexes finished the day flat and US stock index futures trade in a tight range early Tuesday. Headlines surrounding US President Joe Biden's meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping suggest that talks were focused on strategic and fundamental issues. There was no mention of tariffs and trade relations and this summit doesn't seem to be having a noticeable impact on market sentiment.
EUR/USD slumped to its weakest level in more than a year at 1.1366 late Monday and seems to be having a difficult time staging a decisive rebound. European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde, once again, pushed back against market pricing of a rate hike in 2022.
GBP/USD closed flat on Monday as the British pound managed to stay resilient against the greenback on the back of the latest Brexit headlines. European Commission Vice President Maros Šefčovič said that the latest meeting with UK Brexit Minister Lord David Frost was much better than last week. Moreover, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that an agreement with the EU was possible and added that they hope to reach a negotiated settlement on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
USD/JPY capitalized on rising US T-bond yields and reclaimed 114.00. As of writing, the pair was fluctuating in a very narrow range around 114.10.
Despite the broad-based dollar strength, gold continues to trade above $1,860. The precious metal seems to be attracting investors as a hedge against inflation.
Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin lost nearly 3% on Monday and came under strong bearish pressure on Tuesday. BTC/USD is currently testing $60,000 losing more than 4% on a daily basis. Similarly, Ethereum is suffering heavy losses and was last seen trading near $4,300, where it was down 5.3% on the day.
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