A cooling in service-sector activity was on display in the March ISM Services report. The prices paid index dropped to a four-year low and the employment index stood in contraction territory for the third time in four months.
Author
Wells Fargo Research Team
Wells Fargo
AUD/USD hits a fresh low since early August during the Asian session on Friday and looks vulnerable near 0.7000 after breaking below the 200-day SMA overnight. Against the backdrop of the hawkish Fed, a two-day rally in oil prices revives inflation fears and continues to push US bond yields to multi-year highs. Adding to this, geopolitical risks lift the US Dollar to a two-month high, overshadowing RBA rate hike bets and weighing on the pair.
USD/JPY edges lower during the Asian session on Friday, stalling its recent strong move to a three-week high of 159.00 as Japanese Yen bears turn cautious amid intervention fears. Meanwhile, the US Dollar retains a strong bullish undertone as the Fed's hawkish outlook and oil-driven inflation fears continue to push US bond yields to multi-year peaks. Furthermore, the BoJ's dovish rate hike last week might cap JPY and support spot prices.
Gold is extending Thursday’s late rebound from the weekly low of $4,244 into Asia on Friday, but remains below $4,300. The bullion is headed for its worst week in four weeks amid a hawkish US Federal Reserve outlook and deepening global bond rout.
The Treasury Department will buy back another $6 billion in long-term Treasuries as it continues efforts to tamp down rising yields. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced this second expanded buyback on Wednesday.
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) raised its short-term interest-rate target to 1.25% from 1.00% in a 7-2 vote, marking another step in the normalisation of monetary policy and widely matching what everyone has been expecting for weeks.
