Forex Today: Investors hope for US inflation data to wake markets up
Here is what you need to know on Thursday, July 11:
The action in foreign exchange markets remain subdued in the second half of the week following Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's two-day Congressional testimony. Thursday's economic calendar will feature the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for June, which have the potential to ramp up the volatility. Weekly Initial Jobless Claims from the US will also be watched closely by participants.
US Dollar PRICE This week
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the weakest against the British Pound.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.00% | -0.40% | 0.57% | -0.10% | -0.10% | 0.74% | 0.33% | |
| EUR | -0.00% | -0.20% | 0.91% | 0.22% | 0.07% | 1.08% | 0.66% | |
| GBP | 0.40% | 0.20% | 1.06% | 0.44% | 0.27% | 1.29% | 0.86% | |
| JPY | -0.57% | -0.91% | -1.06% | -0.65% | -0.63% | 0.34% | -0.19% | |
| CAD | 0.10% | -0.22% | -0.44% | 0.65% | -0.03% | 0.84% | 0.44% | |
| AUD | 0.10% | -0.07% | -0.27% | 0.63% | 0.03% | 1.01% | 0.60% | |
| NZD | -0.74% | -1.08% | -1.29% | -0.34% | -0.84% | -1.01% | -0.41% | |
| CHF | -0.33% | -0.66% | -0.86% | 0.19% | -0.44% | -0.60% | 0.41% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
Fed Chairman Powell repeated his prepared statement before the US House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday and refrained from delivering any fresh clues regarding the timing of the interest rate reduction. Nevertheless, Wall Street's main indexes registered strong gains midweek and made it difficult for the US Dollar (USD) to gather strength against its major rivals. After posting small losses on Wednesday, the USD Index holds steady at around 105.00 early Thursday. On a yearly basis, the CPI is forecast to rise 3.1%, while the core CPI is seen increasing 3.4%.
Economic Indicator
Consumer Price Index ex Food & Energy (YoY)
Inflationary or deflationary tendencies are measured by periodically summing the prices of a basket of representative goods and services and presenting the data as the Consumer Price Index (CPI). CPI data is compiled on a monthly basis and released by the US Department of Labor Statistics. The YoY reading compares the prices of goods in the reference month to the same month a year earlier. The CPI Ex Food & Energy excludes the so-called more volatile food and energy components to give a more accurate measurement of price pressures. Generally speaking, a high reading is bullish for the US Dollar (USD), while a low reading is seen as bearish.
Read more.Next release: Thu Jul 11, 2024 12:30
Frequency: Monthly
Consensus: 3.4%
Previous: 3.4%
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
The US Federal Reserve has a dual mandate of maintaining price stability and maximum employment. According to such mandate, inflation should be at around 2% YoY and has become the weakest pillar of the central bank’s directive ever since the world suffered a pandemic, which extends to these days. Price pressures keep rising amid supply-chain issues and bottlenecks, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) hanging at multi-decade highs. The Fed has already taken measures to tame inflation and is expected to maintain an aggressive stance in the foreseeable future.
The data published by the UK's Office for National Statistics showed in the European Morning that the Gross Domestic Product expanded by 0.4% on a monthly basis in May. This reading came in better than the market expectation for an expansion of 0.2%. After closing in positive territory on Wednesday, GBP/USD continues to push higher and was last seen trading at its strongest level since early March above 1.2850.
EUR/USD benefited from the modest selling pressure surrounding the USD late Wednesday and closed the day in positive territory. The pair holds its ground on Thursday and edges higher toward 1.0850.
The Melbourne Institute reported in the Asian session that the Consumer Inflation Expectation ticked down to 4.3% in July from 4.4%. AUD/USD largely ignored this data and the pair was last seen trading marginally higher on the day slightly above 0.6750.
USD/JPY stays in a consolidation phase above 161.50 after closing the first three days of the week in positive territory. The data from Japan showed that that Machinery Orders declined by 3.2% on a monthly basis in May.
Gold rose toward $2,390 on Wednesday but erased a large portion of its daily gains during the American trading hours. XAU/USD struggles to gather bullish momentum but sticks to modest daily gains near $2,380 in the early European session.
Inflation FAQs
Inflation measures the rise in the price of a representative basket of goods and services. Headline inflation is usually expressed as a percentage change on a month-on-month (MoM) and year-on-year (YoY) basis. Core inflation excludes more volatile elements such as food and fuel which can fluctuate because of geopolitical and seasonal factors. Core inflation is the figure economists focus on and is the level targeted by central banks, which are mandated to keep inflation at a manageable level, usually around 2%.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the change in prices of a basket of goods and services over a period of time. It is usually expressed as a percentage change on a month-on-month (MoM) and year-on-year (YoY) basis. Core CPI is the figure targeted by central banks as it excludes volatile food and fuel inputs. When Core CPI rises above 2% it usually results in higher interest rates and vice versa when it falls below 2%. Since higher interest rates are positive for a currency, higher inflation usually results in a stronger currency. The opposite is true when inflation falls.
Although it may seem counter-intuitive, high inflation in a country pushes up the value of its currency and vice versa for lower inflation. This is because the central bank will normally raise interest rates to combat the higher inflation, which attract more global capital inflows from investors looking for a lucrative place to park their money.
Formerly, Gold was the asset investors turned to in times of high inflation because it preserved its value, and whilst investors will often still buy Gold for its safe-haven properties in times of extreme market turmoil, this is not the case most of the time. This is because when inflation is high, central banks will put up interest rates to combat it. Higher interest rates are negative for Gold because they increase the opportunity-cost of holding Gold vis-a-vis an interest-bearing asset or placing the money in a cash deposit account. On the flipside, lower inflation tends to be positive for Gold as it brings interest rates down, making the bright metal a more viable investment alternative.
Author
Eren Sengezer
FXStreet
As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.
