|

Forex today: mixed mood for the dollar, eyes on Washington, Sterling bid

Forex today saw the US dollar juggled about in a mixed mood from traders who are becoming dubious over a fickle communication from the White House with respect to the promised tax reforms. 

However, that didn't stop Wall Street bulls getting excited on the comments from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin who hopes for a tax overhaul by the end of the year. He also hinted that the Trump administration could consider backdating the tax reform to the start of 2017. 

Meanwhile, besides the US JOLTS positive surprise, there really wasn't much for traders to go on today other than trade the relief of Hurricane Irma shifting course over the weekend. Bond prices dropped and investors were finding more reasons to turn risk on. As a result, the US benchmark ten-year yields closed +1.64% higher and the DXY was +0.06%.

Sterling took the show earlier with the UK CPI beat raising prospects for a BoE in the near future and the possibility of MPC voting member Haldane voting for a hike and joining members Ian McCafferty and Michael Saunders who will likely vote in favor of an immediate 25bp rate rise again. GBP ended higher +0.91% but had traded just 2 pips shy from 1.33 the figure as the high for the U.S. session. 

Other majors were closing in the green with the euro +0.09% vs the dollar and +0.80% vs the yen. As for safe havens, such as the JPY, it was down -0.72% and the CHF ended -0.45%. Gold was pretty much flat on the day, +0.03%. AUD -0.10% and Kiwi +0.48%.  

Key events for the Asia session

There are no scheduled key events

Key notes from US session

Author

Ross J Burland

Ross J Burland, born in England, UK, is a sportsman at heart. He played Rugby and Judo for his county, Kent and the South East of England Rugby team.

More from Ross J Burland
Share:

Editor's Picks

EUR/USD clings to gains around 1.1800

EUR/USD manages to regain composure and retests the 1.1800 region in quite a positive start to the week. The pair’s bounce follows the US Dollar’s offered stance post-SCOTUS ruling ahead of important US data and Fedspeak on Tuesday.

GBP/USD treads water near 1.3500 as BoE-Fed divergence debate stalls

GBP/USD spent Monday spinning in place as market participants await a fresh catalyst to break the pair out of its recent range. The BoE's February hold came with a surprisingly dovish 5-4 split, and UK Consumer Price Index data last week showed inflation easing to 3.0%, reinforcing the case for earlier rate cuts, with most economists now looking to April or March for the next move. 

Gold climbs above $5,200 on geopolitical tensions, trade uncertainty

Gold price jumps to around $5,230 during the early Asian session on Tuesday. The rally of the precious metal is bolstered by heightened geopolitical tensions and global trade uncertainty following US tariff decisions. Traders brace for the US January Producer Price Index report on Friday for fresh impetus. 

Solana DeFi platform Step Finance to close operations following treasury hack

The Solana based decentralized finance platform Step Finance announced it will end all operations effective immediately following a breach that drained its treasury.

Supreme Court nixes tariffs, Trump teases 15% global tariff

On February 20th, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s global tariffs under IEEPA authority were unconstitutional, effectively nullifying the framework. However, the relief was short-lived. Within hours, Trump floated a 15% blanket tariff under an alternative legal authority.

XRP recovers slightly as bearish sentiment dominates crypto market

Ripple is rising above $1.40 at the time of writing on Monday amid fresh tariff-triggered headwinds in the broader cryptocurrency market. The sell-off to $1.33, the token’s intraday low, can be attributed to macroeconomic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and risk-averse sentiment among other factors.