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AUD/USD edges lower during the Asian session on Tuesday, stalling a two-day recovery move from a two-month low, touched last week. An extended rout in the fixed income market keeps US bond yields elevated near multi-year highs. This, along with geopolitical uncertainties, helps the US Dollar retain its bullish tone despite receding October Fed hike bets. However, expectations for another RBA rate hike this month could act as a tailwind for the Aussie.
USD/JPY extends its consolidative move during the Asian session on Tuesday, trading below 158.00 amid diverging forces. Hawkish BoJ expectations support the Japanese Yen amid looming intervention risks. Meanwhile, geopolitical uncertainty and elevated US bond yields keep the US Dollar near its YTD high despite receding October Fed hike bets. This, in turn, holds back traders from placing aggressive directional bets.
Gold continues its struggle to gain any meaningful traction, holding steady below $4,150 during the Asian session on Tuesday. Receding October Fed hike bets act as a tailwind for the non-yielding bullion, though a bullish US Dollar caps the upside. Furthermore, traders await the release of the FOMC Minutes on Wednesday for more cues about the future policy path and some meaningful impetus.
Traders have taken about one quarter-point hike out of their European Central Bank forecasts since mid-September, betting the ECB will stop raising rates because of a French debt selloff. The same bet failed twice in 2022 and 2023, when the ECB kept raising rates through financial stress because inflation was above its 2% target. Euro-area inflation came in at 3.8% in September.
The ECB would normally have a relatively straightforward answer to inflation running almost twice its target: raise interest rates. But these are not normal circumstances. This time, the bond market is already doing part of the tightening for it, leaving the ECB facing an increasingly difficult dilemma.
