The U.S administration, and Trump in particular, will be delighted at the weakness in the Dollar, though the weakness has come less from the administration’s failings and more to do with the post Global Financial Crisis era of extreme monetary policy accommodation coming to an end.
We have heard from Fed Chair Yellen in the week, maintaining the FED’s outlook on monetary policy for the remainder of the year, but with the projections largely priced in and perhaps in doubt, economic indicators suggesting that the FED may need to pause through the second half of the year, monetary policy divergence has moved across the Atlantic, favouring the EUR and the pound.
Both central bank heads, Carney and Draghi, caught the markets by surprise this week, with hawkish commentary on what was certainly a flip flop from pervious press conferences, where the ECB President had maintained is dovish tones and Carney held rank amongst rising dissent from within the Monetary Policy Committee Camp.
With the ECB President seemingly aligned with Yellen’s way of thinking on inflation, perhaps a late night chat over a few tumblers and Carney considering the realities of the effects of a weak pound on inflation and domestic consumption, bank stocks have gone bananas and the world has decided that we’re back in 2005.
Central banks may have decided that it’s time to bring to an end the easing cycle, but we’re quite a way off monetary policy reaching anywhere near normalization, let alone the prospect of tightening, though bank stocks on the bounce are not just down to monetary policy and rising yields, the latest stress tests and series of bailouts having added to the attractiveness of the sector.
We’ve seen the Dollar fall from grace this week and one can officially say that the Trump rally has unwound, with the failings of the administration to deliver on a single campaign promise adding to the greenback’s woes.
Trump may be looking to take some credit for labour market conditions and bringing down the Greenback in support of U.S trade, but he’ll only be able to lay claim on the latter and certainly not for the right reasons.
With the EUR up another 0.42% at $1.1426 at the time of the report, making it a 1.61% gain for the current week, any hopes for the Dollar Spot Index to recover from levels last seen in early October of last year are certainly limited at best, with only a stampede of FOMC hawks talking up a 4th rate hike for the year likely to give the Dollar any chance of a bounce back.
It may be too early to write off the Dollar, but with the bulls hiding in the hills and monetary policy divergence crossing the pond, macroeconomic data will need to be exceptional for sentiment towards monetary policy and the U.S economy in general to draw back the bulls and repel the negative sentiment that has been doing its rounds in recent weeks.