AUD/USD Gains Ground, All Eyes on Federal Reserve

The Australian dollar is in positive territory on Wednesday, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate announcement. In the European session, AUD/USD is trading at 0.6681, up 0.16%.

Euro Still Outperforms Dollar

On FX markets, the euro still outperforms the dollar, with EUR/USD intraday testing the 1.0803 resistance (currently 1.0785). The move isn’t solely euro strength. USD DXY slipped further south to test the 103 area.

Will Fed Boom or Bust the Dollar?

Struck right between a rock and hard place, today the Fed will deliver its difficult policy choice. The FOMC will have to choose between supporting the financial system and fighting inflation. They can do both, but both results will be mediocre.

Bank of England & Swiss National Bank Both Set to Hike

The Bank of England and Swiss National Bank both make monetary policy announcements tomorrow, March 23.

FOMC Hikes Policy Rate by 25 Basis Points, Cautions on Bank Stress

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) lifted the federal funds rate by a quarter point to the 4.75% to 5.0% range and announced a continuation of its balance sheet runoff. The Fed adjusted to acknowledge the current banking stress stating, “the U.S. banking system is sound and resilient. Recent developments are likely to result […]

FOMC Hikes Rates, But End of Tightening Cycle Coming Into View

The FOMC raised its target range for the federal funds rate by 25 bps at today's policy meeting. Fed policymakers have raised rates by 475 bps over the course of the past 12 months, the fastest pace of tightening since the early 1980s.

FOMC's Fight Against Inflation Finely Balanced

March’s 25bp hike is likely to be the last for this cycle as banking sector uncertainty tightens financial conditions and weighs on growth.

Fed Hikes 25bp, BoE is Next to Decide

The dollar’s sharp fall led to a strong rally in the EURUSD yesterday. The pair traded past the 1.0910 level as a couple of hours before the Fed decision and Powell’s speech, the European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde repeated that the ECB will keep a ‘robust’ approach to respond to inflation risks, and that the 2% inflation target is non-negotiable.

Contrast Between ECB at Watcher Conference and Fed Was Striking

The contrast between the ECB at the Watcher conference and the Fed yesterday was striking. Delivering a 50 bps rate hike last week, it said then and again yesterday that there is still more ground to cover.

Is the Banking Crisis Over, Or is the Worst Yet to Come?

It all started with Silicon Valley Bank – a mid-sized Californian bank that mostly lent to venture-backed tech and life science companies. The bank was well capitalized to begin with but found itself unable to meet clients’ requests to withdraw deposits as tech startups began struggling for cash under the weight of rising borrowing costs. Subsequently, SVB resorted to selling its assets to raise funds, most of which were locked in 10-year Treasury notes.