Dollar slightly on the back foot once again
The dollar is slightly weaker as we begin the session, with Fed chair Powell leaving the door open for rate cuts in his speech yesterday. That said, Powell didn't give too much away but it was enough to spur a risk recovery with US stocks posting solid gains overnight.
That has extended into Asia Pacific trading today but gains in US equity futures are more measured, up by ~0.2% while Treasury yields are holding at their lows for the day as we begin the European morning. 10-year yields are down by 2.4 bps to 2.105% currently.
Anyway, the lead gainer so far today is the New Zealand dollar as the currency gains on the back of more hawkish commentary from RBNZ assistant governor, Christian Hawkesby, who mentioned that rates can remain at current levels for the foreseeable future.
Other than that, movement among major currencies in general remain rather tepid with little changes across the board. Looking ahead, the risk theme and dollar theme will remain the two focal points in markets so let's see how things play out following yesterday's recovery. Is this a start of a turnaround or just a slight readjustment before things unravel again?
