As markets wind down for the year-end holiday period, forex trading activity turns subdued, with limited momentum across major pairs. Dollar, while maintaining its position as the strongest currency of the month, is facing challenges in decisively breaking last month’s highs against European majors. However, the greenback still made some headway against Yen and commodity […]

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The Federal Reserve’s policy change and economic projections have significantly impacted markets, leading to a rise in US yields. The US PCE data released on Friday rose less than expected, alleviating some selling pressure on US equities. The Bank of Japan held rates steady, defying expectations of a rate cut, while the risk of a […]

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The tradition of central banks hosting meetings just before Christmas continued this year with policy decisions in the US, Japan, UK, Norway, and Sweden. The largest present came from the US Federal Reserve in the shape of a significant hawkish surprise. Fed cut the policy rate target by 25bp to 4.25-4.50% as expected, but Powell delivered […]

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Dollar’s strong rally paused in early US trading after PCE inflation data came in below expectations, easing concerns that Fed might maintain higher rates for an extended period. Markets are also digesting remarks from Fed officials following the hawkish rate cut earlier in the week. Most notably, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, the sole dissenter […]

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Markets Front end US yields returned a few bps of the sharp Fed-induced gains yesterday but the long end extended its march higher. The 10-30-yr bucket added between 4.8 and 5.9 bps. Economic data, while second tier, again in most cases underscored the country’s economic resilience. European swap rates gapped higher in a first response […]

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Yen, which has been one of the weakest currencies this week, showed a modest recovery during today’s Asian session. The rebound came on the back of stronger-than-expected inflation data and renewed verbal intervention from Japan’s Finance Ministry. November’s inflation figures revealed a sharp reacceleration, driven by significant increases in energy prices and rice prices. Despite […]

The post Yen Recovers Slightly on Japan’s Inflation and Verbal Intervention, But Dollar Remains Unstoppable appeared first on Action Forex.

A week packed with central bank decisions is coming to an end with a sour taste in everybody’s mouth. The Federal Reserve (Fed)’s decision to cut rates by 25bp was fully meaningless and the incoming data is a proof. The US Q3 growth was revised to 3.1% from 2.8% printed earlier, the sales growth was […]

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In focus today In the euro area, we get data on consumer confidence for December. Consumer confidence has been on a rising trend the past two years but in November it unexpectedly declined. It will be very import for the growth outlook to see if the decline was just a blip or it continued in […]

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Japan’s core CPI (excluding food) rose to 2.7% yoy in November, marking the first reacceleration in three months and exceeding market expectations of 2.6% yoy. Core inflation has remained above the BoJ’s 2% target since April 2022, highlighting persistent price pressures. This increase was attributed to reduced government subsidies for utility bills and a sharp […]

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Key insights from the week that was. As is tradition in Australia, the Federal Government delivered its mid-year economic and fiscal outlook in the lead up to Christmas. As anticipated, this update highlighted a troubling combination of fading revenue windfalls and persistent strength in spending across critical services, infrastructure, cost-of-living measures and state/local grants. While […]

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Both Sterling and Japanese yen are among the weakest-performing currencies today, following their respective central banks meetings. BoE left rates unchanged at 4.75%, but the surprise came from a dovish shift in the MPC, with three members voting for a cut. While BoE reiterated that a “gradual approach” to easing remains appropriate, rising concerns over […]

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Markets The Fed lowered policy rates yesterday from 4.5%-4.75% to 4.25-4.5%, a level chair Powell said is still “meaningfully restrictive”. The decision was expected but not unanimous. Cleveland Fed Hammack voted to keep rates steady which given the circumstances had a lot to say for. The economy is doing fine with GDP forecasts left unchanged […]

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Fed’s hawkish rate cut overnight sparked an outsized market reaction, with DOW plunging over -1100 points and NASDAQ losing -3.5%. Fed’s messages didn’t deviate from expectations leading to the meeting, indicating a slower easing path in 2025 with likely just two more rate cuts and a terminal rate near or above 3.0%. But markets responded […]

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BoJ kept its uncollateralized overnight call rate unchanged at 0.25%, as widely anticipated, with an 8-1 vote in favor. Naoki Tamura dissented, advocating for a rate increase to 0.50%. Governor Kazuo Ueda, speaking at the post-meeting press conference, reiterated that rate hikes would proceed cautiously. He noted, “If the economy and prices move in line […]

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In focus today A packed European central bank day kicks off with the Riksbank decision at 9:30 CET. We expect a 25bp cut to 2.50% and that the central bank will maintain a message of more cuts at the beginning of 2025. Following the November decision to cut by 50bp to 2.75%, the communication has […]

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Sometimes, the truth is hard to say—and even harder to hear. The Federal Reserve (Fed) announced another 25bp cut as widely expected and priced in, but hinted that there will be just about two rate cuts throughout next year. The GDP forecasts for this year and the next were revised higher, the unemployment rate lower, […]

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The forex and stock markets are holding steady today, with limited volatility as traders anticipate FOMC rate decision and updated economic projections. A 25bps rate cut, reducing the target range to 4.25–4.50%, is virtually certain. However, the market’s focus lies on the tone and guidance Fed delivers. Critical questions include whether a pause in easing […]

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Dollar has strengthened against commodity currencies this week but remains range-bound against Euro and Pound, as markets await Fed’s rate decision to gauge the next move. While a 25bps rate cut is fully expected in with no chance of deviation, the focus is on how hawkish Fed’s messaging will be. Key questions include the likelihood […]

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Japan’s exports rose 3.8% yoy in November to JPY 9.152T, supported by increased shipments of chip-making equipment to Taiwan and nonferrous metals to China, marking the second consecutive month of export growth. Imports, however, fell -3.8% yoy to JPY 9.270T, marking their first decline in eight months due to reduced demand for crude oil from […]

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BoJ may leave rates unchanged in December’s meeting Next rate hike may not come until March Policy decision is due on Thursday at 03:00 GMT Yen weakness continues Market consensus overwhelmingly for steady rates The Bank of Japan (BOJ) is anticipated to keep its interest rate steady at 0.25% during its upcoming two-day meeting on December 18-19, the last one […]

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