US Dollar Index clings to mild gains near 104.00 with eyes on major central banks
- US Dollar Index rebounds from six-month low, snaps two-day downtrend.
- Fed announced 50 bps rate increase, showed readiness to keep it higher for long.
- A reassessment of Fed’s rate bias seems favoring US Treasury yields and the greenback.
- Multiple central bank announcements, US Retail Sales eyed for fresh impulse.
US Dollar Index (DXY) remains mildly bid around 104.00 as it prints the first daily gains in three during the early Thursday morning in Europe. In doing so, the greenback’s gauge versus the six major currencies traces the firmer US Treasury bond yields amid sluggish market sentiment.
That said, the DXY initially failed to cheer the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) 0.50% interest rate hike and the readiness to keep it higher for long as traders didn’t find anything new from the statements or Fed actions that were unexpected. However, a reassessment of the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) moves highlights upward revision of inflation forecasts and a cut in the growth forecasts, as well as the 5.1% terminal rate, as the key hawkish actions and propelled the US Treasury bond yields and the DXY.
That said, the US 10-year Treasury bond yields probe a two-day downtrend near 3.50% while the two-year US bond yields also extend recovery from the monthly low while printing the first daily positive in three near 4.25%.
Also likely to have stopped the US dollar’s downside could be the cautious mood ahead of the multiple central bank announcements, including from the Swiss National Bank (SNB), European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BOE), etc.
Amid these plays, the S&P 500 Futures remain directionless while the Asia-Pacific shares grind lower.
Moving on, the aforementioned central bank announcements will join the US Retail Sales for November, expected -0.1% MoM versus 1.3% prior, to direct short-term DXY moves.
Technical analysis
A one-month-old descending support line, close to 103.50 by the press time, joins the oversold RSI conditions to tease DXY bulls.
Also read: US Dollar Index Price Analysis: Monthly support teases DXY bulls amid oversold RSI