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USD/JPY ended the week pressing the 162.00 handle, a whisker beneath its multi-decade high, and the more revealing detail is what it took to drag the Yen up there: a Bank of Japan (BoJ) rate hike that was billed as the turning point. The June move to 1.00% was the policy Yen bulls had demanded for two years, and the currency enjoyed it for barely a session before sliding back toward the zone that keeps Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) on intervention watch.The hike the carry trade swallowed wholeThe arithmetic is what makes the move so deflating for the Yen.…
UOB’s Lee Sue Ann highlights that Australia’s unemployment rate dipped to 4.4% in May with a 40.3k employment gain, mainly in part-time jobs, and participation rising to 66.7%. However, she stresses that falling hours worked and higher underemployment signal weakening labour utilisation and a gradual loosening in labour market conditions beneath the resilient headline figures.Headline resilience versus softer utilisation”That said, the underlying details were less encouraging. Total hours worked declined by 1.1% over the month, while the underemployment rate ticked higher to 5.9%, indicating a deterioration in labour utilisation despite the rebound in headcount.””The composition of job gains, skewed toward…
India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by USD 963 million to USD 672.587 billion in the week ended June 19, according to RBI data. | Photo Credit: LEE JAE WON India’s forex reserves increased by USD 963 million to USD 672.587 billion during the week ended June 19, the RBI said on Friday.In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped by USD 9.985 billion to USD 671.625 billion.For the week ended June 19, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by USD 3.072 billion to USD 541.217 billion, according to the RBI.Expressed in dollar terms, the…
According to the June 23-25 Reuters poll, 78 of 102 economists expect that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will hold interest rates steady in the current range of 3.50%-3.75% the entire year, up from 72 economists who anticipated the same in the early June poll.An improvement in a majority of economists supporting the Fed maintaining the status quo by the year-end is defying firm market expectations of at least one interest rate hike by the central bank this year.The CME FedWatch tool shows that the odds of the Fed raising interest rates at least once this year are 81.7% Fed FAQs…
The US dollar is set to enter the second half of 2026 on a strong note, supported by higher US interest rates and robust demand for US assets from investors betting on “American exceptionalism”, an idea that may put pressure on other currencies.The greenback has emerged as the best-performing currency at the half-year point, according to Reuters, strengthening by 3% compared with last year, when it declined more than 10% and recorded its steepest first-half fall since the early 1970s, due to concerns over US tariff policy.Despite expectations that a lasting ceasefire in the Iran conflict would help cool energy…
Deutsche Bank strategists note that tech weakness extended from the Magnificent 7 and Apple into Asian markets, weighing on risk sentiment and US equity futures. However, gains in semiconductors, led by Micron, alongside strength in small caps and equal-weighted stocks, showed that the broader US market backdrop was more mixed than the headline tech selloff suggested.Tech selloff spreads across Asia”There seems to be a mini ice-age in Asia this morning with tech again selling off. The KOSPI is slumping -8.01% as I type with the Nikkei -4.54% lower. SoftBank is around -14% lower after the NYT suggested that OpenAI may…
It is the best performing currency at the half-year point, up 3% and contrasts with a year ago, when it was nursing a fall of more than 10%, in its biggest first-half dive since the early 1970s, on US tariff policy. | Photo Credit: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic The dollar heads into the second half of 2026 on a high, thanks to bets for higher US interest rates and an unquenchable thirst for U.S. assets from investors chasing the “American exceptionalism” that may spell more pain for other currencies.It is the best performing currency at the half-year point, up 3% and contrasts…
Gold (XAU/USD) struggles to capitalize on the previous day’s modest recovery move and meets with a fresh supply during the Asian session on Friday amid the emergence of some US Dollar (USD) dip-buying. As investors look past key US inflation data, concerns about the fragile US-Iran peace agreement benefit the safe-haven Greenback. Adding to this, expectations that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will hike interest rates this year help the USD to stall Thursday’s pullback from its highest level since May 2025 and exert pressure on the bullion.The US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported on Thursday that the Personal…
The yen tottered near its weakest level against the dollar in 40 years early in Asia on Friday as traders reined in bets for Federal Reserve rate hikes after U.S. inflation met forecasts and central bank officials sent mixed signals about the policy path ahead. The Japanese currency was flat against the dollar at 161.82 yen, edging back from a two-year nadir of 161.95 on Thursday. Breaching the 161.96 mark would take it to its weakest level since 1986. The yen was little changed after data showed on Friday that core inflation in Tokyo accelerated in June in line with…
The UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) paused the planned evacuation of more than 11,000 sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz after a Singapore-flagged ship passing through the waterway was attacked, BBC reported on Friday.IMO chief Arsenio Dominguez said that several boats had already been evacuated, but the agency wanted to ensure that “necessary safety guarantees” would continue to be in place.A White House official stated that it was too soon to say who struck the ship. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said that the US was looking into which party was responsible…