Many analysts note the strange behavior of the US dollar. After a sharp rise, it has slid into a short-term decline. Yet, the greenback will have to pick up a trajectory soon.
There are two possible scenarios. It may resume a steady rise and enter a narrow range. At the same time, flat trading is unlikely to undermine the Us dollar's bullish bias. A short-term downward movement will also hardly last long. Currently, the greenback is trading without a clear-cut trend. Before that, it incurred significant losses. Economists assumed that the US currency would climb higher after the publication of US macro statistics.
The US dollar performed a dizzying rise after the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and NFP reports. Annual inflation accelerated to 7.5% from the previous figure of 7%, notching the highest reading in four decades. As for the weekly number of initial jobless claims, the reading decreased by 16,000, amounting to 223,000. Analysts had expected the indicator to drop to 230,000.
So, it is not surprising that the US dollar has soared. However, it ran out of steam quite fast. As a result, it retreated. Some forex strategists believe that the greenback may resume a downward movement. Following the publication of the report, the euro was supposed to assert strength against the US currency, rising to 1.1100. However, it did not happen. Before the release of inflation data, the EUR/USD pair sank by 0.2% to 1.1406. Shortly after, it managed to stabilize. On Friday morning, February 11, the EUR/USD pair was trading in the range of 1.1386-1.1387. It rolled back from the target levels after the publication of inflation data.
Analysts reckon that the euro failed to rally due to the aggressive behavior of large market players who increased their long positions on USD futures. Last week, the volume of long positions de3clined slightly. The price was hovering near two-year highs. The greenback is unable to advance now although it has made attempts to rise.
The US inflation report boosted the growth of the US dollar. At the same time, it triggered a drop in futures on the main stock indices. The Fed is sure to take notice of a new increase in inflation figures when making a monetary policy decision. US Treasury yields increased significantly. The Germany 2 Years / United States 2 Years Government Bond spread grew to 1.87%. This indicator tracks the short-term trend of the EUR/USD pair.
Apparently, it is getting really difficult for the central bank to curb soaring inflation. It was expected to slow down. However, those predictions turned out to be incorrect. So, the Fed is likely to resort to additional tools to cap inflation. The regulator plans to hike the key rate in March. According to Bank of America (BofA) analysts, the Federal Reserve may raise the interest rate 7 times this year thanks to steady wage growth. BofA also expects 4 rate hikes by 0.25% in 2023.
The revised inflation report could also facilitate the US's dollar rally. It is likely to gain momentum provided that inflation figures are high. It may also enable the Fed to raise the key rate immediately by 50 percentage points (pp). The current situation requires the regulator to take decisive action on monetary policy.
