Forex News Roundup for 15 March, 2023
Amsterdam
March 15, 2023
- Yesterday’s release of US CPI data revealed that inflation dropped from 6.4% to 6.0% on an annualized basis, in line with the predictions of most analysts. This has relieved pressure on the Federal Reserve, which is grappling with a banking crisis triggered by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
- The markets are likely to be more lenient if the Fed refrains from raising rates at its upcoming meeting on March 22 or raises them by only 0.25%.
- The decline in inflation halted the US Dollar’s recent decline and sparked a recovery in short-term US treasury yields and stock markets. The S&P 500 Index closed higher yesterday by 1.65%.
- Despite the overall recovery in US stock markets, the banking sector continues to suffer steep declines.
- Charles Schwab is rumored to be experiencing financial difficulties, with its stock price declining by over 20% in the last three days.
- The price of Bitcoin hit a nine-month high of over $26,500 yesterday but has since undergone a significant bearish retracement. The cryptocurrency’s outlook will not improve until it can regain the key psychological level of $25k.
- In the foreign exchange market, the US Dollar has stabilized, with the Euro and the Australian Dollar showing strength while the New Zealand Dollar is weak.
- UK claimant count change data, which was released yesterday, indicated a minor increase in UK unemployment last month.
- Today will see the release of a plethora of US economic data, including PPI, Retail Sales, and the Empire State Manufacturing Index. The former two will be closely monitored.
- Finally, the UK government will release its annual budget today, which may cause some volatility in the British Pound.
