- Most stock markets have declined over the past day as markets focus on today’s testimony by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on the semi-annual monetary policy report before the House Financial Services Committee. Stocks got a boost after the Fed passed on a rate hike at its last meeting, but Powell is expected today to emphasize the need to continue hiking rates and to continue fighting inflation until the 2% target is reached (US inflation currently stands at 4%). The S&P 500 Index closed lower for the second consecutive day for the first time in weeks, but Japanese equities bucked the trend, with the Nikkei 225 Index ending the day up by more than 0.7%.
- There will be a release of UK CPI (inflation) data today which is expected to show a decline in the annualized rate from 8.7% to 8.4%.
- In the Forex market over the Asian session, the Canadian Dollar has been the strongest major currency, while the Japanese Yen has been the weakest, putting the CAD/JPY currency cross in focus. The USD/JPY currency pair reached a new 1-year high during the Tokyo session yesterday above ¥142, attracting interest from trend traders on the long side. The price may again take off later today, potentially being boosted by Powell’s testimony. The weakness of the Yen is fuelled by its strongly divergent central bank which continues to pursue an extremely accommodative, dovish monetary policy, and is likely to continue. The Canadian Dollar is stronger due to an increase seen in the price of WTI Crude Oil, but this will not be technically significant until the price can get established above $72.
- The Sugar ETF CANE reached another multi-year high price yesterday, so trend traders may be interested in Sugar on the long side.
Forex Today: Stocks Decline on Downbeat Powell Testimony Expectation
Adam Lemon
Global stock markets are mostly a bit lower over the past day as markets await Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony before the House.