USD: Range-bound near term – ING

Casting around the globe to identify key FX drivers, we note the following: Saturday’s China fiscal stimulus measures lack detail, oil is steady as markets await Israel’s retaliation against Iran, and equity markets remain generally supported following strong US bank earnings released on Friday and expectations of positive announcements in the chip sector this week, ING’s Chris Turner notes.

DXY to stay bid in a 102.70-103.20 range

“The US Dollar (USD) is holding recent gains as investors now price in less than 50bp of Federal Reserve rate cuts this year. We doubt short-dated US rates will move much higher from here, even though Fed hawk Raphael Bostic has floated the idea of the central bank skipping a meeting in its rate-cutting cycle. What impact will events have on the above this week? US data is second tier until Thursday’s release of US September retail sales.”

“Consensus expects the retail sales control group to rise a healthy 0.4% month-on-month, supporting the view that US growth is continuing. James Smith notes in his Think Ahead column that US growth was running at a very respectable 3.2% quarter-on-quarter annualised in the third quarter. We do have a few Fed speakers this week who could firm up the idea of two 25bp Fed cuts this year – which might prove very slightly dollar negative given current market pricing. The Fed’s Christopher Waller speaks on the economic outlook at 9:00pm CET.”

“On a quiet news day, we also see a Financial Times interview with Donald Trump’s potential treasury secretary, Scott Bessent. He highlights that, if elected, Donald Trump would not try to weaken the dollar for trade gains. This is probably in line with most market thinking now – i.e., despite what Donald Trump might say about the dollar, his policies look positive for the currency in any case. Expect a quiet day of trading given that the US Treasury market is closed for Columbus Day. DXY is set to stay bid in a 102.70-103.20 range.”