The USD is mixed to kickstart the day after the Fed and BOJ | investingLive

The “day-after” the Fed kept rates unchanged and Fed Powell said that he would stick to his view that inflation is too high, it is his job to control inflation and maximize employment, and the tariffs add a level of risk to inflation, the USD is mixed, yields are lower in the US and stocks are higher (but that is a different story). Back to the Fed, the chair did not commit to any course of rates going forward deferring to the data. He said that they would get to see two job and two inflation reports between now and the the September meeting. That did help to push the USD higher yesterday. Nine other members agreed with the chair, and two did not – Waller and Bowman. We can expect that each of them will explain their reasons today or tomorrow and for the others to speak to their bias as well soon.

The Pres. also has his views and he is at it again. This morning he woke up and blasted Fed Chair Jerome Powell, calling him “Too Late” Powell and accusing him of being too late, too angry, too stupid, and too political to hold the job. Trump claimed Powell is costing the U.S. trillions and slammed him over building renovations, calling him a “TOTAL LOSER” and saying the country is “paying the price.” He also said earlier that “Tariffs are making America GREAT and RICH again”.

Treas. Sec Bessent spoke this morning. He delivered a broad and assertive series of remarks on the global trade and economic landscape. On China, he described negotiations as “three-dimensional chess,” highlighting the difficulty of talks and calling Chinese officials “tough negotiators.” While he expressed confidence that a deal will get done, he emphasized the U.S. has “pushed back on them quite a bit” and said he would speak with President Trump ahead of the August 12 deadline. On India, Bessent was more critical, calling India “not a great global actor” and revealing frustration within the U.S. trade team. He made clear that the outcome of talks “will be up to India” and admitted, “I don’t know what’s going to happen.” Beyond trade, Bessent signaled optimism about the domestic economy, citing “great momentum,” an accelerating “boom,” and a “CAPEX boom” underway. He said the U.S. should expect “economic acceleration from here.” On tariffs, Bessent noted that aluminum duties have hit Ford particularly hard and confirmed that the U.S. will negotiate with Canada on related issues, though the Treasury market itself has not featured in those discussions.

Powell won yesterday as the “Rate Maker” (at least in the short term) but Trump/the adminitration wants to control the other days (“I want you!”.

In other central bank news, the BOJ did keep rate unchanged. That decision was widely expected. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda struck a cautious tone in his remarks, signaling that while the central bank sees progress toward achieving its inflation target, there is still not enough evidence of stable, demand-driven inflation. Ueda noted that wage growth is improving, but emphasized the need for sustained increases before considering further tightening. He also expressed concern about weak consumption and said the BOJ would continue to assess risks to the outlook. On the yen’s recent depreciation, Ueda said the BOJ is closely monitoring currency moves, but stopped short of suggesting any imminent action. Overall, Ueda made clear that policy normalization will be gradual and data-dependent, and that any decision to raise rates further will require greater confidence in the inflation path.

In the video above with the US mixed today, what are the charts saying. I will look at the moves from a technical perspective in the video above.

The US stock market is sharply higher this morning led by Microsoft and Meadow which reported stellar earnings after the close yesterday. Looking at the futures the gains are top-heavy and the NASDAQ index. But the S&P is up as well: