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FX

USD Overall Fundamental Backdrop Still Weak

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USD’s gains this week should be put in perspective                        

  • The USD Index’s (DXY) closed at 90.06 overnight still put it well below the March 2018 high of 90.93 and this year’s high of 92.64. A trade breakthrough announcement with Korea overnight perhaps helps to lower global trade tensions at the margin but a US February trade deficit of USD75.4bn, which marks the biggest deficit since July 2008, reminds investors of the very high stakes involved in these current US-China trade talks and difficulty of finding an amicable agreement for both sides.

 

 

GBP: Sterling gains on Irish border talk but risks for disappointment are high

  • GBPUSD hits a high of 1.4201 on the Irish headlines. However there is a risk for disappointment should the UK’s plans for the Irish border meet with disapproval from both sides of the border. This suggests that recent sterling outperformance may still be close to peaking. 

 

 

Commodity Bloc: AUD underperformance may continue on crosses

  • AUDUSD hits a fresh year-to-date low overnight at 0.7654. Citi analysts believe that the fundamental outlook for AUD remains weak (especially on crosses).

     

  • More medium term, the bullish case for CAD versus its commodity peers (especially AUD) continues to build with last week’s firmer Canadian February CPI report supporting Citi’s call for the BoC to hike rates further, most likely still in July though the possibility of a May hike has risen.

 

 

Asia EM: USDCNY breaks through 6.3000 to test February lows

  • The somewhat cooling of US-China trade tensions on US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin’s weekend comments sees USDCNY reaching new lows at 6.2430, the lowest level since February. The move however, comes amidst a slowing in China’s manufacturing outlook. China PMIs will be released Friday March 30 and Citi analysts expect to see a softening of growth momentum as PMIs slow.

     

  • Against this backdrop, and amid a clarification of what the US wants from China on trade concessions (highlighted by press reports earlier this week), further gains in CNY will likely largely depend on PBoC’s patience.

 

 

This is an extract from the Daily Currency Update, dated 29th March 2018. Please approach a Citigold Relationship Manager if you would like more information.

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