The Dollar Index is heavy, just above the lows set earlier this week set near 96.80. However, this exaggerates the dollar's weakness because the weight of the euro and currencies that shadow it, like the Swiss franc and Swedish krona.
As the North American session is about to start, the dollar is higher against the dollar-bloc currencies and the Japanese yen. The Scandi's are flat and sterling is turning lower. That leaves the dollar weakness limited to the euro and Swiss franc.
The euro reached a high earlier this week just shy of $1.1270. It has run out of steam today near $1.1250. Between $1.1175 and $1.1200, there are nearly 1.4 bln euros in options expiring. Sterling was sold in response to the downward revision in Q1 GDP to 0.2% from 0.3%. The UK economy had expanded by 0.7% in Q4 16. Services and production were revised lower and net exports took 1.4 percentage points off GDP, a record drag. There are nearly GBP270 mln options struck at $1.2940 that roll-off today. Sterling has not closed below its 20-day moving average (~$1.2940) since April 10. We note that the technical condition for sterling may be deteriorating. The MACDs and RSI show bearish divergence.
Separately, when US President Trump began this extended trip, many thought that Israel would object to the Administration's handling of intelligence, but it turns out the British seem more concerned. The BBC reports that Prime Minister May will raise the issue at the highest levels following the British police have stopped sharing information with US officials.
Minutes from the FOMC meeting seems to confuse some. To be sure, the market continues to believe that a hike next month is as done of a deal as these things can get. Our calculations suggest fair value for the June Fed funds futures contract, assuming a hike and some softness at the end of the quarter, is about 1.04%, while the contract currently implies 1.015%.
Some are trying to explain the pullback in US bond yields as a response to the FOMC statement that more evidence that weakness in Q1 was transitory before removing more accommodation. We read this as a justification for not hiking rates this month, rather than change in forward guidance. The December Fed funds futures contract implied yield was 1.215% at the end of last week. It closed yesterday at 1.23%.
The Fed's balance sheet strategy is evolving. The minutes confirmed expectations that the Fed is thinking to begin the process of not replacing maturing issues slowly and then increasing them. It is a rolling start that was one of the common scenarios discussed by investors. However, the FOMC did not how much it may begin with, though subjectively we thought $5-$10 bln divided, even if not evenly, between Treasuries and MBS. The other important question is what size balance sheet does the Fed eventually want. Bernanke recently suggested $2.3-$2.8 trillion....
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Here's the last year of the euro from FinViz:
