Today’s US jobs data could boost dollarBy Peter Rosenstreich
Non-farm payroll numbers will be reported later today, and if they beat expectations, they might trigger a greenback rally. Tighter labour markets, the promise of interest-rate hikes and recent USD weakness could combine to drive the dollar higher, especially against the Swiss franc and Japanese yen in the short term.
Yesterday’s US Federal Reserve Bank’s meeting went as expected. The Fed left interest rates unchanged, but signaled a March rate hike. Overall, the meeting was mildly hawkish. The American economy’s acceleration is outpacing expectations, with data consistently surprising to the upside. The mood seems to be catching: talk of normalization at the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan is starting to happen.
Russian economy’s first growth since 2014By Vincent-Frédéric Mivelaz
It might finally be back on its feet. After three years of downturn, Russia’s 2017 real GDP grew 1.50%. There should be clear signs of improvement in 2018, strongly supported by the energy sector that suffered in recent years. The GDP news pushed the USD/RUB down by -0.54%, and Russian 2-year and 10-year treasuries decreased by -0.39% and -0.77%. 2015-16 were difficult times for Russia, which suffered from the Crimea annexation in March 2014 and the 2015 recession, caused by trade tensions with the EU and the USA and a fall in energy prices.