JPY

The trade-weighted dollar is coming under renewed selling pressure this morning after last week’s events helped fortify expectations for a “soft landing” in the US economy. On Thursday, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell told Congress that the Federal Reserve was “not far” from the level of confidence needed to cut rates. Friday’s jobs report showed headline job growth topping expectations, but revisions to the prior two months pointed to cooling momentum, and average hourly earnings saw their smallest month-on-month rise in two years. The pound and euro are defending last week’s advances in tight trading ranges. Sterling’s rally is losing...

The dollar is stuck in a defensive posture after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell sounded slightly more dovish in his second day of Congressional testimony yesterday. “We’re waiting to become more confident that inflation is moving sustainably to 2 percent,” he told the Senate Banking Committee. “When we do get that confidence – and we’re not far from it – it’ll be appropriate to begin to dial back the level of restrictiveness”. This morning’s non-farm payrolls number could make or break the dollar’s decline. Expectations for the headline jobs gain have crept above the 200,000 mark this week, but the...