USD

The dollar is softer and Treasury yields are subsiding after the chair of the Federal Reserve avoided walking back last week’s observation that signs of “disinflation” were beginning to appear – something that many saw as a communications error at the time.  Jerome Powell essentially repeated last week’s message in a question and answer session at the Economic Club in Washington yesterday. Speaking with David Rubenstein, Powell noted that Friday’s jobs data was “certainly strong – stronger than anyone I know expected,” warning that the process involved in getting inflation down to target would be “bumpy”. “The reality is we’re...

Hopes for a soft landing in the US economy are slowly fading, but strong corporate earnings are keeping asset prices elevated for now. North American equity futures are pointing to a modestly stronger open after a series of better-than-expected earnings releases, and the trade-weighted greenback is up slightly as flows into US markets offset concerns about the longer-term outlook. We’re reminded of the old joke about the optimist who jumped off the Empire State Building – as he was falling, someone asked, “How’s it going?”, and he responded:“So far, so good!” Yields on both sides of the 49th Parallel remain...