S&P 500 — US Large Cap Index
FTSE 100 — UK Blue Chips
Euro Stoxx 50 — Eurozone Leaders
DAX 40 — German Equities
CAC 40 — French Market Index
Nikkei 225 — Japan Benchmark
Hang Seng — Hong Kong Index
Shanghai Composite — China Mainland
ASX 200 — Australian Market
TSX Composite — Canada Index
Nifty 50 — India Large Cap
STI Index — Singapore Market
KOSPI — South Korea Index
Bovespa — Brazil Equities
JSE Top 40 — South Africa Index
IPC Index — Mexico Market
- Strong Eurozone inflation and rising gas prices reinforce expectations for further ECB interest rate hikes.
- Resurgent US Treasury yields may cap EUR/USD gains despite the Treasury’s bond buyback efforts.
- Fed’s Musalem notes accommodative financial conditions while warning that underlying inflation at 2.5%–3% remains too high.
EUR/USD remains stronger for the third consecutive day, trading around 1.1680 during the Asian hours on Friday. The Euro (EUR) gains ground against the US Dollar (USD), bolstered by strong economic fundamentals across the region. Markets are closely watching the upcoming HCOB Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data from Germany and the broader Eurozone for further directional cues.
Adding to this strength, soaring European natural gas prices, driven by supply shortages in the Middle East, are keeping inflationary risks elevated. These ongoing price pressures will likely compel the European Central Bank to continue raising interest rates throughout the year.
The central bank’s hawkish stance is further supported by robust German economic figures, highlighted by July producer prices rising 3.0% year-on-year. Exceeding market expectations of 2.7%, this marked the fastest annual increase since April 2023. Coupled with a sharp 1.1% monthly rebound, the data underscores persistent inflationary momentum across the Eurozone.
However, upside potential for the EUR/USD pair may remain capped as the Greenback finds renewed strength. Despite attempts by the US Treasury to restrain elevated yields through a long-end bond buyback program, US Treasury yields have resumed their upward trajectory, offering underlying support to the Dollar.
Fed’s Musalem flags upside inflation risks, keeps Dollar bulls alert despite neutral stance
Fed’s Musalem delivers a speech broadly in line with the established baseline, with the FXS Speechtracker score at 7/10 matching the historical average but masking a notably hawkish tilt on inflation risks. Musalem underscores that monetary policy is “neutral or accommodative” and financial conditions are “pretty accommodative,” yet stresses that underlying inflation at 2.5%-3% is “too high,” warns that a Super El Niño could be the next supply shock, and argues that hiking rates now could avert more aggressive action later, a combination that leans hawkish for the Dollar and front-end yields. The emphasis on Fed credibility, policy independence from fiscal authorities, and the need to get inflation back to 2% reinforces a bias toward tighter policy if inflation fails to decelerate, even as Musalem refuses to prejudge the September FOMC outcome.
The FXS Fed Sentiment Index slipped by 0.34 points to 132.42, indicating a modest pullback in perceived hawkishness relative to recent communications while remaining firmly above the 100 neutral line. This configuration signals that, despite the slight softening captured by the FXS Fed Sentiment Index, the overall stance is still clearly hawkish in aggregate, consistent with the 7/10 FXS Speechtracker score and supportive of Dollar resilience on persistent inflation concerns.
