• BOE leaves bank rate unchanged at 5.00%, as expected
• Dollar struggles on the session, equities ramp higher as well
• Weekly update on interest rate expectations
• Fed still on track to cut rates by 125 bps in total for 2024 – Citi
• Goldman Sachs now sees Fed cutting by 25 bps at each meeting until June next year
• ECB’s Schnabel: Sticky services inflation is keeping headline inflation at elevated level
• Eurozone July current account balance €39.6 billion vs €50.0 billion prior
• Switzerland August trade balance CHF 4.56 billion vs CHF 4.89 billion prior

Markets:

• AUD leads, JPY lags on the day
• European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 1.7%
• US 10-year yields up 2.4 bps to 3.709%
• Gold up 1.1% to $2,587.63
• WTI crude up 0.9% to $71.58
• Bitcoin up 3.9% to $62,558

The central bank bonanza continued with the BOE today and as expected, they left the bank rate unchanged at 5.00%

The pound still rallied in the aftermath though, briefly nudging above 1.3300 to its highest levels since February 2022. GBP/USD is still up 0.6% on the day, keeping closer to 1.3285 currently. The BOE signaled that they remain comfortable in keeping policy restrictiveness and the bank rate vote also revealed just one dissenter (Ramsden did not vote for a rate cut this time).

The odds of a 25 bps rate cut by the BOE for November fell as such. It is now seen at ~63%, down from having been fully priced in before this.

As for the bigger picture in markets today, it’s all about the post-Fed digestion. And that is seeing the dollar fall as equities are soaring on the day.

USD/JPY might be sitting higher as long-end yield are holding up but that’s the only consolation for the dollar. The pair did drop to a low of 142.03 in European morning trade but picked itself up to sit closer to 143.00 now.

As for other dollar pairs, it was more of a straightforward story as the greenback weakened across the board.

EUR/USD moved up from 1.1120 to 1.1160-70 levels while USD/CAD fell from 1.3600 to 1.3533 before holding just above that now. The antipodeans are the ones running away with things as AUD/USD climbs to its best levels for the year. The pair is up 0.9% to 0.6826 now and just off the high earlier of 0.6839.

In the equities space, European indices are posting gains above 1% now with the CAC 40 even bordering near 2% gains on the day. US futures are also ripping higher with S&P 500 futures up 1.7% and Nasdaq futures up 2.2% on the day. After some trepidation yesterday, investors are liking the fact that the Fed did give in to markets with the 50 bps rate cut.

As for commodities, gold is nearing fresh record highs again in a push to $2,587 currently. Meanwhile, silver is up over 3% to above $31 and testing its highest levels since July.

Coming up, we’ll have the US weekly jobless claims to add to the mix.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.

• Prior 5.00%
• Bank rate vote 8-0-1 vs 7-0-2 expected (only Dhingra dissented, wanting to cut by 25 bps)
• Need to be careful not to cut rates too fast or by too much
• Most MPC members think in the absence of material developments, a gradual approach to removing policy restraint would be warranted
• Labour market continued to loosen but that it remained tight by historical standards
• But data quality issues continued to be an area of concern i.e. LFS
• „Range of views“ on inflation persistence among those who voted to keep rates unchanged
• Despite that, the current policy stance was judged to be appropriate
• Monetary policy will need to continue to remain restrictive for sufficiently long
• To monitor closely the risks of inflation persistence and will decide the appropriate degree of monetary policy restrictiveness at each meeting
• Full statement

Cable has moved up to its highest levels since February 2022, nudging just above 1.3300 currently. The takeaway from the BOE is that they continue to have worries about inflation and that they are quite comfortable in moving slowly to remove the degree of policy restriction.

The key wording that „monetary policy will need to continue to remain restrictive for sufficiently long“ has not been removed.

Traders had previously ascribed to thinking that the BOE will pause today before cutting again in November. But the odds of that are now at ~63%. So, it isn’t quite set in stone now. Traders had previously fully priced in a 25 bps rate cut for November.

If UK inflation data in September comes in similarly to what we saw yesterday here, there will be growing suggestions that the BOE might have to stay on the sidelines again.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.

As such, they are maintaining their outlook for the Fed to cut by 50 bps in November before closing things out with a 25 bps cut in December. The latter is changed as Citi did previously expect the Fed to go by 25 bps yesterday before moving by 50 bps in November and December. But the total in terms of how much the Fed is cutting remains the same.

“Powell noted a number of times that today’s 50bp cut is a “commitment” to not get behind the curve which suggests the bar for further large rate reductions is very low. We continue to see risks as balanced toward a more rapid softening of labor market data and a more aggressive pace of rate cuts.“

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.

Yesterday, the Fed finally started its easing cycle and decided to do it with a 50 bps
cut. The market was already leaning towards a 50 bps move, so it wasn’t a
surprise.

The larger cut was framed
as kind of an “insurance” cut with the dot plot showing two more 25 bps cuts by
the end of the year and less than the market expected in 2025.

What’s important is that
the Fed is cutting into a resilient economy which should lead to better growth
expectations and support the stock market.

Nasdaq
Technical Analysis – Daily Timeframe

On the daily chart, we can
see that the Nasdaq is now back at the key 20000 level. The sellers will likely
lean on the level to position for a drop into the major trendline.
The buyers, on the other hand, will want to see the price breaking higher to
increase the bullish bets into new highs.

Nasdaq Technical
Analysis – 4 hour Timeframe

On the 4 hour chart, we can
see that we have a minor upward trendline defining the current bullish
momentum. If we get a pullback, the buyers will likely lean on the trendline to
position for new highs, while the sellers will look for a break lower to
increase the bearish bets into new lows.

Nasdaq Technical
Analysis – 1 hour Timeframe

On the 1 hour chart, we can
see more clearly the recent price action with the whipsaw on the Fed’s decision
and then the rally overnight. There’s not much else we can glean from this
timeframe as the buyers will look to buy the dips, while the sellers will wait
for a bearish catalyst or a break below the trendline. The red lines define the
average daily range for today.

Upcoming Catalysts

Today we get the latest US Jobless Claims figures which is the last important
economic release of the week.

This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.

Yesterday, the Fed finally started its easing cycle and decided to do it with a 50 bps
cut. The market was already leaning towards a 50 bps move, so it wasn’t a
surprise.

The larger cut was framed
as kind of an “insurance” cut with the dot plot showing two more 25 bps cuts by
the end of the year and less than the market expected in 2025.

What’s important is that
the Fed is cutting into a resilient economy which should lead to better growth
expectations and support the stock market.

S&P 500
Technical Analysis – Daily Timeframe

On the daily chart, we can
see that the S&P 500 after some short-term noise after the FOMC decision,
rallied to a new all-time high. The buyers will now keep on buying the dips as
long as the data continues to remain benign or, even better, improves.

This is
not a market for the sellers, so they might want to wait for key breaks on the
lower timeframes or better yet for recessionary catalysts before piling in.

S&P 500 Technical
Analysis – 4 hour Timeframe

On the 4 hour chart, we can
see that we have an upward trendline
defining the current bullish momentum. We can expect the buyers to keep leaning
on the trendline to position for new highs, while the sellers will look for a
break lower to pile in for more downside.

S&P 500 Technical
Analysis – 1 hour Timeframe

On the 1 hour chart, we can
see more clearly the recent price action with the whipsaw on the Fed’s decision
and then the rally overnight. There’s not much else we can glean from this
timeframe as the buyers will look to buy the dips, while the sellers will wait
for a bearish catalyst or a break below the trendline. The red lines define the
average daily range for today.

Upcoming
Catalysts

Today we get the latest US Jobless Claims figures which is the last important
economic release of the week.

This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.