Dollar Slightly Lower in Pre-Thanksgiving Trading
November 21, 2023
The dollar fell overnight by 0.7% against the yuan, 0.5% versus the yen but just 0.2% relative to sterling and 0.1% against the euro and Swiss franc.
Investors await the release at 20:00 GMT today (15:00 EST) of FOMC minutes. Ordinarily a Wednesday event, such are being released a day early due to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. The November 1st press conference by Chairman Powell after rates were left steady elicited a more dovish interpretation by markets than I had sensed in real time. It will be interesting to see if the minutes confirm what market participants thought they heard.
In the Pacific Rim, Japan’s Nikkei-225 closed down 0.1%, but share prices rose 1.2% in Taiwan and 0.8% in South Korea. Share prices in Europe and the U.S. are currently lower but not sharply so. The price of gold is 1.4% higher, but oil and ten-year sovereign debt yields have fallen.
Polish producer prices (down 4.1% on year in October) recorded their largest 12-month rate of decline, a far cry from the 323-month on-year high of 26.5% in June 2022.
Lebanese consumer price inflation accelerated to a 2-month high of 215.4%. Lebanon has experienced hyperinflation (i.e., over 100%) since May 2020 including the record high of 268.8% last April.
South Korean PPI inflation of 0.8% in October was at a 3-month low.
Slovenian PPI inflation of 0.9% in October was the lowest in 33 months. Producer prices dipped 0.1% month-on-month in both Slovenia and South Korea.
Hong Kong consumer prices popped 1.0% higher on month in October, lifting the on-year inflation rate to a 13-month high of 2.7% from 2.0% in September.
Moldovan producer price inflation of 4.8% last month was about half as much as 9.0% in September, down from a 269-month peak of 34.9% in October 2022 and the lowest reading in 33 months.
British labor productivity fell 0.2% on quarter and 0.3% on year in 3Q 2023. That represents a deterioration compared to second-quarter results.
The Swiss trade surplus in January-October of CHF 32 billion was roughly 18% larger than a year earlier.
A 4.1% drop in U.S. existing home sales last month was greater than anticipated. In contrast to this month, long-term interest rates were rising in October.
Copyright 2023, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: FOMC Minutes, hyperinflation in Lebanon, U.S. existing home sales
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