NEW YORK – The US dollar is poised for its worst year since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic as Wall Street bets the Federal Reserve is set to lower interest-rates after safely reining in prices.
After being whipsawed by false starts calling for the end of the Fed’s rate hiking regime, a Bloomberg gauge of the greenback is down nearly 3 per cent since January in the steepest annual drop for the US currency since 2020.
In line with this, the Singapore dollar has strengthened some 1.5 per cent against the US currency in 2023. The Singdollar was trading at 1.3189 to the greenback as at 10.12am on Dec 29 compared with its close of 1.3395 on Dec 30 last year.
Much of the decline in the dollar materialised in the fourth quarter on growing wagers that the Fed will sharply loosen policy in 2024 as the US economy slows. That dents the dollar’s appeal, as other central banks may keep their rates higher for longer.
Swaps traders are now factoring in Fed rate cuts of at least 150 basis points, with the first cut coming as soon as March. That is up from less than 100 basis points in mid-November and double what policymakers pencilled in at their most recent meeting. Among speculative traders, dollar positioning has become all the more bearish since the Fed’s December meeting.
“Markets are positioned for this Goldilocks scenario where the Fed will cut rates enough to stimulate the economy without reigniting inflation pressures,” said Ms Amanda Sundstrom, a fixed income and FX strategist at SEB AB in Stockholm. “That’s driving the dollar performance.”
Ms Sundstrom added that the softer dollar is likely to persist in 2024 as US data weakens, but not enough to spur a risk-off bid for haven assets like the greenback.
Still, the dollar’s sharp losses of late suggest room for at least a temporary rebound. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index’s 14-day relative strength recently fell below 30, a signal to some that the greenback is now “oversold” and primed for a reversal.
On Dec 28, Bloomberg’s dollar gauge edged higher for the first session in five as global bonds pared a recent run of gains. The yen and franc nonetheless advanced against the dollar, rallying more than 1 per cent intraday against the greenback in thin, year-end trading.
Rate divergence
The dollar’s fall stands in contrast to the pound, which is set for its best year since 2017, and the franc, on pace for its strongest annual performance since 2010.
The pound has rallied more than 5 per cent against the dollar so far in 2023, the best run since the British currency was whipsawed by a series of Brexit votes six years ago. In Switzerland, the franc has risen to record, trade-weighted highs as traders increasingly see the Swiss National Bank holding policy tighter relative to its counterparts, even after a relatively dovish SNB meeting on Dec 14.
Said Mr Geoffrey Yu, a currency and macro strategist at BNY Mellon in London: “If I had to pick a central bank most likely to intervene to push down their currency next year, it would be the SNB.”
As for the pound, “I won’t chase it aggressively until we get BOE (Bank of England) clarity”. BLOOMBERG
