Tomorrow is an important day for the dollar: we will learn not only the data on the growth of the US economy, but also listen to the head of the Federal Reserve, who will sum up the January meeting of the central bank. This year, Jerome Powell will hold press conferences after each meeting (rather than 4 times a year, as it was before), so traders will be able to get more coherent information about the sentiments of members of the Federal Reserve.
However, at the moment the situation is quite unambiguous. Now, Fed officials observe a 10-day regime of silence on the eve of the next meeting, but until that moment their rhetoric was exclusively "dovish" in character, to one degree or another. In particular, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Eric Rosengren, who for a long time was a consistent hawk, suddenly announced that at the moment there are "potential threats" to tighten monetary policy, given the incoming signals from the markets. His colleague James Bullard, who also has the right to vote this year, again stated that the stakes are now "at an acceptable level" and there is no need to adjust them. The break in the rate increase was also supported by Esther George (he has the right to vote), who was rightly called the "main hawk of the Fed." According to her, the regulator must be patient in raising the rates, "to avoid overheating and prolong the growth of the economy."
Another Fed official, Charles Evans, is concerned about the slowdown in inflation. According to him, now there are no signs that core inflation will cross the 2% target level, so it is not necessary to rush into tightening monetary policy. But at the beginning of this year, Raphael Bostic implied a probability of easing monetary policy. However, he then somewhat adjusted his position (speaking for a smooth rise in the rate to a neutral level), but his initial statement fits very well into the outline of the general sentiments of the members of the regulator.
Given this soft rhetoric, traders do not expect any "hawkish" surprises from the Fed. According to some experts, the probability of a rate increase until June of this year is only 19%. According to estimates by another group of analysts, the regulator will take a wait-and-see position at least until January next year.
On the one hand, the market has already taken into account in current prices a likely dovish Fed meeting. But on the other hand, a certain intrigue of the January meeting remains. We are talking about reducing the rate of folding the Fed's balance sheet. This issue is discussed at the level of rumors, as representatives of the regulator practically do not comment on the perspectives of this aspect. According to many experts, the reduction of the portfolio will be one of the main causes of volatility for the EUR/USD pair, exerting a strong downward pressure on the dollar.
Let me remind you that the Fed began to reduce the volume of investments by Janet Yellen - at that time this volume was 4.5 trillion dollars. Their reduction began with a "modest" $10 billion, then this figure rose to 50. This fact is a strong source of irritation for Donald Trump, who is in favor of both reducing the rate of monetary tightening and early completion of the balance reduction program. And although the Federal Reserve declares its independence from the White House on a public plane, de facto, the regulator still listens to Trump's "wishes". It should immediately be noted that the Fed is unlikely to announce the suspension of the balance reduction - but it may hint at a decrease in its pace.
So, according to the American press, the regulator is ready to state that in the end it will keep more securities in its portfolio than previously planned. However, insider sources disagreed as to whether it will be announced at the January meeting or at the next one, which will be held in March. The fact is that because of the shutdown, many key macroeconomic indicators will be published after the January meeting, so the Federal Reserve can wait a bit with loud statements, assessing the situation in the country's economy. Therefore, the intrigue in this matter remains, putting pressure on the dollar. If concerns about the Fed's balance sheet are not justified at this time, the greenback can receive significant support, even if the prospects for a rate hike remain questionable.
Now a few words about macroeconomic statistics. Tomorrow, a preliminary estimate of US GDP growth for the 4th quarter of last year will be published. According to the general forecast, the indicator will significantly decrease to 2.6%. In the second and fourth quarters, this indicator came out at 4.2% and 3.4%, respectively. The price index of GDP should also show a negative trend - up to 1.7%.
On the one hand, all the attention of the market tomorrow will be focused on the outcome of the January Fed meeting. But if the worst fears of investors are realized, then the fact that the American economy slows down will play the role of the "last drop", pulling down the dollar throughout the market. The nearest upward target of the euro/dollar pair is at the level of 1.1525 - this is the top line of the Bollinger Bands indicator on the daily chart. The support level is the price of 1.1380 - the lower boundary of the Kumo cloud.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com