Safe-Haven Plays Support The US Dollar
Axi | Nov 21, 2018 14:26
Originally published by AxiTrader
- US dollar bounces as bond prices rise on risk-aversion
- EUR/USD pulls back from overbought levels
- Australian dollar underperforms as stocks and commodity selling weigh on the currency
Another bout of risk-aversion on the broader financial market allowed for a bounce in the US dollar. The greenback found buying-support as part of a safe-haven play which also saw a rise in US Bond prices which further boosted the dollar.
The US Dollar Index gained around 0.7% as market volatility saw an increase, as evidenced by another session of heavy selling on Wall Street.
With the US dollar on the rise, the euro was on the slide as the single currency slipped back below the 1.14 level. Earlier, the EUR/USD had moved to within 30 pips of the psychological 1.15 handle but this was a bridge to far for the moment at least due mostly to the stronger dollar, but in part also due to the euro technical picture having displayed some overbought signals after its recent push higher. On the low side, medium level support lies at 1.1310 while on the top side 1.1460 will again be a zone of resistance.
The fresh round of US dollar buying subdued the British pound with the Cable rate dipping back below 1.28. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney did his best to sooth Brexit fears by saying he was quietly confident that the UK financial sector was well placed to handle a transition out of the EU. But this wasn’t enough to offset the general market pessimism kept the GBP/USD rate trading below its 50-day moving average.
The Australian dollar was an underperformer for the day, with the unwinding in risk-assets across the board hurting the AUD/USD rate. The sell-off in stocks and the rise in US bonds saw the Australian dollar lose more ground against the US dollar than the likes of the euro and the sterling, while the slump in the oil price and softer spot gold also did little favours for the commodity-linked Aussie dollar.
Overall it was a strong session for the US currency, but whether this was a one-off or the start of a trend remains to be seen. If global growth worries do cause a Fed re-think on rates in 2019 this would be negative for the US dollar, but safe-haven flows on growth worries abroad could limit downside moves in the meantime.
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