The economic data calendar is full this week with the primary focus on Thursday’s quarterly Core PCE (consumer personal consumption expenditures) Price Index and Friday’s M/M and Y/Y PCE Core Deflators. Personal consumption expenditures are watched closely by the Fed as a key read on inflation and will weigh on the direction of rate policy so traders will be paying attention.
Other data includes today’s New Home Sales for February (est. 677k), Tuesday’s Durable Goods Orders (est. +1.0%, -6.2% previous) and Consumer Confidence, Wednesday’s Mortgage Applications for the week ending Mar 22nd, Thursday’s Q/Q Annualized GDP and Initial Jobless Claims, and Friday’s Personal Income and Personal Sending for February.
The U.S. dollar index is -0.19% on an intraday basis but +0.22% compared to Friday’s close. The dollar is lower against 9/10 of the G10 pairs in minor net moves: -0.33% vs. GBP, -0.31% vs. AUD, -0.22% vs. EUR, -0.17% vs. JPY and -0.13% vs. CAD.
The Bank of Japan delivered a warning about speculative short yen trades which have recently weakened the JPY to near 2022 levels. Vice Finance Minister Kanda stated that the yen’s recent weakness is not in line with fundamentals and that the BoJ was prepared to take action (direct intervention) against excessive fluctuations. The BoJ last intervened in 2022 after the USD/JPY reached 151.95.
Global Equity indexes are almost universally lower today. Nasdaq100 futures are -0.54% S&P500 futures are -0.30%. Gold is +0.55% at $2,176.21, within range of last Thursday’s all-time-high at $2,217.79.
