Yesterday, the US dollar weakened significantly against a basket of major currencies after the Fed meeting. As expected, the regulator left the interest rate range at 2.25-2.50%. However, investor sentiment has worsened after it became known that the Fed would not raise interest rates in 2019 due to a slowdown in economic growth, and announced the completion of a program of balance sheet reduction in September. The dollar index (#DX) closed the trading session in the negative zone (-0.39%).
Financial market participants are still focused on the British pound. British Prime Minister Theresa May announced that she was not going to organize a second referendum on the Brexit issue. The position of the British is clear for her, so she does not see the point in a repeat vote. It also became known that the Prime Minister asked the EU to delay Brexit until June 30, although the exit process should have taken place on March 29.
However, the European Commission stands either for holding Brexit until May 23, 2019 or for a long-term delay of the procedure. The EU says that May 23 should be a deadline, since right after this the elections to the European Parliament will start, in which London should no longer participate. It should be recalled that earlier the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, rejected the Brexit revote. The official said that the deal should be presented in a fundamentally new form.
Today, investors are focused on meetings of the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of England. It is expected that regulators will keep the key marks of monetary policy unchanged. We recommend paying attention to the comments by representatives of Central Banks.
The “black gold” prices have updated annual highs. At the moment, futures for the WTI crude oil are testing the mark of $60.00 per barrel.
Market Indicators
- Yesterday, there was a variety of trends in the US stock market: #SPY (-0.30%), #DIA (-0.61%), #QQQ (+0.40%).
- The 10-year US government bonds yield fell significantly. Currently, the indicator is at the level of 2.51-2.52%.
The news feed on 21.03.2019:
- Swiss National Bank interest rate decision at 10:30 (GMT+2:00);
- Report on retail sales in the UK at 11:30 (GMT+2:00);
- Bank of England interest rate decision at 14:00 (GMT+2:00);
- Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index at 14:30 (GMT+2:00).
