US Dollar keeps highs near 95.50 ahead of Fedspeak

The greenback, tracked by the US Dollar Index, has reverted yesterday’s pullback and returned to the positive ground today, managing to test highs near 95.50.

US Dollar Index attention to Fedspeak, data

Despite the index has so far shrugged off Wednesday’s losses, the upside momentum seems to have run out of steam around 95.50 for the time being.

A recent pick up in the risk appetite trends exclusively due to the deal at the OPEC meeting in Algiers on Wednesday has prompted traders to dump USD positions in favour of riskier assets, all bolstered by the abrupt up move in crude oil prices.

Key US releases today will shift the attention back to the buck, as final Q2 GDP figures are due ahead of inflation figures measured by the Core PCE (Fed’s favourite gauge) and August’s Pending Home Sales.

Adding to the interest around USD, speeches by Atlanta Fed D.Lockhart (2018 voter, dovish), J.Powell (permanent voter, neutral), Minneapolis Fed N.Kashkari (2017 voter, neutral), Kansas City Fed E.George (voter, hawkish) and Chair J.Yellen are all expected later in the NA session.

Previously, Philly Fed P.Harker (2017 voter, hawkish) argued that consumer prices are ‘slowly but surely’ on their way to clinch the inflation target at 2%, while he advocated for fiscal policy or other policies to take the reins.

US Dollar relevant levels

The index is gaining 0.13% at 95.56 and a break above 95.98 (200-day sma) would aim for 96.31 (spike post-BoJ Sep.21) and finally for 96.50 (high Aug.5). On the flip side, the immediate support lines up at 94.90 (support line off 2016 low) ahead of 94.44 (low Sep.8) and finally 94.05 (low Aug.18).