According to a preliminary estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. real GDP increased at an annualized rate of 2.6 percent in the third quarter of 2022, well above expectations.
The main contribution to GDP growth was from data on foreign trade, other indicators turned out to be noticeably less positive.
Take note that the US stock indexes were impressed by the strong reporting of companies, the S&P 500 index rose 2.5%, exceeding the cumulative fall of 1.35% over the previous two days, ending the week up 3.95%, which was the second consecutive weekly gain. In general, the US economy looks quite confident, which gives reason to expect that the Federal Reserve will not give clear signals about the slowdown in tightening, and the dollar may well win back the positive data, continuing to strengthen. In any case, the probability of a rate hike by the same 0.7% in December remains high.
European stock indices showed mixed dynamics, high inflation and the threat of an energy crisis are still the main negative factors for the euro, which will prevent it from resuming growth.
EURUSD
As expected, the European Central bank raised interest rates by 0.75%, but did not give any signal that the pace of rate hikes will continue to be high. Most likely, the ECB is inclined to slow down the pace of rate hikes, as it noted "substantial progress" in the revision of monetary policy, plans for quantitative tightening will be determined at the December meeting, which came as a surprise to markets that were waiting for specifics.
The insufficiently hawkish stance of the ECB provoked a decline in global bond yields, European ones suffered the most, and amid accelerating inflation. Germany's overall consumer price index reached an annualized rate of 11.6% in October, well above the 10.9% expected by economists, while Italy (11.9% vs. 9.5% experience) and France (7.1 % vs 6.5% experience) also exceeded expectations.
The net long position on the euro increased during the reporting week by 3.4 billion to 9.3 billion, this is a very strong growth, indicating an increase in the positive relative to the euro. However, despite such a strong change, the settlement price turned down, the reason being that even the apparently hawkish decision of the ECB did not lead to an increase in European bond yields, and the yield differential between European and US bonds did not decrease, but even slightly increased. This discrepancy between the long-term positioning in the futures and options market, which is reflected in the CFTC report, and current yields does not yet allow us to break the trend towards the weakening of the euro.
EURUSD, as we suggested a week earlier, made a successful attempt to corrective growth, it passed the resistance of 0.9920/40, however, short positions resumed in the area above parity. We assume that the euro will be under slight pressure ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting, growth above the local high of 1.0092 is unlikely, trading will go in a sideways range with a downward trend. The main target is the support zone of 0.9820/40. This scenario can be canceled if the Fed shows more pronounced weakness on Wednesday than the markets have been laying down so far.
GBPUSD
The Bank of England will hold a regular meeting on Thursday, and the rate is expected to rise by 0.75%. The government change has calmed the markets, yields have pulled back, and now the focus will be on inflation forecasts, as they directly affect the position of the BoE.
The net short position on the pound slightly decreased during the reporting week by 0.2 billion to -3.4 billion, positioning, unlike the euro, remains confidently bearish. The yield differential widened sharply in favor of the dollar, resulting in a rapid decline in the settlement price.
The pound on the wave of rumors about the easing of the Fed's position still went higher than we expected, and reached the upper limit of the long-term bearish channel. We assume that a high will be formed here, an attempt to test the strength of the local high of 1.1735 is not ruled out, but a downward reversal from current levels is much more likely. Technical support at 1.1336 and 1.1147 can also act as immediate targets. High volatility is unlikely before the announcement of the results of the Fed meeting.
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