Our baseline view for this week has been that the dollar correction has run its course, and we still favour chasing a USD rebound against other G10 currencies. There is admittedly some residual room for a risk-on/dollar-off move once a potential Russia-Ukraine peace deal is agreed, but markets are largely pricing it in at this stage and there are no guarantees for now that it will allow to price out longer-run geopolitical risk.
Today, markets will remain focused on any developments on the US-Russia bilateral talks on Ukraine, but barring a major breakthrough, the optimistic push and relative upbeat risk sentiment may stall or fade in the next couple of days and the dollar can continue to recover some ground.
Also on the positioning side, there is some evidence that the dollar longs are slightly less stretched. CFTC USD positioning versus G10 currencies excluding SEK and NOK (which are not reported) has inched back lower to a seven-week low, albeit remaining above +20% of open interest.
Macro developments will likely play a secondary role this week, with the exception of tomorrow’s FOMC minutes. Today’s Empire Manufacturing index and TIC flows out of the US should have limited market impact.
Francesco Pesole
