Weekly update

AUD/USD rebounds despite record bearish futures positioning, with Australian Q3 CPI and the Fed meeting threatening to trigger another short squeeze.

The current backdrop is modestly bearish. On Friday, the EUR/USD closed modestly lower, down for the third consecutive day. The pair also posted a weekly decline after staging a modest recovery attempt in the previous week. Out of the past 8 weeks, the EUR/USD has fallen on 6 occasions. There is not much supporting factors for the single currency right now. So, the upside remains capped.

Gold remains at risk of staging a deeper correction. Though the dollar has eased back a bit along with yields, both still remain fundamentally supported.

Global indices managed to bounce back towards the end of the week as risk mood improved following Thursday’s drop in bond yields and a slight decline in oil prices. But by late Friday afternoon, oil prices had made back most of Thursday’s drop and the bond markets remained under some pressure as European bourses closed for trading.

After coming under significant pressure in recent weeks, the EUR/USD came off its lows to finish the week on a positive note on Friday, albeit with only a mild rebound. That was not enough to prevent the exchange rate falling for the third consecutive week, as the US dollar and bond yields rallied across the board.

AUD/USD momentum fades as Fed hike expectations return, while RBA officials keep September tightening risks firmly in focus.

Gold fell 1.8% last week and is now down for a third consecutive week, suggesting that momentum continues to fade following the powerful surge we saw in August. On Friday, the precious metal initially fell in reaction to the US CPI data but then rallied sharply from its lows immediately afterwards in a classic “sell the news” reaction, before fading into the close. Ultimately, gold finished Friday’s session 0.7% higher.

The S&P 500 fell on Friday to post a flat close on the week. Rising yields and elevated oil prices reminded investors that the macro backdrop is turning challenging. Friday’s US jobs report raised the pressure on the Fed to hike as the report was considerably stronger than expected. All the attention will be on inflation data in this shortened week for US investors, plus the usual suspects of oil and bond yields, ahead of the FOMC rate decision in the following week.

Last week’s main theme has been a shift away from the US dollar towards currencies of economies with stronger fiscal positions and lower debt levels. The brief rally in long-dated US Treasuries helped fuel gains in gold and silver, while the Swiss franc also benefited from increased haven demand. The euro has performed reasonably well too, with the Eurozone economy continuing to expand modestly despite geopolitical uncertainty and higher energy prices.

AUD/USD grinds higher into Australian jobs data as RBA-Fed expectations remain finely balanced and the US dollar holds support.

Bond yields pushed higher again on Friday as the consolidation near the upper end of the recent range continued, mirroring the price action of oil prices, posing threat to the gold recovery attempt.