Early Morning Call: end of oversized interest rate hikes in sight?
Europe expected up after a strong start to Q4 globally. ASX 200 up strongly after RBA raised rates only 25bps. AUD meanwhile on the way down after RBA's decision while USD sees steepest 4-day loss since July 2020.
Macro overview
It was a positive start of the month for US indices. The Dow Jones closed yesterday’s session up 2.66%, the S&P 500 rose 2.59%, and the Nasdaq Composite by 2.27%.
The Asia-Pacific region followed suit, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 outperforming the region as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised interest rates by 25-basis points (bps) to 2.6%. If this makes it the highest level in more than nine years, the market was expecting a 50 basis-point hike.
The move benefited the equity market but affected the Australian dollar. AUD/USD fell as much as 1% at the announcement before paring some losses.
Rates are expected to increase further. The RBA repeated its commitment to bring inflation down to target levels. Inflation is still too high and should remain so for months to come. The bank expects consumer inflation to rise about 7.75% in 2022, above 4% in 2023, and around 3% in 2024.
Elsewhere, several Fed presidents and board members' speeches are expected today, among them Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester, San Francisco Fed president Mary Daly, and New York Fed chief executive John Williams. Yesterday, Williams already said that while they can see growing signs of cooling inflation, underlying price pressures remain too high: "Clearly, inflation is far too high, and persistently high inflation undermines the ability of our economy to perform at its full potential. Tighter monetary policy has begun to cool demand and reduce inflationary pressures, but our job is not yet done."
Williams did not share his views on what the next Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hike should be. Many are speculating that the Fed will again hike by 0.75 percentage points.
The US dollar remains on the back foot this morning. The US Dollar Basket retreated yesterday for a fifth consecutive day. This benefited commodities, and especially precious metals: gold now trades just below $1,700, platinum gained $60 in yesterday's session, and silver hit a three-month high.
At 10am producer price index in the Eurozone is expected to accelerate in August. Economists see a month-on-month (MoM) increase of 4.9%, after 4% in July. The year-on-year (YoY) rise is forecast to reach 43.1%.
In the US, factory orders are expected to rise by 0.3% in August on a month-on-month basis.
Equities overview
Elsewhere on the equity market, Greggs PLC said in a trading statement its sales rose 14.6% in the third quarter (Q3), adding its full-year (FY) outcome will be in line with expectations.
Investors will remain attentive to Credit Suisse Group AG (CH). Shares of the Swiss bank recovered their losses and ended yesterday’s session down around 1% after a big market rally. The stock had dropped as much as 10% at the start of trading after the Financial Times reported the Swiss bank's executives are in talks with its major investors to reassure them amid rising concerns over the lender's financial health.
Commodities
Oil prices are on the rise this morning, and the market is waiting for tomorrow's OPEC+ ministerial meeting in Vienna, where members will be discussing output cuts that could go above one million barrels per day (bpd).
Last month the organisation cut production by 100,000 bpd, signalling it would do what it takes to maintain oil price stability. In September, oil prices retreated for a fourth straight month.
This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients.
![](http://a.c-dn.net/c/content/dam/publicsites/igcom/uk/images/ContentImage/Forex global component NA banner.jpg/jcr:content/renditions/original-size.webp)
Start trading forex today
Trade the largest and most volatile financial market in the world.
- Spreads start at just 0.6 points on EUR/USD
- Analyse market movements with our essential selection of charts
- Speculate from a range of platforms, including on mobile
Live prices on most popular markets
- Forex
- Shares
- Indices