Markets had very little reaction Friday after the speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium. Yellen primarily discussed regulating financial institutions and refrained from making any comments on the economic climate or U.S. monetary policy. In short, she offered nothing to trigger a reaction on the currency market, which probably came as a major disappointment for observers who wanted to see a stronger U.S. dollar
Mario Draghi, Yellen’s European counterpart, also did not appear to want to startle markets, but nevertheless shared his relatively positive vision on the global economic outlook, which was interpreted as positive for the euro. This is another indication to the effect that “buying the euro and selling the U.S. dollar” remains a popular transaction with investors. It should be noted that speculators’ positions in favour of the euro increased again last week.
Today, there are few economic indicators of note on the calendar, but we are keeping an eye on developments related to flooding in the Houston area, where more than 10% of U.S. oil refining capacity is located.
Julien Duquette
Range of the day : 1.2435 - 1.2520