FOMC out, BOE and NFP next – will the hawkish waves continue?

USD: A less-dovish Fed and regional banking concerns add to the exceptionalism bid

As expected, the FOMC left the target range for the fed funds rate unchanged at 5.25% - 5.50% at the January meeting. Even with an explicit removal of the tightening bias, Fed Chair Powell walked a tightrope and offered a pushback on rate cut expectations. As such the markets came out of the meeting being more unsure of the March rate cut than before.

The statement was balanced out to remove a tightening bias as it removed reference to determining the “extent of any additional policy firming”, and replaced it with “any adjustments to the target range for the fed funds rate”. This served as an acknowledgement that the probability of rate hikes vs. rate cuts is more balanced now compared to a bias towards tightening earlier. However, the statement also added that while employment and inflation goals are “moving into better balance” they don’t think it would be “appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent”. This served as a pushback to dovish bets, while worth noting that it is also a confirmation that the Fed will be happy to see inflation moving “towards” 2% rather than waiting until it is below their target.

Overall, the meeting served to pushback on increased March rate cut pricing that came on the back of some regional bank tremors earlier in the session, but on the whole odds of a March rate cut are still seen at about 37%, just a notch below 40% seen a day before (pre-regional bank headlines on Wednesday). However, US dollar got some additional factors to remain bid in the last few sessions beyond US exceptionalism and high yield, including:

1. A Fed that is unlikely to be more dovish than the markets just yet
2. Re-ignition of regional banking sector concerns after New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) posted a surprise Q4 loss and cut dividend
3. Risk off in equities on the back of disappointing start to earnings from the ‘Magnificent 7’ stocks

Focus now turns to US jobs data out tomorrow, and a primer on this covering the data points to watch and what could the numbers signal can be found here. Consensus expects headline jobs of 185k in January from 216k in December. While ADP yesterday showed a slower-than-expected job growth, it is not usually a good predictor of NFP. Jobless claims for the survey week fell to an over 2-year low, but a cold snap in the month could have taken a toll. Recent months have seen a tendency that job growth outpaces consensus expectations, however it is worth looking at private payrolls which slowed to a 3-month average of 115k last month.

The re-ignition of banking sector concerns and Fed’s data-dependent approach still mean that the bar for dovish repricing may not be too high. If NFP comes in below expectations after months of beat, that could hurt the dollar’s recent gains, but USD still remains a buy on dips. A strong number will re-affirm US exceptionalism, and dollar is likely to extend gains. As noted here, February is a seasonally strong month for the USD.