Little change was seen on Monday in the price of the dollar against other major currencies, with the dollar index down by a mere 0.06%, ahead of the U.S. presidential election, where recent polls showed improved odds for Kamala Harris against Donald Trump, although Polymarket bets continues to show Trump leading by a wide margin. Polls on the other hand show a tight race, with a weekend opinion poll showing Harris with a surprise lead in Iowa, a traditional Republican stronghold.
Furthermore, market participants were betting on a quarter-point rate reduction by the Federal Reserve at the end of its latest two-day policy meeting on Thursday. This expectation followed the central bank's substantial half-point rate cut in September. According to the CME Fedwatch tool, expectations for a cut of 25 basis points in the upcoming FOMC meeting later this week currently stand at 98% while odds for rates to remain unchanged are at 2%.
Wall Street is largely on edge before the outcome of the presidential election in the US, with analysts indicating that the outcome could significantly impact the market performance, especially the large cap technology companies. Volatility is subdued, with the VIX down by 4.64% on Monday, while the main stock market indices, all ended the session with minor losses as investors appear to be holding back on risk-driven assets.
Although the majority of companies reported stronger-than-anticipated earnings for the third quarter, a pessimistic outlook from leading technology firms, such as Microsoft and Apple, coupled with projected increases in capital expenditures, exerted downward pressure on the technology sector.
In corporate news, NVIDIA Corporation is set to join the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday, replacing struggling chipmaker intel. The earnings season will continue this week with releases from Ferrari, Super Micro Computer, Qualcomm, Arm, Gilead and Biontech.
Aside from the U.S. presidential elections and the Fed interest rate decision, other key events due later this week include the ISM services PMI and UoM consumer sentiment and inflation expectations survey.
EUR/USD
The EUR/USD pair ended the session with slight gains on Monday, as the US Dollar weakens amid anticipation of the US presidential election outcome and a likely interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
The US presidential race remains close, with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump almost tied in recent polls. Results may take several days to finalize.
The expectation of a Federal Reserve rate cut at its November meeting is also pressuring the Dollar. Markets are pricing in a high likelihood of a 25-basis-point cut on Thursday, as opposed to the more substantial 50-basis-point reduction seen at the last meeting.
Meanwhile, the Euro is finding support as recent Eurozone economic data has reduced the likelihood of a larger interest rate cut from the European Central Bank (ECB) in December.
The upcoming November inflation report from the Eurozone could offer additional insight into the ECB’s rate outlook, potentially influencing the Euro’s trajectory as traders weigh the possibility of further ECB easing.