FX Analysis – USD rallies as markets turn risk-off ahead of Jackson Hole
Lachlan Meakin
18/10/2023
•
0 min read
Share this post
Copy URL
USD was higher on Thursday, with The Dollar Index bouncing back strongly from Wednesdays decline, breaking through the resistance level of 103.60 to touch on the weekly highs at the big 104 level and hitting overbought levels on the daily RSI. Market risk-off, rising yields and a lower than forecast jobless claims figure giving the USD a boost as good news is bad news for equities which in turn is good news for the USD (if that makes sense!) Looking ahead to Friday’s session, all attention will be on Fed Chair Powell speaking at Jackson Hole 14:05 GMT, we are sure to see some volatility in USD as traders look for hawkish or dovish clues from the Fed chair. AUD, NZD, and CAD all saw losses to varying degrees against the USD on broad risk-off sentiment resulting in haven flows to the USD.
CAD was the “least worst” with a rally in oil prices supporting CAD somewhat. Risk sensitive AUD and NZD were the underperformers with both AUDUSD and NZDUSD giving back all their Wednesday gains and then some. AUDUSD and NZDUSD both sliding to test their major support levels at 0.6400 and 0.5900 respectively.
Again, these will be key levels to watch as we head into Jackson Hole. EUR and JPY both also saw losses against the USD, but not as deep as the more risk sensitive cyclical currencies above. EURUSD managing to defend the psychological 1.0800 level, which was the support level set in Wednesday’s session and also the 200 Day MA level.
USDJPY held beneath 146.00, but still well above the key 145 level, rising US yields pushing this pair higher, but held back somewhat by the safe haven status of the Yen. In risk events for today and the weekend, all eyes will be on the Jackson Hole Symposium, where the main event will be comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, also on the docket will be other Fed speakers and ECB President Lagarde.
By
Lachlan Meakin
Head of Research, GO Markets Australia.
The information provided is of general nature only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situations or needs. Before acting on any information provided, you should consider whether the information is suitable for you and your personal circumstances and if necessary, seek appropriate professional advice. All opinions, conclusions, forecasts or recommendations are reasonably held at the time of compilation but are subject to change without notice. Past performance is not an indication of future performance. Go Markets Pty Ltd, ABN 85 081 864 039, AFSL 254963 is a CFD issuer, and trading carries significant risks and is not suitable for everyone. You do not own or have any interest in the rights to the underlying assets. You should consider the appropriateness by reviewing our TMD, FSG, PDS and other CFD legal documents to ensure you understand the risks before you invest in CFDs.
市場對頂尖製程晶圓及先進封裝(Advanced Packaging)的瘋狂胃納,其增長速度早已遠遠超越了全球供應鏈所能溫和承受的極限。這種極端的供需失衡,正強行逼迫各大 AI 龍頭大廠積極評估「第二供貨源(Second-source)」—— 呢點要稍為校準:這並不代表大廠們正在拋棄台積電,而是他們在實戰中迫切需要多一條通往大規模量產的備用防線。
支撐英特爾未來繼續狂飆的牛市邏輯非常直觀:**全球 AI 算力需求依舊極其瘋狂**,台積電的產能死鎖在短期內根本無法解開,這倒逼跨國科技巨頭必須不計代價尋求具備實質技術公信力的第二代工防線。如果英特爾能成功將目前的秘密測試與意向訂單逐步轉化為實質性的商業產出,全球長線資金將繼續為其晶圓代工戰略瘋狂計價。
最後,不容忽視的是更宏觀的 **AI 資本開支大週期**。一旦 Google、微軟、亞馬遜和 Meta 等超大規模雲端商(Hyperscalers)未來在龐大的基礎設施投入上放緩步伐、或是 AI 商業化變現的投資回報率(ROI)不如預期,成個半導體板塊都將迎來泥沙俱下的結構性大回撤,無論英特爾 Foundry 的製程進展得幾咁完美也無法獨善其身。
綜上所述,主導接下來外匯與股票交叉盤生死的黃金變數包括:輝達會否發出實質生產訂單、18A 工藝的最新良率進展、英特爾代工業務的虧損限度、台積電先進封裝擴產速度,以及北美雲端巨頭們的 AI 資本開支是否依舊強悍。