LDN - Business

Dollar rebounds, bond yields jump on Yellen's rate guidance

[January 19, 2017] By John Geddie

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar bounced back, Asian and European shares slipped and government bond yields soared to multi-week highs on Thursday after U.S. central bank chief Janet Yellen signaled a path of steady interest rate increases for the world's largest economy.

The European Central Bank was set to meet as the euro recovered some of the ground it lost overnight <EUR=> against the greenback, but with no policy changes expected.

Further hints of disagreements among the region's monetary guardians -- revealed in minutes of the ECB's December meeting -- could ruffle markets, however.

European and Asian stocks broadly dipped, with resources and oil companies hit as a rising dollar increased the cost of dollar-denominated commodities for holders of foreign currencies.

But there were some big individual gains as Zodiac Aerospace surged following a takeover offer, and Moneysupermarket.com jumped after it reported strong results.

Wall Street was set to open a touch lower with the S&P 500 set to give up some of Wednesday's rise, which was led by stronger financial stocks.

The U.S. currency recovered from Tuesday's decline, when it reached its weakest level since early December after President-elect Donald Trump expressed concern in a weekend interview about the effects of a stronger greenback.

Yellen will speak again later on Thursday, after European markets close, about the economic outlook and monetary policy.

"Of all the speakers we're getting, either from Davos or from less ostentatious spots, the one I'm going to listen to most for now will probably still be Janet Yellen," Societe Generale's currency strategist Kit Juckes said.

"As the U.S. economy approaches full employment, as wages rise but inflation rises nearly as quickly, how hawkish the Fed dares to be will determine how much the dollar rises."

The dollar gained almost one percent from Wednesday's lows against a basket of currencies after Yellen's comments that she and other policymakers expected to raise rates a few times a year until 2019.

[to top of second column]

U.S. Federal Reserve Board chair Janet Yellen testifies before a Congressional Joint Economic hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S. November 17, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron

The affects appeared to be wearing off on Thursday, though, as investors, desperate for further details on Trump's plans to boost growth, remained cautious before the President-elect's inauguration on Friday.

Euro zone government bonds were still moving in the slipstream of Yellen's speech with benchmark German bond yields spiking to one-month highs after U.S. equivalents rose to their highest since Jan. 9.

OIL REBOUND

Earlier in Asia, short-term funding costs in China shot to their highest in nearly 10 years on fears that liquidity was tightening heading into the Lunar New Year holidays at the end of this month.

"The market is typically short of liquidity ahead of the Lunar New Year," said Gu Weiyong, chief investment officer at bond-focused hedge fund Ucom Investment Co, adding that a cash injection by the central bank was insufficient.

Bucking the trend of weaker Asian shares, Japan's Nikkei stock index ended up 0.9 percent, helped by weaker yen.

The pound rebounded above $1.23 on Thursday after a wild few Brexit-fueled days that has seen both its biggest rise in decades against the dollar and two of its heaviest slumps in months.

U.S. crude added 0.8 percent to $51.50 per barrel, after shedding 2.67 percent on Wednesday. Brent crude rose 0.9 percent to $54.39 after slipping 2.79 percent.

(Additional reporting by Patrick Graham and Kit Rees in London and Lisa Twaronite in Tokyo; Editing by Larry King)

Back to top