Forexlive Americas FX news wrap: No new talking points from Powell

• Powell: We do not need to be in a hurry to adjust policy
• Powell Q&A: Don’t see any reason to be in a hurry to lower rates
• ECB Schnabel: Uncertainty in trade has risen dramatically
• Fed’s Williams: US to grow by around 2% this year and next
• Trump sends Bessent to Ukraine, says the war must end soon
• Federal Reserve Chair Powell signaled banking regulations might be due for reassessment
• US tariffs on China could be paused if “serious headway” is made on fentanyl – report
• Text of Trump steel and aluminum tariffs indicate rates effective from March 12
• Fed’s Hammack: It’s likely appropraite to hold rates steady for ‘some time’
• More from Hammack: Rate hike is not my base case
• Canada December building permits +11.0% vs +1.7% expected
• Bank of Canada appoints Michelle Alexopoulos to governing council
• US January NFIB small business optimism index 102.8 vs 104.6 expected

Markets:

• Gold down $10 to $2896
• US 10-year yields up 4 bps to 4.53%
• WTI crude oil up 93-cents to $73.25
• S&P 500 flat
• GBP leads, CHF lags

The US dollar steadily sagged in North American trading for most of the day even as yields remained buoyant. The euro and pound were particularly strong as they climbed throughout the day. A flurry of dollar selling boosted EUR/USD and GBP/USD by around 30 pips in very short order in the US afternoon but there were no headlines behind the move.

It was a bit of a head-scratcher as some were pointing to dated pronouncements from Zelensky as a trigger. The moves weren’t just in EUR and GBP as broader but smaller selling also hit the dollar. Flows seem to be the culprit but that’s a rare and large move on flows at this time of day.

US equities managed to score a small gain after opening lower in another sign of resilience. There may have been some apprehension about Powell taking a hawkish turn. Instead, he delivered the same talking points as in his post-FOMC press conference where he said the Fed was in ‘no hurry’ to hike. There is a remarkable consistency of the ‘wait-and-see’ stance among Fed officials.

Another risk-on tailwind (and USD drag) may have been the details of the steel and aluminum tariffs. They were ‘immediate’ as promised but delayed until March 12. That underscored the growing sentiment that tariff talk is more about negotiations than imposing economic pain.

On net, today’s moves unwound some recent USD strength but one chart worth eyeing is AUD/USD, which is challenging the top of the two-week range. That’s come with increasing enthusiasm about China, even though that trade took something of a break today.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.