US stocks battle back into positive territory, US dollar loses ground

The risk mood is improving once again and the S&P 500 is higher in what’s been a choppy day.

The comments from Powell were a non-factor as he reiterated a wait-and-see attitude that’s nearly unanimous at the Fed.

I noted a comment from Citadel CEO Ken Griffin who said that Trump’s bombastic tariff rhetoric is a mistake.

“From my vantage point, the bombastic rhetoric, the damage has already
been done,” Griffin said Tuesday at UBS Financial Services Conference in Florida. “It’s a huge mistake to resort to this form of
rhetoric when you’re trying to drive a bargain because … it tears into
the minds of CEOs, policymakers that we can’t depend upon America, as
our trading partner.”

That kind of pushback has an audience in Washington as Griffin is a powerful Republican megadonor. I wonder if we see more Congressmen begin to voice objections.

The US dollar is also sliding on what might be a sense of a trade war that’s not as intense as feared. That’s a tricky proposition given that Trump has promised something on reciprocal tariffs today or tomorrow. At the same time, it comes after Trump’s steel/aluminum tariffs were announced but won’t go into effect until mid-March.

That suggests a period of negotiation that indicates tariffs are more of a threat than an instrument. I believe that’s been the undercurrent in markets since last Monday’s freakout over Mexico-Canada tariffs.

Today in US trading the euro, pound and Canadian dollar have been steady gainers.

The pound looks to end a three-day losing streak.

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