In the currency market, the yen hogs the spotlight, sliding to fresh lows on the euro, sterling and other crosses this week. The yen is the worst-performing G10 currency this year, with a 6.4% slide on the dollar.
The dollar index , which measures the U.S. currency against six rivals, is up 2.5% as traders come to the realisation that the Fed was perhaps not bluffing when it pushed back against early and steep expectations of interest rate cuts.
Goldman Sachs was the latest to push back its starting point of the Fed’s easing cycle to June from May. Markets are also now pricing in June as the point at which the U.S. central bank will first cut rates.
Traders have also priced in 78 basis points of cuts in the year, down from 150 bps of easing at the start of the year and closer to the Fed’s own projection of 75 bps of cuts.
In company news, Standard Chartered will be in focus at the open after the Asia-focused bank announced a $1 billion share buyback and a jump in dividend, while reporting an 18% rise in 2023 pre-tax profit.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/BV6RUDRN75J3VPQA2LSIHG6JZE.jpg "Tech stocks can't stop, won't stop 44")
