ORLANDO, Florida, Jan 28 (Reuters) – The dollar snapped higher and Wall Street wobbled on Wednesday, but not before the S&P 500 broke above 7,000 points for the first time, after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold and flagged rising inflation risks.
More on that below. In my column today I look at who the most likely candidates are to reduce their exposure to U.S. assets as a ‘Sell America’ narrative gathers momentum. Countries with big nominal holdings, or countries with outsized exposure to U.S. markets?
If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today.
Today’s Key Market Moves
Today’s Talking Points
* Hawkish veer to Fed’s steer
“An absolute snoozefest.” That’s how TS Lombard’s Dario Perkins summed up today’s Fed meeting and Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference, as the central bank kept rates on hold as expected. The steer was slightly hawkish – inflation remains elevated and the job market looks a bit sturdier – but there was little market reaction.
Traders still expect another quarter point cut by July, but aren’t fully pricing in another one after that. This fits with Powell’s view that policy is probably at the higher end of the neutral range. Chances of the next move being a hike? No one’s “base case”, Powell says.
* U.S. reaffirms ‘strong dollar’ policy
U.S. President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and others have weighed in on the dollar’s travails, and investors are nervous the selloff snowballs into a rout. Policymakers seeing their currencies supercharge in value will be too.
The dollar got some respite on Wednesday, but the selling pressure is likely to return. It is still overvalued on a long-term, fundamental basis, although by how much is open to question. The last 24 to 48 hours have seen huge swings in FX volatility. Investors should expect more of that too.
* 3 out of 4 ain’t bad
U.S. tech results are rolling in, and so far, it’s looking good – investors cheered Meta, Tesla and IBM, but not Microsoft. Belief in the economic transformative power of AI is broadly intact. But there are a few chinks of shade amid the blinding light.
First, the downside of a productivity boom – job losses. Amazon and UPS have announced huge layoffs, others will likely follow. Second, big tech has lagged in recent months, ceding market leadership to other sectors. Many leading tech stocks remain well off their all-time highs – a sign of fatigue, or room to play catch up?
What could move markets tomorrow?
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(By Jamie McGeever; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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