Daily FNArena News - FYI

Weekly musings by your editor. The decline of the US dollar. When is the trend your friend?

Oil was the big loser overnight while stock markets began to doubt a Fed cut tonight.

The Dow was once again positive as traders set for a rate cut on Wednesday.

OPEC wants to switch to a basket of currencies while Gulf states are concerned about their greenback pegs.

There is a wealth of US economic data being released this week but it will all be overshadowed by one number – that of the Fed funds rate after Wednesday night.

There was no bad news on Wall Street last night to recover from, so the Dow just went up. Gold took off as well.

The Dow recovered from a 128 point fall to close almost unchanged. No, this is not yesterday’s report.

Economists at ANZ have broken the mould and increased their interest rate expectations from one more likely hike to three more hikes. Consider the November one as a given.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has kept official interest rates unchanged but retains its hawkish view given speculation of a fiscal boost from lower tax rates next year.

The Dow pulled back from a 200 point fall to be “unch” after ridiculous rumours of an “emergency” rate cut circulated Wall Street.