Themes

• General mood is “risk off”
• Fed’s Waller: March Fed meeting “in play” for a rate hike
• Fed’s Waller: Inflation alarmingly high, hike warranted after taper ends

What’s Moving

With little data on the slate for Friday, the market took Fed member Wallers hawkish comments as a reason to buy the USD at the expense of pretty much every one of the majors. Waller’s comments talking March up as a “live” meeting for a rate hike was what the market needed to bust out of the recent lethargy.

U.S. equity markets were heavy after the hawkish comments, while gold was slightly firmer.

Thoughts

With literally zero data in Asia today, expect consolidation of Friday’s Dollar strength in the last week before the Christmas holidays.

EUR/USD and AUD/USD have gapped lower at the open this morning, indicating that the bias may well be to continued USD strength today.

Pivot Points