Tied In A Gridlock, Eyes Are Now On The FOMC Meeting!

The results of the US Mid-term election have been released and the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives, securing Washington in a legislative deadlock as widely expected. The talks of “impeachment” of the President will likely be making headlines as the Democrats are now empowered by investigative and procedural powers.

In the meantime, the markets will be shifting their attention to the economic releases and the FOMC meeting. The markets are not expecting any material changes but will look for more insights on the outlook of interest rates for 2019 and 2020 as the Fed approaches their target level. Being in gridlock, the US economy might struggle to continue rising and be poised to decelerating. Recently, we have seen that employment and household spending have been supportive of the economy while the housing market and a dip in business investment shows signs of cooling off.

There were concerns of a more aggressive Fed last month following Powell’s comments on the costs of borrowing being far from neutral level. The markets are not expecting any significant changes but will be more concerned with the tone and clues on the interest rate move in December. As of writing, the US Dollar Index already making a comeback post the election results.

US Dollar Index (Hourly Chart)