020 7898 0500The US dollar continued its impressive run of form as US manufacturing activity expanded more than expected in October. US preliminary manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rebounded to 53.2 in October, from a three-month low of 51.5 in September. The rate of improvement was the highest since October 2015.
St Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard reiterated the call for an interest rate hike in this year. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets before the highly-anticipated US presidential election, and is not expected to make changes to policy before election results are announced. It is rare for central banks to take action before an election as they could be seen to be politically influencing the electorate. Instead, we expect the FOMC to signpost a potential rate hike in December.
Looking ahead to the day ahead, the key figure will be from consumer confidence data, which is expected to slide as a strong dollar dominates and uncertainty around the presidential election continues.
