Currency Markets In Turmoil: A Pocket Guide For The Week Ahead

As political risk continues to dominate the headlines (even as US equities steadfastly refuse to efficiently price it), FX markets will likely remain in the spotlight. The dollar is grappling with an increasingly draconian stance from the White House regarding trade, but traders are still acutely aware of the Fed's supposed desire to get in at least two hikes in 2017. Friday's jobs report was greeted with a conspicuous amount of skepticism thanks to a weak read on wage inflation, giving ammunition to those pushing for a more "gradual" tightening pace. Expect chatter around SOMA rolloff to increase commensurate with the administration's desire to put a lid on dollar strength as any tightening that does transpire may be shouldered by the long end in an effort to anchor short end rates. In Europe, Marine Le Pen is ratcheting up the euroskeptic rhetoric in lockstep with Trump's combative approach to immigration. Here's a summary of Le Pen's Sunday comments via Bloomberg: French presidential National Front candidate Marine Le Pen says she would seek to immediately recover the country’s “monetary sovereignty” if elected in May. Le Pen, who didn’t directly mention an euro ex