LONDON, Aug 24 – The euro traded near a two-decade low on Wednesday, amid growing recession fears fueled by a potential energy supply shortage, while the dollar recovered some data-inspired losses. on Tuesday, which were weaker than expected.
* Disappointing surveys of the US manufacturing and services sectors released on Tuesday and slumping new home sales gave the dollar a breather after a run that took the greenback to its lowest level. strong against the euro in two decades.
* Europe, however, has its own growth problems stemming from its increased exposure to Russian gas supplies, as the region looks to refuel ahead of winter.
* Month-to-date Dutch gas, the benchmark for Europe, rose again on Wednesday as the prospect of a halt in supply from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline kept investors on their toes.
* On Friday, Russia’s state-owned energy company Gazprom said Russia will cut off natural gas supplies to Europe for three days via Nord Stream 1 due to unscheduled maintenance.
* The euro briefly traded at $1 on Tuesday, but fell back to $0.99175 in the European session, just above Tuesday’s 20-year low of $0.99005.
* The market is awaiting the annual Federal Reserve symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which begins on Thursday and will be addressed by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday.
* The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.37% to 108.95, near a two-decade high hit in July at 109.29.
* Money markets are fully pricing in a 50 basis point rate hike at next month’s Fed meeting, with traders pricing in more than 50% of the chance of a higher than 75 basis point hike, according to data from Refinitiv.
* On Tuesday, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari repeated the need for more aggressive rate hikes to control inflation.