Dollar Expected To Trend Lower In First Quarter of 2004
美元将在2004年的首季里趋向于走低。
Dollar weakness is expected to persist in the first quarter of 2004. It is important for traders to understand that acceleration in US economic growth does not necessarily translate into a recovery for the US dollar. As mentioned earlier, the primary cause for the dollar's decline in 2003 was the widening US current account deficit - a problem that has yet to be resolved. The current account deficit is expected to widen even further as the economy recovers. The rationale is that during rebounds, consumers will be increasing demand for both domestic and foreign goods. Coupled with the Bush administration's continued de facto weak dollar policy, the dollar will remain under pressure.
在2004年首季,将期待着美元继续保持目前的弱势。 对交易者来说,理解和认识到美国加速的经济增长并不一定会转化为美元的强势的这一基本点非常重要。如同前面论述的,造成美元下跌的主要因素是:不断扩大的美国经常性往来账赤字, 这是一个长期的,一直没有得到解决的问题。 基于在经济恢复中,消费者将增加对国产和进口产品的需求这一出发点, 随着经济的恢复,经常性往来账赤字将有望继续扩大。 伴随着布什政府继续推行变相弱美元政策,美元将继续承压。
However, there are a number of forces that could potentially reverse or accelerate the dollar's decline in 2004. A reversal of the dollar's downtrend could occur if a strong US economic recovery prompts a stock market rally and a boom in M&A activity, drawing foreign investors back to US assets- the weak dollar makes US corporations particularly attractive takeover targets. Intervention by the Federal Reserve or ECB to halt the decline in the dollar or curb the rise in the Euro could also help to reverse the market's current bearish sentiment. On the other hand, the risks for a sharp acceleration in the dollar's decline could be prompted by stronger than expected Eurozone growth, more flexibility in the RMB or new US scandals. 2004 is also an election year and any surprises on that front could also have significant ramifications for the dollar.
Where Do We See The Majors (EURUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF, GBPUSD) in the First Quarter of 2004?
EURUSD: Technicals favor a correction before the next move higher
The medium-term bull move initiated this summer continues to push higher at a torrid pace. Our initial first quarter targets of 1.1935 and 1.25 are now only memories, as the price closes in on 1.2600 psychological resistance. The pace and scale of the upmove, while impressive, is now bordering on excessive as both sentiment and longer -term momentum oscillator studies reach frightening extremes. The need for a meaningful correction can not be overstated and as such, we now expect the first half of 2004 to be a bit rockier than most, as longer-term technical studies point to some sort of corrective wave during the first few months of 2004. Initial corrective targets include the former breakout level/10-day SMA at 1.1935/1.1900 followed by the former fib resistance turned support in the 1.1750 zone. We cannot rule out a deeper correction scenario to the 40-week moving average in the coming months, as corrections from such aggressive runups, can turn quite vicious; but as overall long-term demand remains firm we see no real serious threat to broader long-term uptrend.