Australian dollar rips into short squeeze

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DXY is taking a breather.

AUD is ripping into a short-squeeze.

But it is wearing CNY concrete boots.

Oil is a problem for markets.

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Dirt meh.

Miners soggy bounce.

EM likewise.

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Junk jump.

Yield dump.

Stocks pump.

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The US CPI was rocket fuel, as expected.

The so-called core consumer price index — which excludes food and energy costs — increased 0.2% after rising 0.3% four straight months, Bureau of Labor Statistics figures showed Wednesday.

That marked the first stepdown in the rate in six months. Cheaper hotel stays, a smaller advance in medical care services and relatively tame rent increases helped restrain the December figure.

That’s a good print with more disinflation ahead via rents in particular.

There may be enough here for a solid counter-trend rally especially if the leak about Trump’s incremental tariff ratchet mechanism plays out.

Some of the excesses for AUD weakness can be worked off.

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About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.