US Dollar Index is Stable in the Early Hours on November 20

After falling for two consecutive trading weeks, the US Dollar Index opened on a stronger note on November 20. However, the dollar lost strength as the day progressed and traded near opening prices in the early hours on Monday.

The market sentiment on the US Dollar Index was weak at the beginning of last week. The sentiment improved after the House of Representatives passed the tax cut plan at the end of last week. Some investors at the “Reuters Global Investment 2018 Outlook Summit” said that the tax cut plan might look promising, but it could create economic problems in the long term. On the economic data front, the homebuilding activity in the US rose to one-year high levels in October as the impact of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey faded.

At 5:20 AM EST on November 20, 2017, the US Dollar Index was trading at 93.64—a fall of 0.02%.

Following a pullback last week, US Treasury yields started this week on a weaker note. The decreased market risk amid uncertainty about US tax plans supported bonds and weighed on Treasury yields. Yields move opposite to movements in the bond market.

Below are the movements in Treasury yields as of 5:40 AM EST on November 17.

• The ten-year Treasury yield was trading at 2.342—a fall of ~0.52%.
• The 30-year Treasury yield was trading at 2.776—a fall of ~0.6%.
• The five-year Treasury yield was trading at 2.053—a fall of ~0.42%.
• The two-year Treasury yield was trading at 1.722—a fall of ~0.48%.

The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) rose 0.74%. The ProShares UltraPro Short 20+ Year Treasury (TTT) fell 2.3% and the ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury (TBT) fell 1.5% on November 17.

In the next part of this series, we’ll discuss how commodities performed in the early hours on November 20.