The charts that matter: US dollar continues its bull run

The US dollar’s bull run continued this week. Here’s how it affected the charts that matter most to the global economy.

Welcome back.

In this week’s MoneyWeek magazine, we’re concentrating on inflation. Merryn talks to the Bank of England’s outgoing chief economist, Andy Haldane, who explains why price rises might prove rather more stubborn than many people think. We’ve also got a feature on how to buy into emerging markets – notoriously difficult – by using UK stocks as a proxy. If you’re not already a subscriber, sign up now.

This week’s “Too Embarrassed To Ask” looks at “zombie companies” - a term you may well have heard in this low-interest-rate environment. You can watch that here.

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We’ve another big hitter on the MoneyWeek Podcast this week. Merryn talks to Jim Mellon, one of our favourite investment gurus. Jim explains what he’s buying – a lot of UK stocks – and why, with plenty of tips for you to investigate. They also talk about Big Tech (and why he’s not buying that), Big Oil (and why he is buying that), plus why Jim believes that the future of meat and dairy production lies not on the farm, but in the lab. Find out everything he has to say here.

Here are the links for this week’s editions of Money Morning and other web articles you may have missed:

Now for the charts of the week.

The charts that matter

Gold continued to trade in a range.

Gold price chart

(Image credit: Gold price chart)

(Gold: three months)

The US dollar index (DXY – a measure of the strength of the dollar against a basket of the currencies of its major trading partners) perked back up in the latest leg of its bull run. That’s not good for any other assets, says Dominic.

US dollar index chart

(Image credit: US dollar index chart)

(DXY: three months)

Dollar strength was reflected in the Chinese yuan (or renminbi) – when the red line is rising, the dollar is strengthening while the yuan is weakening.

USD/CNY currency chart

(Image credit: USD/CNY currency chart)

(Chinese yuan to the US dollar: since 25 Jun 2019)

The yield on the ten-year US government bond continued to drift slowly down.

US Treasury bond yield chart

(Image credit: US Treasury bond yield chart)

(Ten-year US Treasury yield: three months)

The yield on the Japanese ten-year bond turned sharply down.

Japanese government bond yield chart

(Image credit: Japanese government bond yield chart)

(Ten-year Japanese government bond yield: three months)

And the yield on the ten-year German Bund slipped, too.

German Bund yield chart

(Image credit: German Bund yield chart)

(Ten-year Bund yield: three months)

Copper continued to slip, reflecting broader commodity-price weakness (oil excepted).

Copper price chart

(Image credit: Copper price chart)

(Copper: nine months)

The closely-related Aussie dollar followed copper down.

AUD/USD currency chart

(Image credit: AUD/USD currency chart)

(Aussie dollar vs US dollar exchange rate: three months)

Bitcoin continued to slip lower. Regulators are cracking down, says Saloni, which could dent the price further.

Bitcoin price chart

(Image credit: Bitcoin price chart)

(Bitcoin: three months)

US weekly initial jobless claims fell by 51,000 to 364,000, the lowest since 14 March 2020. The four-week moving average fell by 6,000 to 392,750.

US initial weekly jobless claims chart

(Image credit: US initial weekly jobless claims chart)

(US initial jobless claims, four-week moving average: since Jan 2020)

The oil price wavered a little, but its bull run is intact.

Brent crude oil price chart

(Image credit: Brent crude oil price chart)

(Brent crude oil: three months)

Amazon slipped further.

Amazon share price chart

(Image credit: Amazon share price chart)

(Amazon: three months)

But Tesla held on to its previous week’s gains.

Tesla share price chart

(Image credit: Tesla share price chart)

(Tesla: three months)

Have a great weekend.

Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.