The USD/SGD currency pair was mostly flat on Friday, trading not far from a two-week high of 1.2984, as concerns over rising geopolitical risks and the potential impact on global economic growth weighed on market sentiment.
Yesterday US President Joe Biden abstained from directly condemning the potential for Israel to target Iran, while Tel Aviv had pledged to retaliate against the Islamic nation.
Meanwhile, investors now await the key US Non-Farm Payrolls report, due out later on Friday, for more insight into macroeconomic conditions and the Fed’s future interest rate path.
Employers in all sectors of the US economy, excluding farming, probably added 140,000 job positions in September, according to market consensus, following a job growth of 142,000 in August.
“There is little evidence to suggest a U.S. hard landing is on the horizon,” Prashant Newnaha, a senior Asia-Pacific rates strategist at TD Securities, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“Our sense is that the risks to September non-farm payrolls lie to the upside and should see U.S. Treasuries continue their push higher in yield.”
Markets are now pricing in about a 33% chance of another 50 basis point rate cut at the Fed’s policy meeting in November, compared to a 49% chance a week ago.
In Singapore, data showed on Friday that retail sales had risen 0.6% year-on-year in August, while slowing from a 1% YoY surge in July.
As of 8:46 GMT on Friday the USD/SGD currency pair was little changed to trade at 1.2965.
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