- Singapore dollar (SGD) rises across the week
- GDP was lifted to 2.6% in 2024
- US Dollar (USD) falls against major peers
- Expectations of a 50 basis point cut rise
The US Dollar Singapore dollar (USD/SGD) exchange rate fell on Friday for a fourth straight day. The pair fell 0.18% lower in the previous session, settling on Thursday at 1.3013. At 21:00 UTC, USD/SGD trades -0.29% at 1.2975 and is in a range of 1.2973 and 1.3028. The pair fell 0.27% across the week. The pair fell 0.35% across the week, the second straight week of losses,
The Singapore dollar has risen against the USD in 9 of the past 11 weeks, benefitting from the central bank’s diverging monetary policy.
Economists have upwardly revised Singapore’s growth forecast to 2.6% in 2024 from 2.4% previously expected owing to better-than-expected external growth. The central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, predicts a steady growth of 2.5% in 2025. Despite the revision, the MAS is likely to keep interest rates unchanged in the October meeting.
The US Dollar fell across the board on Friday. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades at 101.11 at the time of writing, down 0.25%, and booked losses across the week.
The U.S. dollar is falling across the board after the market ramps up expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by an outsized 50 basis points at the FOMC meeting next week.
Following the hotter-than-expected core inflation data, the market had reined in 50 basis point rate cut expectations. However, Federal Reserve official Dudley comments and an article in the Wall Street Journal by the so-called Fed whisperer have raised expectations that the US central bank may opt for a larger hike when it meets next week.
The market’s repositioning means that investors are now pricing in a 43% chance of a 50 basis point cut and a 57% probability that the Fed will cut by 25 basis points.
The meeting comes as data has shown that the US labor market and economy are cooling but are by no means collapsing.
