U.S. Data Encourage Speculators to Reduce Bets on Dollar Rising -- Market Talk

1100 GMT - Speculators are trimming bets on a stronger dollar in a thin summer market as the justification for holding these positions fades, Societe Generale's Kit Juckes says in a note. "Maybe this month's U.S. data is sending us a false signal (it's only one month but it is pretty broad--consumption, inflation, employment are all weaker than expected)," he says. The data have prompted markets to pare U.S. interest-rate rise expectations. The question now is whether to wait for September data or accept that the DXY dollar index will likely meander in a 95-100 range for the rest of the year, Juckes says. The DXY falls 0.3% to 99.399 after reaching a 10-week low of 99.294 earlier. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 17, 2026 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT)