De-dollarization! Week of Massive Developments Threatening Petrodollar System

 

31/03/202324/03/2023%Change
Euro / LP16,323.0016,174.500.92%
Euro / Dollar1.08821.07830.92%
NEER Index117.04116.860.15%

 

Lebanese Forex Market

The Lebanese Pound (LBP) remained steady within the new official rate of USD/LBP 15,000 by March 31, 2023.

On the parallel market, the Lebanese national currency remained steady this week with an average of 107,680 LBP/USD. In more details, the pair LBP/USD recorded a minimum of 107,000 LBP/USD and a maximum of 109,000 LBP/USD during the course of this week mainly due to BDL’ s intervention in the market by granting dollar through Sayrafa at the rate of 90,000 LBP/USD.

As for the Euro/LBP currency pair, the Euro slightly appreciated against the dollar-pegged LBP with the currency pair going from last week €/LBP 16,174,50 by March 24, 2023 to 16,323 by March 31, 2023. However, the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the Lebanese pound went up  slightly by 0.15% weekly to stand at 117.04 points on March 31, 2023.

International Forex Market

This week, the US dollar traded on a negative territory as the DXY index fell by 0.45% to stand at 102.44 by March 31, 2023 down from 102.908 previous week. It has been a massive week of developments geopolitically that have massive consequences perhaps not on the very short term but it can definitely weigh on the green currency as a reserve currency of the world. It seems that a new world order is preparing with Russia, Brazil, India, China and South Africa who have confirmed they are developing a new currency to rival the U.S. Dollar. In addition, Saudi Arabia has agreed to join “Shanghai Cooperation Council” as a “dialogue partner” and it has partnered with China to build a Chinese oil refinery for billions as well as agreeing to acquire 10% of Chinese oil refinery for $3.6 B. Same for France, it has also completed its first Yuan-settled LNG trade with China, again ditching the US dollar.

The Euro appreciated remarkably against the dollar by 0.91% to $1.0882 amid weaker US dollar. However, EUR/USD edged back after crossing the 1.0930 level driven by softer inflation in Germany. The weekly uptrend of the Euro currency appears to have met a solid barrier but ECB next moves are still dominating the currency trend especially as elevated inflation and dwindling recession risks for the time being still exist.

The British pound also appreciated against the US dollar by 0.90% to stand at $1.2362 by the week ending March 31, 2023. The GBP/USD pair touched a two-month high during the course of this week, but came under some selling pressure on Friday but remained higher than the previous week due to slightly better than expected UK GDP data indorsed traders’ expectations for additional rate hikes by the BoE.

This week, the USD/JPY pair gained positive traction and maintained its position near a two-week high at 133.29 by March 31, 2023. The recent risk across the global markets undermined the safe-haven Japanese Yen and made investors convinced that a widespread banking crisis might have been averted. Adding on that, hopes for a strong economic recovery in China further boosted investors’ confidence. As such, the Chinese Yuan also appreciated against the dollar and stood at 6.8717 on a weekly basis. In fact, China’s combat against the dollar’s dominance in world trade has moved couple of steps forward this week with the first LNG trade in Yuan and Brazil agreeing to trade using local currencies.

Elsewhere, the Australian dollar appreciated by 0.41% on a weekly basis to stand at 0.6693 AUD/USD by March 31, 2023. In contrast, the Canadian dollar depreciated by 1.43% on a weekly basis touching CAD 1.3551 for a US dollar.

Commodities

Gold prices continued to trade within a rock-solid uptrend despite that it ended the week 0.95% lower at $1,977.59/ ounce down from $1,996.57/ounce the previous week. The yellow metal is center during much agitated financial volatility, but Fed’s future rate hike would shape precious metal markets and impact investors’ moves.

Crude oil’ prices jumped remarkably by 13.83% to stand at $78.7/barrel on March 31, 2023 compared to $69.14/barrel in the previous week. Oil prices rallied back this week as a result of easing banking fears. For the upcoming period, the market will keep an eye on China’s oil demand after its reopening and most importantly on the solvency of the global banking sector and the economy as well as the Fed’s next move.

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