US dollar index inches towards 100.00 on souring market mood and hawkish Fed chatter

• The DXY is awaiting a trigger that will drive it towards the 100.00 figure.
• Russia ceases to be a UN Human Rights Council member and one of the ‘most favored nations’.
• Fed policymakers are advocating to return back to neutral rates from the ultra-loose policy quickly.

The US dollar index (DXY) is juggling in a narrow range of 99.68-99.83 but seems like advancing towards the psychological resistance of 100.00 gradually amid negative market sentiment and the discussions of bringing the interest rates to neutral by the Federal Reserve (Fed). Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic on Thursday cited that it is fully appropriate that the Fed move policy closer to a neutral position, it should do so in a cautious way, reported Reuters. While the termination of Russia from the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council members list and stripping off the tag of ‘most favored nations’ by US lawmakers have set a downbeat tone for the market.

Russia ceases to be a member of the UN Human Rights Council

93 out of 175 members of the UN Human Rights Council favored the removal of Russia from the membership after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of war crimes in the largest part of Kyiv. The move of isolating Russia from the united communities has underpinned the risk-off impulse considering its share of Russia in the global oil supply. Also, the US lawmakers have voted in favor of an embargo on oil, coal, and gas imports from Russia and have decided to revoke the tag of ‘most favored nations’ of Russia, which will result in higher tariffs for the Kremlin.

Key events next week: Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Price Index (PPI), Initial Jobless Claims, Retail Sales, Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI), and Industrial Production.

Eminent issues on the back boiler: Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) interest rate decision, Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, Bank of Canada (BOC) interest rate decision.