CICC believes that looking ahead, the Fed's decisions may continue to be 'tight', and after a period of 'stabilizing US Treasury bonds', it is not ruled out that 'stabilizing the US dollar' may once again pressure the Fed to adjust its policy direction. These factors may affect the global perception of US assets.
According to the Tencent Finance app, CICC released a research report stating that the Fed's sudden shift from insisting on high interest rates to a significant rate cut may indicate that the Fed is temporarily abandoning its goal of stabilizing the US dollar, reducing the attractiveness of dollar assets. However, if the Fed temporarily weakens the goal of stabilizing the US dollar, once 'ally' countries' currency policies are not synchronized, it may cause even greater instability. Looking ahead, the Fed's decisions may continue to be 'tight', and after a period of 'stabilizing US Treasury bonds', it is not ruled out that 'stabilizing the US dollar' may once again pressure the Fed to adjust its policy direction. These factors may affect the global perception of US assets. In fact, recent exchange rate markets have already reflected this, with the renminbi appreciating much faster than the dollar index compiled with a few US 'ally' currencies. Looking ahead, whether this change will spread to other assets, such as the change in global funds' perception of A shares, is also worth paying attention to.
The US government's trade and economic policy is shaking the dollar system. In the more than 20 years after the end of the Cold War, globalization has continued to advance, and the US dollar's central currency status in global trade and investment has continued to rise. However, since 2016, the US has pursued a policy of 'decoupling' and 'fortress America'. The US measures such as trade protection and sanctions against major trading partners like China and Russia are shrinking the use of the dollar. The frequent use of financial sanctions by the US also raises market concerns about holding dollars. In this situation, to maintain the attractiveness of the dollar, the US needs to maintain high interest rates and a strong currency value.
However, if the US continues its high-interest-rate policy, it will also shake the US bond system. While the US is adopting trade protectionism externally, it has shifted to a 'big government' mindset internally, pushing the US government debt ratio to historical highs. Moreover, from the recent US strategic plans, the US will continue with high-intensity fiscal spending in the future. In this context, if high interest rates persist, it will mean a sharp expansion of the interest burden on debt, leading to a rapid rise in the debt ratio itself and causing concerns in the market about the sustainability of US bonds.
'Stabilizing the US dollar' or 'stabilizing US Treasury bonds', the Fed's monetary policy framework may have undergone a systematic change. From the above analysis, it can be seen that besides its traditional focus on employment and inflation, the Fed also has to pay attention to maintaining the attractiveness of the dollar and the sustainability of US bonds. However, these two goals are contradictory for the Fed, as 'stabilizing the US dollar' requires relatively high interest rates to maintain fund attraction, while 'stabilizing US Treasury bonds' requires that interest rates not be too high. The Fed faces the constraints of the 'dual pillars', and leaning towards one side may mean temporarily giving up the demands of the other. The recent shift towards easing by the Fed may imply a short-term focus on 'stabilizing US Treasury bonds'.