Over the weekend, FOMC member James Bullard joined other Federal Reserve officials by saying that when QE2 will end its course in June, no new scheme will be offered – no QE3.
Bullard even said that QE2 might end sooner than expected:
“If the economy is as strong as I think it is then I think it may be reasonable to send a signal to markets that we’re going to start withdrawing our stimulus, and I’d start by pulling up a little bit short on the QE2 program,” Bullard said. “We can’t be as accommodative as we are today for too long, we’ll create a lot of inflation if we do that.”
He joins Charles Evans, Dennis Lockhart, Richard Fisher, Narayana Kocherlakota, and of course Charles Plosser, which even hinted about raising the rates in a very hawkish speech on Friday. This speech pushed the dollar higher across the board.
This additional support from James Bullard could help the US dollar in the new week.
For the major events this week, including the almighty Non-Farm Payrolls, see the Forex Weekly Outlook.