Market commentary
- The rebounding U.S. economy, much higher Treasury yields, coupled with COVID-19 setbacks elsewhere fueled USD’s climb in March. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index® (USDX®) gained over 2%, adding 2.34 to close at 93.24. The high point for March and the highest close since November 4, 2020. Intra-month, USDX posted steady gains daily.
- European currencies were weaker across the board. A resurgence of lockdowns across halted the rise in rates, putting pressure on the currencies. EUR led the way lower, giving back over 3 cents against the dollar during the month. The euro fell below $1.20 mid-month, the first time in 2021, and stayed there, ending the month at $1.1726, a five-month low. Sterling performed better than EUR, but it too gave ground to the dollar. GBP lost about 2 cents, closing the month at $1.3781. CHF fell 3% versus the dollar, its worst performance since the height of the pandemic last March. The rest of Europe performed similarly.
- In Asia-Pacific, higher U.S. yields also boosted the dollar against currencies in the region. JPY fell to 4 yen, bottoming out 110.71 per USD, the lowest level in a year. AUD held in better as most commodity prices remained strong. However, Aussie lost a cent against the greenback, closing the month at $0.7595. Kiwi lost about two cents; NZD ended March unable to hold the 70 US cent level, closing at $0.6981. CNY lost about 1% versus the dollar, the first monthly decline in 10 months. Some currencies posted small gains. INR was higher against USD for most of March but gave most of the gains back near month end as COVID-19 cases spiked in India; INR closed at 73.14 per dollar.
- Elsewhere, CAD continued its move higher versus USD, helped by oil prices and increased U.S. exports. The loonie rallied to a mid-month high of 1.2365, a level not seen since September 2017. CAD gave some of those gains back and closed the month at 1.2565. A shakeup in the Turkish government and central bank sent the lira much lower despite a massive increase in local interest rates. TRY fell over 10% at month end after falling over 15% intra-month. TRY closed March above 8 per dollar, at 8.23. In Latin America, MXN posted about a 2% monthly gain on oil’s move, while BRL ended a volatile month unchanged as COVID-19 cases there soared.
USDX® Performance
| Spot rates | TICKER | 1-Mar-21 | 31-Mar-21 | Monthly Change |
| USD/EUR | EUR A0-FX | 1.20486 | 1.17271 | 0.095% |
| JPY/USD | JPY A0-FX | 106.756 | 110.709 | -1.521% |
| USD/GBP | GBP A0-FX | 1.3919 | 1.3781 | 1.960% |
| CAD/USD | CAD A0-FX | 1.26456 | 1.2562 | 0.860% |
| SEK/USD | SEK A0-FX | 8.42147 | 8.72395 | -0.070% |
| CHF/USD | CHF A0-FX | 0.91508 | 0.94349 | -1.290% |
| US Dollar Index | DX A0 | 91.039 | 93.232 | -0.111% |
| Other contracts | TICKER | 1-Mar-21 | 31-Mar-21 | Monthly Change |
| Mini Brent Crude | BM-ICS | 63.69 | 63.54 | -0.236% |
| MSCI World Index | MWL | 2784.1 | 2804.8 | 0.738% |
| MSCI Emerging Markets Index | MME | 1374.5 | 1322.5 | -3.932% |
| Mini US Dollar/Offshore Renminbi | CHM-ICS | 6.472 | 6.570 | -1.499% |
USDX® Futures Performance (YTD)
Manage $USD risk in a single transaction
USDX® futures and options offer investors tools to speculate on moves in the $USD relative to a basket of world currencies.
| USDX® Futures | Mini USDX® Futures | USDX® Options | |
| Trade on | ICE Futures U.S. | ICE Futures Singapore | ICE Futures U.S. |
| Contract size | One contract = $1000 X index value | One contract = US $200 x index value | One futures contract ($1000 X Index value) |
| Expiry | Third Wednesday of the expiration month | Cash-settled against USDX® Futures on the last Trading Day for the expiry month | Third Wednesday of the expiration month |
| Settlement | Physically settled against the six component currencies in their respective percentage weights | Cash-settled against the USDX® futures final settlement price | Physically settled against the six component currencies in their respective percentage weights |
| Trading hours | 8:00 P.M. - 5.00 P.M. ET | 8:00 A.M. - 6.00 A.M. SGT | 8:00 P.M. - 5.00 P.M. ET |
| Symbol | DX | SDX | DX |
| Product spec | View now » | View now » | View now » |