(MENAFN - ING) USD: Bump up in US real rates slows the $ decline Broader trade-weighted measures of the dollar are about 1.3% above the low of the year made in early January. As the ECB noted in its January meeting minutes, US real rates had been seen as a ‘key factor driving global portfolio rebalancing and risk-taking' and that a rise in real rates could see recent FX trends (weaker dollar) lose steam. Looking at the 5-year sector of the USD swaps markets, 5-year US real rates have risen about 20bp over the last 10 days. This in part has been driven by stronger US retail sales and the view that an extra US$1.9bn of fiscal stimulus (likely approved mid-March) could be too much.