New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update

Weaker Stocks and Euro Ahead of U.S. 2Q GDP Release

July 30, 2010

The dollar has climbed 0.6% against the euro but fallen 0.7% against the yen.  The greenback is stronger by 0.5% against the kiwi, 0.3% versus the Aussie dollar, and 0.2% relative to sterling.  Dollar/Swiss is unchanged, and the yuan ticked up 0.1% against the U.S. currency.  The loonie is 0.2% higher. Stocks in the Pacific [...] Read Article

Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week

Next Week

July 30, 2010

Central bank interest rate meetings are scheduled in Australia, the euro area, the U.K., Peru, Romania Indonesia and the Czech Republic, but none is expected to announce a change of policy.   Canada will be closed for Civic Day on Monday. The first week of the month is naturally PMI week.  Monday will see a parade [...] Read Article

Central Bank Watch

New Zealand Central Bank Rate Raised But Statement Signals Greater Caution

July 28, 2010

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has implemented a second 25-basis point rate increase.  The first was announced June 10, and today’s lifts the rate to 3.0%. The central bank’s statement was less hawkish than June’s communique.  Growth had been called broad-based seven weeks ago, but in contrast considerable discussion this time is spend on “subdued [...] Read Article

Deeper Analysis

Note on U.S. Growth

July 29, 2010

The Federal Reserve Beige Book gave a somber snapshot of the state of activity in June and early July.  The pace of activity slowed in the Fed districts of Atlanta and Chicago, stalled in the Kansas City and Cleveland districts, and and was modestly positive but not picking up further in other areas.  However competitive [...] Read Article

Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week

Beware of August

July 30, 2010

The upcoming third anniversary of the financial crisis finds advanced economies deeper in debt, struggling to maintain traction, and without a consensus over policy priorities.  Confusion also exists over the next direction of major currencies.  The dollar lost value against most currencies during July in a pattern that persisted into the final days of the [...] More

New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update

Dollar Softer Across the Board

July 29, 2010

Overnight the dollar lost 1.2% against the Swiss franc, 1.1% against the Australian dollar, 0.7% against the Canadian dollar and euro, 0.5% against the yen, 0.3% relative to sterling and 0.2% against the kiwi.  The dollar even dipped 0.03% against the yuan. The Japanese Nikkei lost 0.6%, and stocks dipped 0.2% in South Korea and [...] More

Larry's Blog

How Low Will the Euro Go By End-2010?

July 28, 2010

The euro presently shows a 10% net year-to-date decline against the dollar.  At its low of $1.1878 in early June, the euro had dropped by 17.0% since the end of 2009.  I do not expect the euro to be weaker than that June level on December 31. Some analysts are more bearish on the euro [...] More

New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update

Weaker Aussie and New Zealand Dollars

July 28, 2010

The U.S. dollar advanced 1.0% and 0.7% against its Australian and New Zealand counterparts but was pretty steady otherwise.  The Greenback dipped 0.3% against the loonie, 0.2% relative to the Swissy and yen, and 0.1% against the euro.  The dollar rose 0.1% against sterling and is again unchanged versus the yuan. Stocks rose sharply overnight [...] More

Bonds and Stocks

Footprint of Deflation in Major Advanced Economies

July 27, 2010

The fear of future inflation has ushered in an age of austerity even as prospects for sustained economic recovery among major advanced nations face substantial and unusual uncertainty.  It is feared that government deficits, which ballooned in response to a drop in tax revenues caused by the deep recession, will be monetized away by central [...] More

Central Bank Watch

Monetary Policy Tightened Again in India

July 27, 2010

The Reserve Bank of India raised interest rates for the second time this month, lifting its key borrowing repo rate by an as-expected 25 basis points to 5.75% but ratcheting its reverse repo rate up by an unexpectedly large 50 basis points to 4.5% in hopes of enticing commercial banks to keep more funds at [...] More

New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update

Investors Turn to Risk Trades

July 27, 2010

Lessening risk aversion saw the dollar climb 0.9% against the Swiss franc and 0.7% relative to the yen.  The euro advanced to a 5-week high against the Swiss franc of CHF 1.3778.  The Chinese yuan again remained steady against the dollar, which otherwise slid by 0.3% against sterling, the Aussie dollar and kiwi and by [...] More

Central Bank Watch

Bank of Israel Lifts Key Interest Rate for Second Time in 2010 and Fifth Time Since August 2009

July 26, 2010

Somewhat unexpectedly, Israel’s policy rate was raised by 25 basis points to 1.75%.  The prior four increases, all by 25 bps, were implemented in August, November, and December of 2009, as well as March of this year.  Like those moves, Today’s statement characterized the most recent increase as part of a normalizing process, but the [...] More

New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update

Some Second Thoughts about the European Stress Tests

July 26, 2010

The euro dipped 0.1% against the dollar, which otherwise shows losses of 0.5% against sterling, 0.3% against the yen, Swissy, and kiwi, 0.2% against the Canadian dollar, and 0.1% relative to the Australian dollar.  They Chinese yuan was again unchanged against the dollar. Equities in the Pacific Rim rose by 0.9% in South Korea and [...] More

Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week

Next Week

July 24, 2010

Among central banks holding interest rate meetings in the final week of July, those in India and New Zealand seems inclined to tight 25 basis points, while those in Poland and Israel are expected to leave their stances unchanged. As is its custom, Japan will be releasing many key indicators near monthend covering the trade [...] More