July 15, 2019
Financial market activity was muted as July’s third week got under way. Japan was closed for Marine Day. The dollar is unchanged from Friday closing levels against the yen and euro. The greenback has slipped 0.4% versus the kiwi, 0.2% relative to the Australian dollar and by 0.1% vis-a-vis the yuan, Swiss franc, peso, and […] Read Article
July 12, 2019
Central Banks: Monetary policy reviews in India, South Korea, Indonesia, South Africa, Ukraine and Chile. Reserve Bank of Australia releases minutes of July meeting. Bullard, Bostic and Evans of the Fed speak publicly. Holidays: France celebrates Bastille Day on July 14, which marks the 230th anniversary of the start of the French Revolution. Japanese Marine […] Read Article
July 2, 2019
The Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia engineered a second consecutive 25-basis point reduction of its Official Cash Rate, which now drops to a record low 1.0%. A released statement asserts a readiness to act further if deemed necessary: “The Board will continue to monitor developments in the labor market closely and adjust monetary […] Read Article
July 1, 2019
The ISM-compiled U.S. manufacturing PMI slipped 0.4 points in June to a 32-month low of 51.7 despite more rapid expansion in production. A pronounced slowdown in demand and a drop in prices were the driving forces. Euroland’s IHS-compiled PMI, meanwhile, edged just 0.1 point lower to a 3-month low of 47.6, marking the sixth consecutive […] Read Article
July 12, 2019
The dollar fell overnight by 0.5% against the Swiss franc, 0.4% versus the yen, 0.3% relative to the Australian dollar, and 0.2% vis-a-vis the loonie, peso, and sterling. EUR/USD is unchanged, however. The S&P 500, Hang Seng, Nikkei, and German Dax are barely changed, but Chinese equities rose 0.5% after release of Chinese data showing […] More
July 5, 2019
Central Banks: Monetary policy reviews in Canada, Malaysia, Israel, Peru, Sri Lanka and Serbia. Fed officials who will be speaking publicly next week include Chairman Powell, Vice Chair Quarles, Williams, Kashkari, Barkin, and Bostic. DeBelle of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Coeure of the European Central Bank and Bank of Canada Governor Poloz speak publicly […] More
July 5, 2019
The dollar has recorded gains today ranging from 0.2% against the yuan and peso to 0.3% versus the loonie, 0.5% vis-a-vis the euro, 0.6% relative to the yen, Aussie dollar and sterling, 0.7% against the Swiss franc and 1.0% versus the kiwi. U.S. nonfarm payroll employment jumped 224k in June, 40% more than projected. Labor […] More
July 4, 2019
Financial markets this Thursday barely moved in the absence of U.S. participation. A few more purchasing managers surveys from June were reported. The global composite PMI stayed at May’s three-year low level. The global services PMI recovered 0.3 points to 51.9 from May’s 33-month low. Hong Kong’s private manufacturing PMI signaled a contractionary trend for […] More
July 3, 2019
The dollar recorded scant net change Wednesday aside from 0.6% declines against the Australian and New Zealand dollars. Share prices fell 1.1% in China and 0.5% in Japan but were buoyed in Europe and the United States by some unexpected key appointments that investors are perceiving as a harbinger of more forceful easy money policies. […] More
July 2, 2019
The dollar fell 0.4% against the Australian currency and 0.3% vis-a-vis the Japanese yen but is little changed otherwise. Equity markets in the pacific Rim slid 0.4% in South Korea and 0.3% in Taiwan but advanced 1.1% in China. In Europe, the British Ftse is up 0.5%, but the German Dax is unchanged. The U.S. […] More
July 1, 2019
Trump and Xi agreed that their government negotiators would keep talking about trade. Feared jump in tariffs avoided for now. Share prices advanced 2.2% in China, 2.1% in Hong Kong and Japan, and 1.5% in Singapore and Taiwan. The S&P 500 is 1.2% higher. European stock market gains so far amount to 1.3% in Germany, […] More
June 29, 2019
Central Banks: Monetary policy reviews in Sweden, Romania, Poland and Australia. Governor Lowe of the Reserve Bank of Australia and Funo of the Bank of Japan speak publicly. EU leaders to try to pick next ECB president. Holidays and Special Events: Canada Day on Monday and U.S. Independence Day on Thursday. G-20 summit in Osaka […] More
June 28, 2019
Although the major central banks did not change their key short-term interest rates in the second quarter, global disinflation and decelerating economic growth depressed expected inflation and fanned speculation that monetary policies will be eased later in 2019. This in turn put downward pressure on long-term interest rates but incentivized share prices to climb. President […] More
June 28, 2019
The Group of Twenty annual summit kicked off in Osaka and looms as a crossroads in the U.S.-Sino dispute over trade. Either the conflict gets diffused here, or retaliatory tariffs are likely to escalate sharply. Being the last business day of the second quarter and June, today’s data menu was plentiful. The dollar eased overnight […] More
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