New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: A Firmer Pound
December 31, 2008
Aside from a 0.9% drop against sterling, the dollar is narrowly mixed. 2009 is ending with the dollar straddling 90 yen and 1.40 per euro and with sterling not far above parity against the euro. Gold is up on the year, albeit slightly. Most everything else fell in 2008 including a 60.6% drop in oil. […] More
U.S. House Prices and 2009 Growth Prospects
December 30, 2008
The range of U.S. growth forecasts in 2009 is about twice as wide as the one-percentage point band one typically finds at the start of a calendar year. Housing, a root cause of the recession, remains a main source of uncertainty over how much longer the downturn will last and how deep it will be. […] More
Currency Markets in the News
German CPI Inflation Dropped to 1.1% in December
December 30, 2008
Consumer prices rose 1.1% between December 2007 and December 2008, down from 12-month increases of 1.4% in November, 2.4% in October, 2.9% in September and a 2008 high of 3.3% in June and July. Inflation had not been lower than 1.1% since April-July 2003. The seasonally adjusted CPI slid for a third straight time on […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: Stocks Up and Dollar Down
December 30, 2008
The dollar has posted broad losses of 1.6% against the euro, 0.9% versus the Australian dollar, 0.7% against sterling and the Swiss franc, 0.6% relative to the yen and Canadian dollar, and 0.3% against the kiwi. Even the rouble firmed against the dollar. The Nikkei firmed 1.3% in its final session of 2008. The Dax […] More
Bonds and Stocks
When Equities Fell Most and Least Sharply in 2008
December 29, 2008
DJIA Nikkei Dax January -4.6% -11.2% -15.1% February -3.0% +0.1% -1.5% March -0.0% -7.9% -1.7% April +4.5% +10.6% +4.7% May -1.4% +3.5% +2.1% June -10.2% -6.0% -8.6% July +0.4% +2.3% +1.0% August +1.3% -5.2% -0.9% September -6.0% -13.9% -9.2% October -14.9% -23.8% -14.5% November -5.3% -0.8% -11.9% December -3.6% +2.8% +7.1% The above […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: Euro and Swissy Up Sharply
December 29, 2008
The dollar fell 2.2% against the Swiss franc, 2.0% against the euro, 1.3% against the Australian dollar 1.0% against the New Zealand kiwi, 0.6% against the yen but just 0.2% against sterling. The Canadian dollar firmed 0.3%. The South African rand climbed 1.5%. Sterling sank to another record low of 0.9798 against the euro. Tensions […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week
December 26, 2008
The week to January 2nd will be light from a data release perspective and dominated by New Year’s Day, the only holiday observed by all major markets. Nothing of interest arrives from Japan, where markets will be closed on both January 1st and 2nd. Several economies release factory sector PMI results for December next Friday. […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Weekly Foreign Exchange Insights: December 26th
December 26, 2008
Investors typically approach the final calendar week with a forward-looking mind-set, opening positions consistent with how currencies are expected to perform in the coming year. Such a strategy would work if practiced by only a minority but often backfires when everybody does it. The week between Christmas and yearend is driven by psychology, not data, […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: Most Markets Still Shut
December 26, 2008
Japan released even more data Friday than Thursday, but market closures continued in Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka. Britain celebrates Boxing Day, and most European markets and Canada will remain shut. U.S. markets have an early close. The dollar is mostly lower, with drops of 0.6% against sterling, 0.4% veresus […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: Merry Christmas
December 25, 2008
Japan was one of only a few open markets. The Nikkei advanced 1.0%, Japan’s yield curve flattened, and ten-year JGB yields firmed a basis point to 1.215%. Christmas 2008 finds the dollar higher than on Christmas 2007 by 34.5% against sterling, 27.6% against the Australian dollar, and 23.5% against the Canadian dollar but down from […] More
