Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
ECB Holds Near-Term Key
August 24, 2012
What a difference a month makes! The euro hit a low for the move on July 24th of $1.2041, seemingly bent on a rendezvous with its June 7, 2010 trough of $1.1878. The experiment of a common currency, a one-size-fits-all monetary policy, but 17 autonomous fiscal policies was tangled up in a world of hurt […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Frustrations over Global Growth
August 24, 2012
Share prices continue to be depressed by growth prospects in China, Europe, and the United States. Investors wonder what central banks might do to promote activity. The People’s Bank of China did not cut interest rates or reserve requirements overnight. A key focus next week are the speeches at the Jackson Hole Symposium of Fed […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Share Prices Wobble on Growth Concerns
August 23, 2012
Equities in Europe have fallen so far by 1.8% in Spain, 1.0% in France, and 0.8% in Germany. U.S. futures point to a decline as well. Earlier in Asia, stock markets rose 1.2% in Hong Kong, 0.4% in South Korea and 0.3% in China. Preliminary purchasing manager surveys were reported for China, Euroland, Germany, France […] More
Central Bank Watch
Icelandic Monetary Tightening Paused
August 22, 2012
Sedlabanki, the Central Bank of Iceland, left its key seven-day collateralized lending rate at 5.75%, which constitutes a pause in a trend of five increases since August 2011 and most recently on June 13, 2012. Four of those hikes were by 25 basis points and the other in May of this year was by 50 […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Bad News Delivered in Japan’s Trade Data
August 22, 2012
Asian markets were rattled by a reported 8.1% on-year decline in Japanese customs exports. Shipments to the EU and China plunged by 25.1% and 11.9%, respectively. Today’s meeting of EU President Juncker and Greek Prime Minister Samaras added to the nervous undertone of the market. Share prices declined 1.1% in the Philippines and Hong Kong, […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Strengthening Euro
August 21, 2012
The euro climbed 0.9% against the dollar and touched a six-week peak against the yen of 99.075 overnight. By policy design, the Swiss franc also advanced 0.9% against the greenback, moving in tandem with the euro. The U.S. currency has also lost 0.6% versus the New Zealand dollar, 0.5% relative to the Aussie dollar, 0.4% […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Little More than a Rumor to Trade on
August 20, 2012
Today’s calendar of data releases is pretty bare. The main piece of news is a report in the German press that the ECB may consider limits for peripheral minus German bond spreads. New macroeconomic forecasts will be unveiled after the September ECB Council meeting on the 6th. Several Asian markets were closed for the end […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week
August 17, 2012
Monetary officials hold interest rate policy meetings next week in New Zealand, Iceland, and Poland, and minutes will be released from early-August meetings of the FOMC and Reserve Bank of Australia. German Chancellor Merkel will be holding separate bilateral discussions with French President Holland and Greek Prime Minister Samaras. Scheduled U.S. data to be released […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Endless Waiting for Uncertainty to Lift
August 17, 2012
Uncertainty continues to be one of the most frequently heard financial market buzzwords. The term encompasses the reality that many pertinent pieces of influential information cannot be guesstimated accurately. Investors end up sitting on the sidelines, waiting in vain for some clarification that never comes. Consensus expectations aren’t necessarily frozen, but opinions are held with […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Hope Holding Regarding Ezone Crisis Resolution
August 17, 2012
German Chancellor Merkel endorsed ECB Pdt Draghi’s conditional commitment to aiding peripherals and the promise to preserve the euro. Spanish 10-year sovereign debt yields remain well below the 7% threshold at 6.49%, and Italian 10-year sovereign debt are a tad below 5.8%. The ten-year German bund and British gilt yields firmed a basis point. The […] More
