New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
U.S.-Sino Strains and Many Data Releases
August 7, 2020
U.S. President Trump has banned all transactions with WeChat and TicToc. Although today was the planned deadline for a U.S. fiscal stimulus plan, the political parties remain miles apart, and a deal looks doubtful. Globally reported coronavirus cases jumped over 286k in the past 24 hours, and the U.S. death count rose almost 1200 to […] More
Central Bank Watch
Romanian and Czech Monetary Policy Reviews
August 6, 2020
The National Bank of Romania enacted its third policy interest rate reduction of 2020. Following up on cuts of 50 basis points in March and 25 bps, the rate was reduced by another 25 basis points to 1.50%. In justifying this step, a released statement states that “given the transmission lags of the lower policy […] More
Central Bank Watch
Central Bank of Brazil Cuts Interest Rate Further as Expected
August 6, 2020
The Brazilian Selic interest rate was sliced another 25 basis points as expected to 2.0%. This was its fifth reduction of 2020, following cuts of 25 basis points in February, 50 bps in March, and 75 basis points each in May and June. The rate has been lowered progressively since the final quarter of 2016 […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
No U.S. Fiscal Package Yet as New Jobless Claims Exceed 1 Million for 20th Consecutive Week
August 6, 2020
Congressional talks on an additional fiscal stimulus reportedly remain far apart. The hope has been to secure agreement by tomorrow. Global Covid-19 cases just rose above the 19 million mark, and the U.S. total is closing in fast upon 5 million confirmed infections. Although more than 200k less than forecast, new U.S. jobless insurance claims […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Price of Oil Jumps and Dollar Falters
August 5, 2020
Overnight declines in the dollar amount to 1.0% against the Mexican peso, 0.9% versus the Australian dollar, 0.6% relative to the euro, Swiss franc and loonie, 0.5% vis-a-vis the kiwi, yuan and sterling and 0.2% against the yen. The price of WTI oil leaped 3.2%, partly in response to an enormous explosion at the port […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Sovereign Debt Yields Lower and Dollar Modestly Higher
August 4, 2020
Ten-year sovereign debt yields fell overnight by two basis points in the U.S. and Germany and by a basis point in the U.K. and Japan. Stock markets started strong in Asia, but the performance subsequently turned mixed. Share prices close up 2.0% in Hong Kong and India, 1.9% in Australia, 1.7% in Japan, 1.6% in […] More
Deeper Analysis
U.S. and Euro Area Manufacturing Conditions Improved Last Month
August 3, 2020
The U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index of the Institute for Supply Management rose 1.6 points to a 16-month high of 54.2 in July. That performance was exceeded nonetheless by the IHS-compiled PMI for Euroland, which jumped 4.4 points to 51.8. Being each above 50, the data signify a faster U.S. improvement in business conditions during […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Stocks and Dollar Mostly Up Despite Concerns on Three Fronts
August 3, 2020
The relentless Covid-19 virus remains a top concern. The number of global cases jumped three quarters of a million this time last Friday to 18.2 million, and the U.S. share of that total is fast approaching 700k. Warnings have been made that renewed lockdowns may be necessary. News on vaccine development has been promising, but […] More
Deeper Analysis
July 2020 in Figures
August 1, 2020
July was the weakest month for the dollar in practically ten years. The resulting improvement in U.S. price competitiveness resulted large U.S. equity price advances that were not experienced by European and Japanese stock markets. Dollar vulnerability also generated strong demand for gold, whose price soared nearly 10%. Late in the month gold briefly surpassed […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week’s Menu: August 1 – 7, 2020
July 31, 2020
Central Banks: Monetary policies will be reviewed in Brazil, the U.K., India, Australia, Thailand, Romania, and the Czech Republic. The Bank of England will publish its quarterly Inflation Report, and Governor Bailey will speak publicly on that occasion. Holidays and Special Events: Markets in Canada and India will be closed Monday for a Civic holiday, […] More
