British CPI and PPI
Mixed Economic Tidings
December 16, 2020
The message from December purchasing manager survey preliminary findings is that vaccine hopes eclipsed the need to tighten activity restrictions to combat an intensifying wave of the infection. The data clearly signal that economic activity in the fourth quarter declined only slightly compared to the huge hit taken when the first Covid wave hit in […] More
Covid News Proceeding on Two Tracks, While Dollar Slipping but Slows
November 18, 2020
There’s been more good news regarding Covid vaccine developments as Pfizer’s product, like Moderna’s, has been shown to be 95% effective. Before vaccines can be distributed widely, however, current spikes in cases and deaths point to a very difficult winter ahead for public health and economic activity. New U.S. cases and deaths yesterday approached 160,000 […] More
Dollar Little Changed Overnight
June 17, 2020
The dollar is narrowly mixed this Wednesday. In spite of concerns that attempts to reopen social activities could intensify the Covid-19 pandemic, stock markets mostly rose, with the notable exception of a 0.6% slide in Japan’s Nikkei-225. New Zealand’s market shot up 3.9%, and European bourses show gains today so far of 1.3% in Switzerland, […] More
More Macroeconomic Relief around the World
April 22, 2020
The U.S. Congress approved a fourth fiscal package that’s just a tad short of $500 billion. South Africa unveiled $26 billion of fiscal support, which is equal to about a tenth of GDP. The Bank of Mexico Governing Board held an unscheduled meeting, cutting its policy rate for the third time this year. Along with […] More
Much Riding on Fed Chairman’s Press Conference
June 19, 2019
The dollar is unchanged from Tuesday closing levels against the yen, yuan, kiwi, and Australian dollar. The greenback has slipped 0.4% against the Swiss franc, 0.3% relative to sterling but just just 0.1% vis-a-vis the loonie and euro. U.S. President opened a fresh topic in the 24-hour news cycle, accusing ECB President Draghi and that […] More
Continuing Move Into Riskier Assets
April 17, 2019
Share prices in Europe and Asia mostly rose. So did 10-year sovereign debt yields and the price of oil. The dollar is unchanged on net against the yen and sterling. The greenback lost 0.5% against the Canadian dollar, 0.3% relative to the Australian dollar and yuan, 0.2% versus the euro and peso, and 0.1% against […] More
Financial Market News Cycle Headed by FOMC, Brexit, and U.S./Sino Trade Talks
March 20, 2019
Today’s FOMC announcement at 14:00 EDT (18:00 GMT) will be accompanied by updated forecasts and followed at 14:30 by Chairman Powell’s press conference. Analysts look for scaled-back growth and inflation forecasts, fewer interest rate hikes this year than indicated earlier, and a stop in quantitative tightening. British Prime Minister May is asking for a 3-month […] More
Dollar Softer Ahead of FOMC Decision and After U.S. Current Account Release
December 19, 2018
Despite weaker data and pressure from Trump, the Federal Open Market Committee is expected to announce the fourth rate hike of 2018 later today but to couch such within more accommodative forward guidance regarding likely policy in 2019. The U.S. current account deficit jumped to $124.8 billion in the third quarter from $101.2 billion in […] More
Released Current Account Data and Some Central Bank Decisions
September 19, 2018
The dollar is steady to mostly softer. North America’s stock market rally on Tuesday carried over into Asia and Europe. The ten-year British gilt yield edged up 2 basis points, and gold firmed 0.4%. Oil is steady, as are German bunds and Japanese JGBs. New Zealand recorded a larger-than-forecast NZD 1.619 billion current account deficit […] More
Deepening Trade War Concerns
March 20, 2018
The Fed’s two-day policy review starts today. The first post-meeting press conference of the Jay Powell era and a likely 25-basis point interest rate hike are tomorrow, and investors are anxious to see if there is a signal that four increases this year are more likely than two or three. But all this has been overshadowed […] More
