Chinese trade balance
Reaction to Trump Remarks Muted by Coming Holidays
April 13, 2017
President Trump gave an exclusive interview to the Wall Street Journal in which among other things he complained that the dollar was too strong, proclaimed that China is not a currency manipulator, and jaw-boned the Fed to keep interest rates low. Markets were closed today in Norway and Mexico. Good Friday observances tomorrow will shut […] More
Dollar Up and Some Eye-Catching Data Results
March 8, 2017
The dollar is trading higher, with gains of 0.6% against the Aussie currency, 0.5% relative to the yen, 0.4% versus the kiwi, 0.3% vis-a-vis the euro, loonie, peso and sterling, 0.2% against the Swiss franc, and 0.1% versus the yuan. The ten-year Treasury yield rose another four basis points. At 2.56%, such is 25 basis […] More
Dollar Strengthens against Euro after ECB Announcement
December 8, 2016
The dollar advanced 1.3% against the euro, 1.0% versus the Swiss franc, 0.5% relative to the Aussie dollar, 0.3% vis-a-vis the yen and sterling and 0.2% against the Mexican peso and Chinese yuan. ECB interest rates were left unchanged. The non-standard asset purchase program was extended nine months in duration but reduced to EUR 60 […] More
At Last a Better-Than-Forecast Chinese Economic Data Release
January 13, 2016
Financial markets partly retraced recent trends after Chinese trade statistics for December revealed larger-than-anticipated $60.09 billion surplus and much smaller-than-assumed on-year declines in exports and imports. The surplus in November had declined to $54.10 billion from $60-something results in the three prior months. Exports fell just 1.4% following year-on-year losses of 6.8% in November and […] More
Several Trade Reports and an OECD Semi-Annual Outlook
November 9, 2015
The dollar is mostly softer. Stocks are mostly lower, but gold, oil, and some bond yields are up. The dollar depreciated overnight by 0.4% against the euro and kiwi, 0.3% versus sterling and the Swiss franc, and 0.2% relative to the loonie and Aussie dollar. The U.S. currency, in contrast, rose 0.2% against the yen […] More
Post-Election Rise in Sterling ahead of U.S. Jobs Report
May 8, 2015
Britain’s election did not result in a hung parliament as had been feared. The Conservatives were reelected with a majority of 323 seats, gaining 22 on balance. The Scotch National Party carved support away from Labour, whose seat tota fell by 23 to 229. The Liberal Democrats lost 85% of its seats to a mere […] More
Softer Kiwi and Dollar
May 8, 2013
In testimony, Governor Wheeler of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand disclosed that the central bank had conducted currency intervention recently to counter a significantly overvalued exchange rate. It’s been some five years since the bank last intervened. The kiwi has slipped 0.4% in response against its U.S. counterpart. The U.S. dollar otherwise has lost […] More
Gloom Continues over Euro Debt Problems
April 10, 2012
The Easter break is over, and investors continue to fret about Europe’s debt issues. The IMF will be releasing a new World Economic Outlook today. The Spanish-German 10-year sovereign debt yield spread widened to 5-month high. Post-holiday opening levels of ten-year German bund and British gilt yields show steep drops of five and eight basis […] More
Greek Austerity Proposals Not Enough
February 10, 2012
A new shock wave of risk aversion hit markets as EU finance ministers rejected the Greek proposed reforms for being insufficient. German Finance Minister Schaeuble projected that Greek debt to GDP would still reach 136% in 2020, 16 percentage points higher than target. Other market depressants overnight stem from disappointing Chinese data and the Reserve […] More
Risk Appetite Attempting to Stage a Recovery
January 10, 2012
Stocks, commodity prices and commodity-sensitive currencies are higher. Share prices rose 3.3% in China, 2.2% in India, 1.3% in Indonesia, and 1.1% in Singapore and Australia. In Europe, the German Dax, Paris Cac and British Ftse have so far risen 2.5%, 2.3%, and 1.2% on the day. Oil and gold prices have climbed 1.6% each […] More
