Euroland trade surplus
A Time for Waiting
November 15, 2021
Meaningful data were reported Monday in Japan and China, but investors chose to maintain an advent posture pending other pieces of information that could emerge in the next 24-hour period. These include a virtual summit between Presidents Joe Biden of the U.S. and Xi Jinping of China that is intended to quell mounting tension between […] More
Market’s Initial Reaction to American Rescue Plan Not Favorable
January 15, 2021
U.S. stock futures point to a decline of at least 0.5% at the open. Stock markets closed Friday with losses of 2.0% in South Korea, 1.1% in India, 0.9% in Indonesia, 0.8% in New Zealand, 0.6% in Taiwan and Japan. Equities are currently down about 1% in the U.K., Germany, France and Spain. The 10-year […] More
Much New Data for Investors to Digest
August 14, 2020
Today’s been one of those Friday’s with a significant body of economic data releases both from both a quantitative and qualitative standpoint. Prior to the U.S. contingent of releases, the dollar overnight had dropped 0.4% against sterling and 0.3% relative to sterling but risen by 0.2% against the Canadian and Australian dollars and 0.1% vis-a-vis […] More
More Weak Data around the Globe
August 16, 2019
New Zealand’s manufacturing purchasing managers index fell below the neutral threshold of “50” for the first time since September 2012, with a reading of 48.2 in July after 51.1 in June. U.S. housing starts dropped 4.0% in July to a 5-month low of 1,191 million units. This was only 0.6% greater than in July 2018. […] More
Down Goes the British Pound
November 15, 2018
With British Prime Minister Theresa May facing a vote of no confidence and several of her cabinet ministers resigning in protest against her Brexit deal, sterling slumped 1.5% overnight against both the dollar and euro. Weak British retail sales data were also released today, showing an unexpected 0.5% on-month drop in total sales (+2.2% on […] More
U.S. Markets Shut but Dollar Still Slides
January 15, 2018
The United States is observing the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. President Trump once again rejected the criticism that he’s a racist. The Bank of Japan has held a quarterly branch managers meeting and published its regional economic report. Three of the nine regions are experiencing improved conditions. Two regions are expanding, four are expanding […] More
Sterling Extends Rally
September 15, 2017
Sterling rose another 1.4% against the dollar overnight, at one point reaching $1.3617, which is the strongest level since the first day following last year’s Brexit referendum on June 23rd. The Bank of England has signaled that its first interest rate hike in a decade is likely to occur within a few months. It’s been […] More
Awaiting Important U.S. Data
July 14, 2017
U.S. statistics will be reported today on consumer prices, retail sales, industrial production and the Reuters/U. Michigan consumer sentiment survey. Market direction on the dollar and stocks awaits those reports. European sovereign debt yields fell overnight by six basis points in Spain, five bps in Italy, 3 bps in France, 2 bps in Germany and […] More
Dollar Up, Stocks Down on MLK Holiday
January 16, 2017
The United States is observing Martin Luther King’s birthday. The stock exchange and banks will be closed. But President-Elect Trump continues to make lots of news. In a wide-ranging interview with the European press, Trump did not back away from well-rehearsed previous themes. NATO is outdated. The U.S. will not remain its prime financier. Radical […] More
Festering Concerns
April 15, 2014
Russia appears to be doing to Eastern Ukraine what it did in Crimea, and the West seems powerless to resolve the crisis. A day ahead of China’s release of first-quarter GDP, analysts anticipate a sub-7.5% growth rate. The ZEW Institute measures of investor sentiment toward Germany and the euro area fell in March. Investors await […] More
