foreign exchange
May 2019 in Figures
June 1, 2019
The month of May exemplified the global interdependence national financial markets, and the unifying force was rising risk aversion. Whereas equities had climbed broadly in April, all the ones shown below dropped just about as sharply in May. Likewise, climbing 10-year sovereign debt yields in April were reversed last month, and except in the case […] More
Sovereign Debt Yields Rise Further
April 15, 2019
Ten-year sovereign debt yields rose overnight in Europe and Japan. Share prices climbed 1.4% in Japan, 0.9% in New Zealand, 0.7% in Taiwan, 0.5% in Indonesia, and 0.4% in India but fell 0.3% in China and Hong Kong. European equity markets are little changed. West Texas Intermediate oil dropped 1.1%, and Comex gold is trading […] More
March and First Quarter 2019 in Figures
March 30, 2019
The table below documents changes in key market variables during March and the first quarter of 2019. Sharply reduced sovereign debt yields in both time intervals amidst slowing global growth and lessening inflation were a driving force behind other markets as well. Equities benefited but not nearly as much in March when the U.S. yield […] More
Sterling Takes a Hit… Brexit Not Going Well
March 12, 2019
Sterling depreciated 0.9% overnight against the dollar, which is otherwise down 0.2% against the yuan and Swiss franc and by 0.1% vis-a-vis the euro and kiwi. The dollar is also unchanged relative to the yen, loonie, Australian dollar and Mexican peso. Prime Minister May’s attorney general said changes in the handling of the Irish border […] More
February in Figures
February 28, 2019
Sterling and the dollar strengthened during February. Ten-year sovereign debt yields rose slightly more sharply in the month than their counterparts in the other countries featured in the table below, but none of the central bank rates among them were changed. Equities in most of the places continued to recover, although not as much as […] More
Greater Optimism on A U.S. Border Security Deal
February 12, 2019
The U.S. Congress reached an accord “in principle” on a border security deal. Details still need to be fleshed out, and it’s not clear if President Trump is prepared to sign such. But the development inspired enough hope to lift U.S. share prices about 1% in early Tuesday trading. Stocks earlier rose 2.6% in Japan, […] More
Political Strains Batter Equities Again
January 28, 2019
Prospects weakened over the weekend for a border security deal between President Trump and Congressional Democrats by the February 15th deadline. The president attaches less than even odds to that happening and insists that a wall will be built. The negotiation of withdrawal terms for Brexit is going nowhere. The EU rejects any renegotiation of […] More
Early 2019 Check-Up on the Dollar
January 10, 2019
Compared to volatile share prices and sovereign debt yields, key dollar relationships like EUR/USD and USD/JYP have been pretty stable lately, and neither of those pairs is trading in historically extreme territory. The euro just passed its 20th birthday. Over the four quadrants of this lifespan, the common European currency had an average value of […] More
Some Weak Data from Japan and Germany and No End to U.S. Government Shutdown
January 8, 2019
Consumer confidence in Japan ended 2018 at a 25-month low. A 1.9% plunge in German industrial production in November has raised the risk of a second consecutive quarterly contraction of real GDP in Europe’s largest economy. GDP fell 0.2% in the third quarter, and industrial output posted back-to-back month-on-month declines of 0.8% in October and […] More
October in Figures
November 1, 2018
October was a broadly strong month for the dollar but a bad one for global equities. Monetary policy rates did not change this past month in the U.S., Euroland, Japan, Great Britain or Switzerland, but 10-year sovereign debt yields rose in North America while falling in Europe, and staying unchanged in Japan. The price of West […] More
