German CPI
Leaving Equities for Safer Ground
April 2, 2024
The DOW, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are 1.0% or more in the red today. Equity markets in Germany, France and Italy are down by a similar magnitude, while the Japanese and Australian share prices have barely moved. Comparatively hot activity and price data have unnerved investors’ appetite for risk, and the start of a new […] More
It’s Friday, and Mostly Calm Reigns Over Financial Markets
February 9, 2024
The weighted DXY dollar index is unchanged from Thursday’s close, with downticks of 0.7% against the kiwi and 0.3% versus the Australian dollar and Mexican peso but 0.1% upticks relative to the euro, yen and sterling. The only significant stock market moves so far today involve China and Pakistan. The Shanghai Composite closed up 1.3% […] More
Marking Time Ahead of Powell’s Speech at 13:00 EST
November 8, 2023
Federal Reserve Chairman Powell is scheduled to speak today at the central bank’s Research & Statistics Division centennial conference. Vice Chairman Jefferson also will be making remarks there. Remarks by Fed officials since Powell’s press conference on November 1 have tended to be more hawkish than the perceived message of the FOMC a week ago, […] More
Additional Significant Retreat in Long-Term Interest Rates
October 11, 2023
Amid war in the Mideast and hopes that the federal funds target may not have to climb further, ten-year sovereign debt yields fell overnight by nine basis points in the United States and Great Britain, seven bps in France and Spain, six bps in Germany and Italy and two basis points in Japan. The 30-year […] More
Spotlight Shining on Oil Prices
September 28, 2023
Oil inventory data on Wednesday sent the price of West Texas Intermediate up to a 14-month high of $95.03 per barrel overnight, but the price subsequently settled back and is currently 0.5% below yesterday’s close. Investors or on tenterhooks to see where the oil price heads next. An additional concern, which has buttressed sovereign debt […] More
Wave of Risk Aversion Following Moody’s Downgrade of Mid-Sized Banks and China’s Weak Trade Figures
August 8, 2023
Ten-year sovereign debt yields plunged overnight by 16 basis points in France, 15 bps in Germany and Spain, 12 bps in the U.K. and nine basis points in the United States. Prices for gold and oil have dropped 0.4% and 2.3%, while that for Bitcoin advanced 0.7%. Share prices fell 1.8% in Hong Kong and […] More
Global Equities Extend Rise
July 11, 2023
Stock markets in the Pacific Rim rose 1.5% in Taiwan and Australia, 1.7% in South Korea, 1.0% in Hong Kong and Indonesia and 0.6% in China. An exception was a 0.3% dip in Japan’s Nikkei-225. The British FTSE thus far has also slipped 0.3%, but continental European share prices and U.S. stock futures are in […] More
Almost Solid Front of Hawkish Central Bank Policies With a Mounting Focus on Squelching Wage Pressure and Service Sector Prices
June 29, 2023
The leaders of the Federal Reserve, Bank of England, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan participated in a panel discussion yesterday. Powell, Bailey, and Lagarde attempted to outdo each other in displaying their commitment to lowering inflation. Whatever the cost in the short run, each insisted the long-term costs would be even greater if […] More
U.S. April CPI Figures Not Worse Than Expected, and That Just May Be Sufficient for Fed Policy to Pause
May 10, 2023
The dollar fell overnight by 0.6% against the yen, 0.3% relative to the euro, 0.2% vis-a-vis the Australian and New Zealand currencies, and 0.1% versus the British pound. Ten-year sovereign debt yields are down today by six basis points in the United States, five bps in France and Italy, four bps in Germany and the […] More
Softer Dollar, Lower Bond Yields, and Equities Recover Further
March 30, 2023
Risk-on trading continued overnight. The dollar fell 0.4% against the Swiss franc, 0.3% relative to the euro and yen, 0.2% versus the Australian dollar and sterling and 0.1% vis-a-vis the Canadian dollar, kiwi, and Mexican peso. Ten-year sovereign debt yields dipped 3 basis points in the U.K., 2 bps in Germany and a basis point […] More
