German current account
Tariff War
May 10, 2019
President Trump made good on his threat to lift tariffs on $200 billion of imports from China, and Beijing officials promise to answer in kind even as talks continue. Trump erroneously expects the U.S. economy to at worst react neutrally to an escalated tariff war, but that delusion only partly explains his likely motivation. The […] More
Global Stocks Down after Trump/Xi Meeting Scrapped
February 8, 2019
The revelation that President Trump will not be meeting with Chinese President Xi before March 1 dampened hopes for a trade deal, weighed on general concerns regarding global growth, and sent share prices down 2.0% in Japan, 1.2% in South Korea and India, 1.0% in Spain, and 0.9% in Germany. The Dow and S&P fell […] More
Today’s Menu: Trade Data and Talks, Central Bank Meetings, and a Continuing U.S. Government Shutdown
January 9, 2019
Equity markets continued to rally after U.S.-Sino lower-level trade talks extended to a third day. Although no details about possible progress were revealed, investors took the unexpected third day of negotiations as a good sign that the dispute can be settled by March and avert a re-escalation of mutual big tariffs by the two countries […] More
Dollar and Sovereign Debt Yields Rise, while Equities Slip Further
October 9, 2018
Markets remain risk averse today. The dollar appreciated 0.4% against the euro, 0.3% versus the loonie, peso and kiwi, 0.2% relative to the Swiss franc, Aussie dollar, and sterling, and 0.1% vis-a-vis the yen. Share prices fell 1.3% in Japan, 1.0% in Australia, 0.7% in New Zealand, 0.6% in Indonesia, and 0.5% in Singapore and […] More
Can’t Trust Mondays
July 9, 2018
Trade disputes haven’t been resolved, but global equities and emerging market currencies have risen with the second quarter earnings season now close at hand. Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.2% stronger, and share prices elsewhere in the Pacific Rim rose by 2.5% in China, 2.0% in Indonesia, 1.7% in Hong Kong, 1.2% in Singapore, 1.1% in Taiwan, […] More
Equity Market Volatility Picks Up
February 8, 2018
It’s been another difficult day for equities. Today’s session started fine enough, with gains of 1.0% in India, 0.5% in South Korea where the Winter Olympics are getting under way, and 0.4% in Hong Kong. These up-moves balanced declines of 0.4% in Japan and 1.4% in China where a considerably smaller trade surplus for January […] More
A Rebound in Sovereign Bond Yields but Softer Stocks and Dollar
November 9, 2017
The dollar fell 0.5% overnight against the yen, 0.3% versus the euro and Swiss franc and 0.1% relative to the loonie. The Australian dollar and sterling are unchanged, and the kiwi, yuan and peso dipped 0.1%. Share prices eased 0.7% in Taiwan, 0.3% in New Zealand and 0.2% in Japan. Equity losses today in Europe […] More
Chinese, Japanese and German Trade Figures Reported Plus Several Second Tier Other Releases
August 8, 2017
China’s $46.74 billion trade surplus in July was the widest since $51.35 billion last January. Japan recorded a JPY 935 billion current account surplus in June, 4.3% less than a year earlier, the the seasonally adjusted surplus rose 8.7% on month to JPY 1.523 trillion. The settlements trade surplus was 32% smaller than a year […] More
Markets Calm Considering What’s Happened
June 9, 2017
Comey’s testimony, in which he basically called Trump a liar and laid out accusations that could be construed as an attempted obstruction of justice, may yet prove very damaging to the Trump Presidency and elicited a fairly rare full six-column headline on page 1 of the New York Times. The Conservatives lost their parliamentary majority […] More
Oil Under $50 and Gold Below $1,200 as U.S. Jobs Report Nears
March 10, 2017
A mixed overnight trading session finds the dollar up 0.4% against the yen and above the 115 level but down 0.3% to 1.0610 per euro. The dollar climbed 0.2% against sterling and 0.1% versus the Swiss franc but lost 0.4% to the peso, 0.2% against the Aussie dollar and 0.1% vis-a-vis the kiwi. The yuan […] More
