Ifo Institute
Fresh Focus on Chinese Policy
February 23, 2016
China again has been the straw that stirred things us. The catalyst today was the largest daily reduction of the yuan’s fixing value by officials at the People’s Bank of China in several weeks. The result was renewed risk aversion. A secondary depressant was a weaker-than-expected German business climate in February reported by the Ifo […] More
Continuing Selling Pressure on Brazilian Currency
September 24, 2015
Having punched through the four per dollar threshold for the first time just two days ago, the battered Brazilian real sank to as low as 4.1795 earlier today. This 36% year-to-date decline on top of a 12+% slide in 2014 has intensified since S&P downgraded Brazil’s credit rating to junk status earlier this month. The […] More
A Mood to Take on More Risk
November 24, 2014
Asian markets rallied in lagged reaction to China’s interest rate cut on Friday, and European market confidence was heartened further by a better-than-forecast German business climate report. Another supportive factor has been speculation that the ECB is poised to start purchasing sovereign debt soon. This will be a light day from a data release perspective. […] More
Geopolitical Market Havoc
August 27, 2013
The Middle East again is holding the rest of the world hostage, as the U.S. feels compelled to respond to Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons against its own citizens. Commodities have spike 1.4% in the case of gold to $1412.0 per ounce and 1.2% in the case of WTI crude oil to $107.21 per […] More
Stronger Tone in Equities
February 22, 2013
Stocks in Europe are up 1.4% in Italy, 1.3% in Spain, 1.7% in France, 1.0% in Germany, and 0.8% in Britain. Share prices rose 0.7% in Japan, 1.1% in New Zealand, 0.8% in Australia, 0.5% in Hong Kong, 0.4% in Indonesia and 0.2% in South Korea, but China’s market fell by 0.5%. The U.S. dollar […] More
German IFO and Moody’s Generate Troubling News
August 24, 2011
Moody’s downgraded Japan’s credit rating to Aa3 from Aa2, citing a big government deficit and rising debt/GDP ratio. The news hurt Asian stocks. The IFO Institute reported a sharp drop and weaker-than-anticipated German business climate in August. The overall index tumbled 4.2 points to 108.7, lowest since mid-2010. The index had been at 114.4 just […] More
Broad-Based Dollar Losses
April 21, 2011
The dollar fell overnight by 0.9% against sterling, 0.7% versus the Canadian, New Zealand and Australian dollars, and 0.5% against the yen, Swiss franc and yuan. The dollar hit its weakest levels since December 4, 2009 against sterling, December 15, 2009 against the euro, and February 27, 2008 against the kiwi. Record lows were set […] More
Japan’s Finance Minister Elevates Yen Warning
August 25, 2010
The yen is 0.5% lower after Finance Minister Noda warned of “appropriate action” against strengthening yen. Overnight yen highs were at 83.88 per dollar and 105.86 per euro prior to the remark. The dollar otherwise is unchanged against the euro, Canadian dollar and sterling, off 0.1% relative to the Swiss franc and Australian dollar and […] More
