Service-sector purchasing manager surveys
Ungovernable U.S. Congress Elevates Uncertainty But Dollar Softens Only Modestly
October 4, 2023
In a startling political development, the U.S. House of Representatives has no Speaker, and it could be quite a while before that critical vacancy is filled. Without that critical step, Congress will be rendered impotent. Ordinarily such a crisis might be expected to weigh discernibly on the dollar, but the other force strongly at play […] More
New Woes for Crypto… Service Sector Purchasing Manager Surveys Beat Expectations
March 3, 2023
The price of Bitcoin tokens plunged around 5% overnight. The dollar has declined 0.4% against the Swiss franc and yen, 0.3% versus sterling and the Australian dollar, but just 0.1% relative to the euro. It’s been an up day by and large for equities, with gains of 1.6% in Japan, 1.5% in India, 0.7% in […] More
Better-Than-Forecast U.S. Data Unsettle Investor Expectations Regarding December’s FOMC Decision
December 5, 2022
If it’s not one thing, it’s another. A major concern since the onset of Covid-19 has been the zero tolerance policies of the Chinese government to any instances of the pandemic. Investors have been relieved over the past month by increasing indications that such an extreme approach, which has smothered the Chinese economy, will be […] More
More Central Bank Rate Hikes and Dollar Rises to a Two-Week Weighted High
November 3, 2022
Big jumps in the dollar are continuing in the wake of yesterday’s sobering Federal Reserve press conference. The greenback is stronger than Wednesday closing levels by 1.5% against sterling, 1.0% versus the kiwi, 0.9% relative to the Swiss franc and Australian dollar, 0.6% vis-a-vis the euro and Canadian dollar, and 0.3% against the yen. Since […] More
Energy Prices Soaring as Both Russia and Ukraine Take a Beating
March 3, 2022
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped another 3.5% overnight and has risen 52% since the end of 2021. The dollar jumped 11% overnight against the Russian ruble. Trading on the Russian stock exchange remains suspended. Russia’s banking system is gripped by an extreme liquidity shortage, and the country’s sovereign debt rating has […] More
Expectations of Strong Growth Driving Financial Markets
May 5, 2021
The dollar rose by a marginal 0.1% overnight, gaining 0.2% against the Turkish lira and 0.1% versus the Mexican peso and euro, holding steady versu the yen, Swiss franc and yuan, and dipping 02% against the loonie and Australian dollar and by 0.1% vis-a-vis sterling. Markets remained close one more day in China (Labor Day) […] More
U.S. Urban Protests Persist but So Does Equity Rally
June 3, 2020
U.S. city protests extended last night into an eight day but became more peaceful. Moreover, investors continued to buy up stocks in anticipation of business reopening. The rise in share prices continues to be a global phenomenon and not limited to the United States. In the Pacific Rim, share prices rose Wednesday by 3.4% in […] More
Friday Data Put Coronavirus Recession in a League of its Own
April 3, 2020
The U.S. monthly labor force survey for March could have been worse because of the release’s disclaimer that “the survey reference periods predated many coronavirus-related business and school closures that occurred in the second half of the month.” That being said, non-farm payroll employment plunged 701K, most since April 2009. A drop of 701,000 jobs […] More
Technical Recessions in Germany and U.K. and More Impeachment Drama in the U.S.
October 3, 2019
Composite purchasing manager surveys that embody non-manufacturing as well as manufacturing activity released for several countries in Europe by and large underperformed expectations. Most alarming were the reports for Germany and the U.K., each of which recorded slight contractions of real GDP in the second quarter. The German service sector PMI dropped 3.4 points in […] More
The U.S. Enjoyed a Bigger Growth Advantage in June than May
July 6, 2017
It was already reported earlier this week by the Institute of Supply Management that the U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index leaped 2.9 points to a 32-month high of 57.8 in June. This eclipsed a 0.4-point rise in Euroland’s comparable PMI to 57.4. Now comes word that the non-manufacturing U.S. PMI increased 0.5 points to a […] More
