U.S. personal income and spending
Slew of Data Released on Final Day of August
August 31, 2023
U.S. personal income and consumption expenditure growth in July defied expectations in opposite ways. Personal spending climbed 0.8% on month (0.6% adjusted for inflation), while income growth slowed to 0.2%. Downtrends in total and core U.S. inflation according to the PCE price deflator partly reversed with the former increased 0.3 percentage points to 3.3% and […] More
Many Data to Absorb Plus Bank of Japan Finally Modifies Yield Curve Control Parameters
July 28, 2023
At this month’s scheduled Board meeting, Bank of Japan policymakers sent a mixed message, on the one hand stressing “the Bank needs to patiently continue with monetary easing under Quantitative and Qualitative Monetary Easing (QQE) with Yield Curve Control” but also at last tweaking the rules surrounding its long-term interest rate target with the assertion […] More
Heaviest Data Release Day of the Week Before Christmas Yields Mixed Results
December 23, 2022
The dollar traded lower by 0.6% against the kiwi, 0.5% versus the Australian dollar, 0.4% vis-a-vis the loonie, and 0.2% relative to the euro but has also risen by 0.4% against the yen, 0.3% vis-a-vis stereling and 0.1% against the yuan and Swiss franc. Ten-year sovereign debt yields are up five basis points in the […] More
Manufacturing in Recession Here, There and Just About Everywhere
December 1, 2022
November purchasing manager surveys released today paint a very gloomy picture, with activity declining at the fastest pace since May 2020 (near Covid ground zero) in the United States (according to both the ISM and S&P Global reports), Brazil, Australia (AIG survey), Turkey, Ireland, Czech Republic, and Sweden. Japan’s PMI index got revised downward and […] More
Powell Predictably Didn’t Pull Any Punches in Jackson Hole Speech
August 26, 2022
The tone of Fed Chairman Powell’s keynote address today at the Jackson Hole Symposium was hawkish in spite of data released earlier in the day that revealed a larger July downtick in inflation than was forecast. Monetary policy will err toward restraint until officials are very sure that inflation is returning all the way to […] More
Concerns about Corporate Earnings
April 29, 2022
Led by the tech sector especially pre-open declines of nearly 10% in Amazon and 2.5% in Apple, U.S. stock futures are lower on this final trading session of the difficult month of April. Amazon reported a quarterly drop in earnings, and Apple warned of persistent supply delays. Having touched a 19-year weighted high on Thursday, […] More
Softer Dollar and Stock Futures.. Russian Troops Closing in on Kyiv and Kharkiv Bombed
February 25, 2022
Stocks had bounced late Thursday when President Biden’s unveiled sanctions failed to include a denial of Russia’s ability to use the SWIFT global payments system or actions directed explicitly against Putin. But with the military conflict near Ukraine’s capital and second largest city, U.S. stock futures are currently down 0.4-0.5%. Ukraine’s stock market remains shut, […] More
Powell Speech in 15 Minutes on a Data-Heavy Day
August 27, 2021
Fed Chairman Powell addresses the Jackson Hole Central Bank Symposium at 10 EDT. Markets have been comparatively flat, awaiting what Powell has to say regarding the tapering of Fed bond purchases and what officials anticipate for U.S. growth and inflation. The trade-weighted dollar has edged 0.1% higher. U.S. personal income in July, which had been […] More
Dollar Up 0.2% Against Euro, yen and Weighted index on Final Business Day of July
July 30, 2021
The U.S. currency also climbed overnight by 0.3% against sterling and 0.1% relative to the Swiss franc. However, equities have dropped, especially in Japan (-1.8%), Hong Kong (-1.4%), New Zealand (-1.2%), Spain and Taiwan (each down 0.9%), but also in Indonesia (-0.8%), the U.S. (Nasdaq -0.6% and S&P 500 down 0.4%), the U.K. (-0.5%) and […] More
Dollar Up and Equities Down After Weak European GDP Data
April 30, 2021
The dollar advanced overnight by 0.8% against the Turkish lira, 0.3% relative to the Mexican peso and kiwi, 0.2% versus the euro, Aussie dollar and weighted dollar index, and 0.1% vis-a-vis sterling. The dollar also slipped 0.2% against the Canadian dollar and 0.1% versus the Japanese yen. Relationships against the Chinese yuan and Swiss franc […] More
