New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: Another Big Drop Reported in Euroland Industrial Output
May 13, 2009
Euroland industrial production fell 2.0% in March, twice expectations, and by 20.1% from a year earlier. Output plunged 28.1% annualized in 1Q09, more than the 23.4% pace of drop in the prior quarter. The Bank of England released a quarterly inflation report that has weighed on sterling. The pound is down 0.7% against the dollar, […] More
Currency Markets in the News
German Economic Slump
May 12, 2009
A slew of horrific monthly economic data will culminate this Friday with the release of first-quarter GDP figures. Bundesbank President Weber today warned that GDP contracted more sharply than the 8.2% at a seasonally adjusted annual pace (saar) recorded in the final quarter 2008. That comment actually understates how bad the number will be. There […] More
Central Bank Watch
Three Asian Central Banks Announce Interest Rate Decisions
May 12, 2009
The Bank of Korea left its key 7-day repo rate at 2.0% for a third straight month but pre-announced that an accommodative stance will be maintained for the time being. The rate earlier had been cut twice by a total of 100 basis points last October and once each by 25 bps in November, 100 […] More
U.S. and Canadian Trade
May 12, 2009
The U.S. trade deficit in the first quarter was 49.6% smaller than a year earlier on the broad measure that includes services as well as merchandise. Commerce with the Pacific Rim, which accounts for 61% of the remaining U.S. deficit, was responsible for only 17% of the improvement in trade between 1Q08 and 1Q09. The […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: Dollar Lower Despite Supportive Bernanke Remarks
May 12, 2009
Fed Chairman Bernanke predicted the dollar would remain the main international reserve currency because the U.S. economy will be strong and the central bank is committed to price stability. The dollar nonetheless lost 1.1% against sterling, 0.7% against the kiwi, 0.6% versus the Aussie dollar, 0.5% against the Canadian dollar and euro, 0.4% against the […] More
The Peak In U.S. Unemployment
May 11, 2009
The jobless rate is considered a lagging economic indicator, meaning it should continue to crest in the early stages of an economic recovery as employees work longer hours before firms begin to rebuild head counts. The peak unemployment level was a critical assumption of the stress tests performed on the 19 key U.S. banks. An […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: Fresh Banking Jitters
May 11, 2009
Risk aversion makes slight comeback on fresh jitters about stress test results. The dollar and yen are up. Stocks and commodities are down. The yen regained 0.4% against the dollar, which otherwise rose 0.8% against sterling, 0.7% relative to the Australian dollar, 0.3% against the Canadian dollar and euro, and 0.2% versus the Swiss franc. […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week
May 8, 2009
Next week has an extremely crowded data calendar, relatively few central bank meetings (just Korea, Mexico and Turkey), and no holiday closures in major markets. The main data event will be the first-quarter GDP figures from Euroland and many of its members including the big four of Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Euroland, France, and […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Weekly Foreign Exchange Insights: May 8th
May 8, 2009
Uncertainty remains very high over three basic issues that affect currency markets: Whether U.S. money center banks have truly avoided a slew of failures and nationalizations, Whether the most intense part of the global recession is now past and, if so, the type of economic recovery that will develop, and Whether subsiding risk aversion will […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: Reaction to Stress Test Results Has Been Only Mild
May 8, 2009
Ten U.S. banks will need to boost capital by a combined $74.6 billion, and that is seen as manageable. Since most of the information had already leaked, investors were not surprised by any of the stress test revelations. Attention turns to U.S. labor force report at 12:30 GMT, where analysts anticipate better numbers than seen […] More
