March and First Quarter in Figures
March 31, 2010
March was a weak month for the yen but a solid one for commodity-sensitive currencies. The travails of Greek bonds were not shared by British gilts or German bunds, which also outperformed North American fixed income securities. Short-term interest rates continued to be anchored by central bank accommodative policies and remain at historically low levels. In the anniversary month of last year’s bottom, equities appreciated strongly this past month. Oil threatened to break higher as markets looked to the summer season, but gold remained stalled near $1100. The euro and sterling had a difficult first quarter, faltering not only against the dollar but also relative to the Swiss franc. Despite its sharp gain in March, dollar/yen ended the quarter very near where it had begun. In Australia where monetary policy has started to be tightened already and in Canada where a rate hike seems likely before the Fed acts, the Aussie and Canadian dollars outperformed their U.S. counterpart last quarter. But in fellow commodity-sensitive economy New Zealand, the kiwi lost net ground to the U.S. dollar over the course of the first quarter.
| 10-Yr Yield | 03/31/10 | Chg vs End-Feb | Chg vs End-2009 |
| U.S. | 3.83% | +21 Basis Points | 0 Basis Points |
| Germany | 3.09% | -1 | -30 |
| Japan | 1.40% | +10 | +10 |
| U.K. | 3.93% | -10 | -9 |
| Canada | 3.36% | +17 | -4 |
| 3-month euros | |||
| U.S. | 0.29% | +4 Basis Points | +4 Basis Points |
| Euroland | 0.58% | -2 | -8 |
| Japan | 0.24% | -1 | -4 |
| U.K. | 0.65% | -1 | +4 |
| Canada | 0.41% | +1 | -6 |
| Swiss | 0.25% | 0 | 0 |
| FX | Pct Chg in US$ | Pct Chg in US$ | |
| EUR/$ | 1.3510 | +0.9% | +6.0% |
| $/JPY | 93.46 | +5.2% | +0.4% |
| $/CHF | 1.0543 | -1.8% | +1.9% |
| GBP/$ | 1.5180 | +0.4% | +6.5% |
| AUD/$ | 0.9173 | -2.4% | -3.1% |
| NZ$/$ | 0.7105 | -1.7% | +2.2% |
| $/CAD | 1.0156 | -3.5% | -3.1% |
| Equities | Pct Change | Pct Change | |
| Nasdaq | 2398 | +7.1% | +5.7% |
| Djia | 10857 | +5.2% | +4.1% |
| Dax | 6154 | +9.9% | +3.3% |
| Nikkei | 11090 | +9.5% | +5.2% |
| Ftse | 5680 | +6.5% | +4.9% |
| Canada TSE | 12038 | +3.5% | +2.7% |
| Swiss SMI | 6873 | +2.4% | +5.0% |
| Commodities | Pct Change | Pct Change | |
| Oil, $ per brl | 83.76 | +5.1% | +5.5% |
| Gold, $ per oz | 1113.25 | -0.4% | +1.5% |
Copyright Larry Greenberg 2010. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: Bonds and Stocks, Dollar, equities
ShareThis
