April in Figures
May 1, 2019
The first-quarter rebound in share prices continued in April at pretty much the same pace of climb but with British stocks lagging somewhat. Central bank interest rates were not changed during the month in the U.S., Euroland, Great Britain, Japan, or Switzerland. U.S. President Trump sustained his tweeting campaign, urging the Fed to cut rates in the face of low inflation, but sharp declines in 10-year sovereign debt yields during March were reversed partly in April.
Following a 32% upsurge in during the first quarter, the price of West Texas Intermediate oil rose by a further 6.3% last month. Comex gold fell 0.9% in April, closing near its end-2018 level.
Net movements in the dollar last month were constrained to less than +/-1% except in the case of the Swiss franc and New Zealand dollar, against which the U.S. currency rose 2.3% and 1.9%, respectively. The dollar also firmed against the yuan, loonie, Aussie dollar, and yen but slipped marginally relative to the euro and sterling.
| 10-Yr Yield | 03/29/19 | 04/30/19 | Chg in April |
| U.S. | 2.41% | 2.50% | +9 Basis Points |
| Germany | -0.07% | 0.01% | +8 |
| Japan | -0.10% | -0.06% | +4 |
| U.K. | 0.99% | 1.18% | +19 |
| Canada | 1.62% | 1.71% | +9 |
| Switzerland | -0.44% | -0.35% | +9 |
| CB Policy Rate | 03/29/19 | 04/30/19 | Chg in April |
| Fed funds target | 2.25/2.50% | 2.25/2.50% | 0 Basis Points |
| ECB deposit rate | -0.40% | -0.40% | 0 |
| BOJ policy rate | -0.10% | -0.10% | 0 |
| BOE Bank Rate | 0.75% | 0.75% | 0 |
| Swiss 3M Libor | -1.25/-0.25% | -1.25/-0.25% | 0 |
| FX | 03/29/19 | 04/30/19 | Pct Chg in $ |
| EUR/USD | 1.1217 | 1.1230 | -0.1% |
| USD/JPY | 110.82 | 111.38 | +0.5% |
| USD/CHF | 0.9956 | 1.0189 | +2.3% |
| GBP/USD | 1.3027 | 1.3038 | -0.1% |
| AUD/USD | 0.7100 | 0.7052 | +0.7% |
| NZD/USD | 0.6808 | 0.6681 | +1.9% |
| USD/CAD | 1.3362 | 1.3392 | +0.2% |
| USD/CNY | 6.7121 | 6.7346 | +0.3% |
| Equities | 03/29/19 | 04/30/19 | Chg in April |
| S&P 500 | 2834 | 2946 | +4.0% |
| Nasdaq | 7729 | 8095 | +4.7% |
| Djia | 25429 | 26593 | +4.6% |
| Dax | 11526 | 12344 | +7.1% |
| Nikkei | 21206 | 22259 | +5.0% |
| Ftse | 7279 | 7418 | +1.9% |
| Canada TSE | 16119 | 16581 | +2.9% |
| Swiss SMI | 9478 | 9770 | +3.1% |
| Commodities | 03/29/19 | 04/30/19 | Chg in April |
| Oil, $ per barrel | 60.14 | 63.91 | +6.3% |
| Gold, $ per ounce | 1293.81 | 1282.80 | -0.9% |
Copyright Larry Greenberg 2019. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: central bank rates, equities, foreign exchange rates, gold and oil, sovereign debt yields
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