Australian retail sales
Unofficial Final Day of Summer Starts with a Rise in Equities and a Steady but Firm Dollar
August 28, 2023
Equities in the Pacific Rim rose 1.7% in Japan, 1.1% in China, 1.0% in Hong Kong and South Korea, and 0.6% in Australia. Share prices so far in Germany, France, Italy and Spain have strengthened at least 1.0%, and key U.S. indices are around 0.7% higher. There’s been scant net movement in the dollar, which […] More
Further Retreat of Equities
August 29, 2022
The realization that central bank rate normalization isn’t stopping has depressed equities further, although share prices are currently above intra-day lows in the United States and Europe. Markets in the Pacific Rim closed down 2.7% in Japan, 2.3% in Australia and Taiwan, 2.2% in South Korea and 1.5% in Indonesia. British markets are shut for […] More
Investors Continuing to React to Fed’s New Tone
June 21, 2021
Markets had expected the FOMC meeting last week to push back against concerns related to this year’s supply delay-driven rise in inflation and were surprised when that opportunity wasn’t fully utilized. The dot-plot diagram of individual member interest rate path preferences shifted the likely timing of the first hike in the federal funds rate from […] More
Financial Market Fallout from U.S. Jobs Data Surprise Has Been Muted Thus Far
May 10, 2021
Compared to Friday closing levels, the dollar is unchanged against the euro and Swiss franc. The U.S. currency is only 0.4% versus the Australian dollar, 0.3% relative to the Chinese yuan, 0.2% vis-a-vis sterling and 0.2% versus the loonie, Australian dollar, Mexican peso and weighted DXY index. The dollar has firmed 0.1% relative to the […] More
Tough Week for Central Bank Credibility
March 19, 2021
At Wednesday’s press conference, Fed Chairman Powell tried to assuage investor concerns about inflation and the possibility of an earlier Fed tightening than indicated in the central bank’s forward guidance. Markets didn’t quite believe the dovish tone and drove the 10-year Treasury yield from 1.63% then to a high yesterday of 1.76%. Tech stocks in […] More
A Week of Transition Ends with Release of Weak Data and Fresh Investor Uneasiness
January 22, 2021
The Biden Administration has been busy reorienting American policies, but markets today are most fixated on alarming Covid trends and fresh evidence of their adverse impact on economic activity. U.S. equity futures are set to open 0.5-1.0% lower today after markets closed down 1.7% in Indonesia, 1.6% in Hong Kong, 1.5% in India, 0.9% in […] More
Equities Open Lower after Big Rise Last Week.. Dollar Recovers on Risk Aversion
January 11, 2021
The dollar climbed overnight by 1.1% against the Mexican peso, 0.7% relative to the Swiss franc, sterling, and Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollars, 0.5% versus the euro, and 0.3% vis-a-vis the yen (to a 5-week high above 104.0). The trade-weighted dollar move was +0.5%. U.S. equities have fallen 0.6-0.8% in futures trading. Share prices […] More
Markets Turning Increasingly Disorderly
March 6, 2020
Share prices are down over 3.0% in the U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland even though a decent U.S. labor market report is anticipated. Equity markets in the Pacific Rim closed down 2.7% in Japan, 2.8% in Australia, 2.5% in Indonesia, 2.3% in India, 2.2% in South Korea, 2.0% in New Zealand and 1.9% […] More
Many Industrial Production Reports as Well as U.S. Jobs Day
January 10, 2020
Markets marked time ahead of the U.S. December labor market statistics. The dollar didn’t react much afterward, either. As of 08:10 EST, the dollar was up 0.2% against the Swiss franc and 0.1% relative to the euro and yen. The greenback was unchanged vis-a-vis the loonie and kiwi but down by 0.3% against the peso […] More
Risk On Mood Continuing
November 4, 2019
Friday saw share prices rally on trade optimism and the aversion thus far of a hard Brexit. Subsequent official comments from U.S. and Chinese officials did not dash investor hopes, and Euroland PMI data suggest that the downturn in manufacturing did not intensify last month. Japanese markets were closed today for the Culture Day holiday. […] More
