Chinese retail sales and industrial production
Iran War and Central Bank Interest Rate Decisions to Dominate This Week’s Financial Market News
March 16, 2026
(148) But right now, markets have responded positively to stronger-than-projected Chinese data while awaiting today’s release of U.S. industrial production. The Iran War narrative is meanwhile focused on whether President Trump will declare America’s main goals accomplished and pull out or decided to prolong the fight until there is a major downward break in oil […] More
Business World Plows On In Spite of Dystopic Newsfeed
December 15, 2025
(161) The coming week will be the last one of 2025 in which financial markets are not heavily affected by year-end factors. A heavy menu of economic data releases, including belated U.S. ones due to the government shutdown. Oftentimes particularly in the early years of the floating exchange rate era, the dollar exhibited a downward […] More
Widely Shared Big Losses
November 14, 2025
Yesterday’s stock market sell-off has extended into Friday. One catalyst was the Trump administration’s suggestion that some key data points not collected during the federal shutdown may never be known. This surprise dropped on an investment community already showing rising concern that equity values, especially among in the tech sector, were unsustainably inflated. News that […] More
Spotlight on China
October 20, 2025
(169) In contrast to 38 years ago when the DOW plunged 22.6% on October 19, 1987, week four of this October kicked off on a hopeful note following upbeat U.S. official comments about prospects for averting worst-case trade scenarios after October 31 when the current trade truce with China runs out. Negotiations will proceed this week […] More
Soft Chinese Data, A Downgraded French Credit Rating, Upcoming Monetary Policy Reviews, and a Japanese Holiday
September 15, 2025
(174) Japanese markets were closed today in observance of Respect for the Aged Day, but China released August economic figures, which on the whole surprised to the downside. A 3.4% 12-month rate of rise in Chinese retail sales was the slowest in nine months and down from the 7.2% increase in 2024. Industrial production rose […] More
Important Chinese, Japanese and U.S. Data Out… Next Up: Putin & Trump Talks in Alaska
August 15, 2025
The dollar fell overnight by 0.6% against the euro and peso, 0.5% versus the yen, and 0.3% relative to the Swiss franc and sterling. Ten-year sovereign debt yields climbed eight basis points in France and Italy, seven bps in France and Spain, six bps in Germany but just two bps in Japan and a single […] More
Chinese GDP and U.S. CPI Highlight Today’s Data Menu
July 15, 2025
A slew of Chinese economic data were reported earlier today, and now investors await U.S. June consumer price figures that are expected to reveal a further acceleration of both total and core inflation. The initial effect of higher tariffs may be clarified, and this release will play a guiding role in what the Fed officials […] More
Fresh Concerns about U.S. and Chinese Economies
May 19, 2025
(191) Two related developments conspired to hurt the U.S. Treasury bond markets in overnight trading. The Moody’s agency downgraded their rating of U.S. federal debt to Aa1 from Aaa, projecting sizable additional increases over the coming decade in both debt to 134% of GDP from 98% and in the deficit to GDP ratio to 9%. […] More
Better-Than-Forecast Chinese Data, Another U.S. Tariff Initiative, and a Speech From Fed Chairman Powell Later Today
April 16, 2025
In overnight financial market action, the weighted DXY dollar index depreciated 0.6% and touched a 3-year low some 9.8% below its year-to-date high in mid-January. Dollar declines were pretty much across-the-board including losses of 0.9% against the Swissy, 0.7% versus the Korean won, 0.6% relative to the euro and 0.5% vis-a-vis the yen. Gold, up […] More
U.S. Economy Pulling Out Ahead of the Crowd of Other Economies
December 16, 2024
The S&P Global U.S. preliminary composite purchasing managers index jumped 1.7 points to a 33-month high of 56.6 in December. This result far exceeded analyst expectations, led by the service sector whose subindex reached a 38-month high on the prospect of widespread deregulation by the incoming Trump administration. America’s good December report card contrasted with […] More
