Draghi
Nervous Market Tone Continuing
October 2, 2019
Investors remain leery that policymakers are up to the task of containing the slowdown of global growth. Monetary stimulus has grown old and less effective, while fiscal support is largely missing in action. The trade war motors on even as evidence such as the September purchasing manager surveys show that nobody wins. British Prime Minister […] More
Dollar, Pound and Most Equities Falter as a Ton of Economic Data Got Released
November 14, 2017
The dollar rose 0.7% against sterling while posting losses overnight of 0.7% against the euro, 0.4% versus the Swiss franc, 0.2% vis-a-vis the Australian dollar, and 0.1% relative to the yen, loonie, peso and yuan. The kiwi fell 0.5%. Share prices declined 0.9% in Australia, 0.6% in Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong, and 0.5% in […] More
Some Confusion Understanding Central Banker Intentions
June 28, 2017
ECB President Draghi said several things yesterday. A remark that the pendulum of price pressure is shifting away from deflation toward reflation had caught the market’s immediate attention and driven the euro higher, but the ECB today clarified that investors had not given sufficient weight to his other observation that plenty of monetary stimulus is […] More
Stocks Up, and Peso Recovery Extended
June 26, 2017
Equities began the final week of the second quarter mostly on a rising note, with gains of 1.3% in Taiwan, 0.9% in China and Hong Kong, 0.6% in New Zealand, 0.4% in South Korea and 0.1% in Japan and Australia. Several markets were shut for the end of Ramadan. Share prices in Europe have advanced […] More
A Day Potentially Fraught with Major Developments
June 8, 2017
First up is ECB President Mario Draghi’s press conference. The Governing Council didn’t change interest rates. No surprise there. But new macro-forecasts will be unveiled, and there are risks that the growth outlook will be made brighter but also that projected inflation may be lowered. Next comes former FBI Director Comey’s testimony before the Senate […] More
Dollar Little Affected by Risk Aversion in Other Markets
April 20, 2016
Stocks in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan slumped 2.3%, 1.5%, and 1.4%. A Chinese central bank official implied lessening inclination to ease. West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 2.3% to $40.14 per barrel on news that Kuwaiti workers called off their strike. The 10-year Japanese JGB yield dipped another basis point to a record low […] More
More Diversified Financial Market Movements
February 4, 2016
At least for today, it’s no longer a matter of risk-on or risk-off for all assets. Some of this differentiation stems from more blatant currency warfare. Yesteday’s revealed sharp decline in the U.S. non-manufacturing purchasing managers index triggered a dollar sell-off. The U.S. currency today has fallen by an additional 0.7% against the euro and […] More
Chinese Equities Record Second Largest Fall This Month
January 26, 2016
The Shanghai Composite index plunged 6.4% to a 13-month low and is now down almost 50% since last June. Although the yuan is unchanged on the day, there’s much concern that it will devalue considerably further given the very high pace of Chinese capital outflows. In other equity market action around the Pacific Rim, stocks […] More
Central Banks Stand Down
January 21, 2016
In these tumultuous times, it would not be surprising to see monetary policy changes taken to help dissipate the high level of market fear. Instead, The ECB Governing Council retained its interest rate structure, consisting of a 0.05% refinancing rate flanked by a negative 0.30% deposit rate and a +0.25% marginal lending rate. Brazil’s monetary […] More
Last Meaningful Week of 2015
December 14, 2015
A lot of information including a likely first federal funds rate hike since June 2006 will be crammed into this third week of December. Such will clear the decks for the end-of-year holiday season, and trading desks will be closing their 2015 books. Back in the day, there was no more consistent reliable bias in […] More
