Euroland CPI
Quarter-End, a Flood of Reported Data, and an Eagerly Awaited Speech by Biden on His Infrastructure Plans
March 31, 2021
The dollar is trading modestly lower (e.g. -0.1% on the DXY weighted index) on this final day of the first quarter. In overnight equity market action, share prices climbed almost 1% in Australia and New Zealand but have slipped in Asia and, to a lesser degree, in Europe. The S&P 500 and DJIA futures indices […] More
Watching Stocks, Long-Term Interest Rates, and Events on Capitol Hill
February 23, 2021
Futures trading on the Nasdaq, which fell over 300 points yesterday, are down an additional 1.4% this Tuesday. The half-percentage point rise in the U.S. ten-year Treasury yield since mid-December reflects speculation that inflation and growth may be stronger than assumed later this year but not so much so as to provoke the Fed into […] More
Dollar and U.S. Equity Futures Up After Wednesday’s Coup in Washington Fails
January 7, 2021
The U.S. Congress shortly before 04:00 today confirmed that the ticket of Biden/Harris won the 2020 election and will take office at noon on January 20th. This ordinarily ceremonial act of power transition was anything but ordinary this time after a mob stormed the Capitol building yesterday to prevent the process. Taking his cue from […] More
Start of a Fresh Month Sees Dollar Drop and Share Prices Resume Their Rise
December 1, 2020
A slew of manufacturing purchasing manager surveys taken in November were released today. Fed Chairman Powell and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin testify before the Senate Banking Committee today on the Cares Act. After dipping on Sunday, Covid cases and the death count turned upward over the past 24 hours both globally and in the United States. […] More
Covid News Proceeding on Two Tracks, While Dollar Slipping but Slows
November 18, 2020
There’s been more good news regarding Covid vaccine developments as Pfizer’s product, like Moderna’s, has been shown to be 95% effective. Before vaccines can be distributed widely, however, current spikes in cases and deaths point to a very difficult winter ahead for public health and economic activity. New U.S. cases and deaths yesterday approached 160,000 […] More
Trump Has Covid and Goes Into Quarantine.. Markets Gripped by Uncertainty
October 2, 2020
Late last evening, President Trump himself broke the news that his wife and he tested positive for the lethal coronavirus. This news comes on a day when some key markets are shut for holiday like China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and India) and when the last U.S. monthly labor statistics prior to November’s election are to […] More
Equities Fall Even as Central Banks Commit to Maintaining Low Interest Rates
September 17, 2020
Share prices in Asia closed down 1.6% in Hong Kong, 1.2% in South Korea, 0.8% in Taiwan and India, 0.7% in Japan and 0.4% in China and Indonesia. Equities in Europe so far today have dropped 1.2% in Italy, 0.9% in France, 0.8% in Germany and Spain, and 0.5% in the U.K.. The dollar recovered […] More
Dollar Slides Close to Five-Week Low
July 17, 2020
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the dollar has usually thrived on any worrisome developments in the outbreak but not lately. The trade-weighted dollar appears headed for its fourth consecutive weekly loss despite record daily increases over the past 24 hours in global new cases (253k) and new U.S. reported cases of 77k. In that span, 5,839 […] More
Some Setbacks, Many Data Reports, and Powell to Testify
June 30, 2020
After a big gain on Monday, U.S. equity futures point to a lower Tuesday open. In Europe so far, share prices have settled back 0.7% in the U.K. and Spain, 0.4% in Italy, 0.3% in Switzerland and 0.1% in France. In the Pacific Rim, markets closed up 1.4% in Australia, 1.9% in New Zealand, 1.3% […] More
Another Downturn in Stock Prices
March 31, 2020
Asian equities had a decent session with gains of 3.6% in India, 2.7% in Singapore, 2.2% in South Korea and 1.9% in Hong Kong, but Japan’s Nikkei closed down 0.9%. Conditions worsened in Europe, with equity market drops so far of 1.4% in France, 0.9% in Germany and 0.4% in France, and U.S. futures also […] More