Euroland economic sentiment
Coronavirus Outbreak Tops Busy List of Developments for Markets to Process
January 30, 2020
Several central banks held their first policy reviews of 2020. Those in Chile and Great Britain left their interest rate structures unchanged at 1.75% and 0.75%, respectively. The National Bank of Ukraine implemented its sixth rate cut in nine months, a 150-basis point reduction to 11.0%. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka engineered its third […] More
Dollar Firms Modestly; Equity Markets are Mixed
January 8, 2020
The dollar recorded overnight gains of 0.3% against the euro, 0.2% versus the yen and sterling, and 0.1% vis-a-vis the loonie. The dollar remains unchanged relative to the yuan, Swiss franc and kiwi. ADP estimates that U.S. private-sector employment increased last month by a robust 202k, beating November’s result and exceeding analyst expectations. There was […] More
Trade Talks Back in the Spotlight
September 27, 2019
A number of factors could have made Friday an ugly day in the marketplace — the U.S. and British political crises, weak European and U.S. data, and Japanese disinflation. But instead, the mood has been lifted by the announcement that U.S. and Chinese trade delegations will restart formal talks in Washington on October 10th. Share […] More
Some Optimism from Three Fronts
August 29, 2019
Investors continue to believe that the U.S. and China can work out some kind of truce in the trade war. It is also thought the resignation of the Scottish Conservative Party leader, Ruth Davidson, may impede British Prime Minister Johnson’s ability to pull the U.K. out of the EU without any negotiated deal on October 31. […] More
European Economic Sentiment Stumbled in July
July 30, 2019
European share prices fell Tuesday, depressed by an unexpectedly large slide in economic sentiment in the euro area to a 40-month low of 102.7 in July. That’s down from 105.2 just two months earlier and 111.2 a year ago. Germany’s economic sentiment slumped 2.4 points between June and July. Two big factors are sapping the […] More
Dollar Marking Time Ahead of G-20 Summit
June 27, 2019
There’s been little change in the dollar, price of oil, or European equities overnight. The Group of Twenty summit in Osaka starts tomorrow. EU leaders will try again to pick the next ECB president by next week. Ten-year sovereign debt yields dipped a basis point in the United States, Germany and Japan. Asian stock markets […] More
Tariff War Concerns Rattle Investors
May 28, 2019
President Trump’s predisposition to fight a tariff war that he believes is winnable depressed the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield below 2.30% to its lowest level since October 2017 and weighed on European and Asian share prices. Equities fell 1.1% in Indonesia, 0.4% in New Zealand and 0.2% in Taiwan and Singapore. Stocks in Europe have […] More
Weaker Turkish, South African and British Currencies
March 28, 2019
The Turkish lira slumped 5% against the dollar overnight when Turkish reserves data showed a large drop from previous intervention to support that currency. Still no word from the South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy review, but analysts aren’t anticipating a rate hike. However, there is concern ahead of Moody’s sovereign debt call on South […] More
Soft Data and Event Risk
February 27, 2019
It’s been a mixed morning for the dollar, which is unchanged against the yen and euro, 0.4% firmer against the Australian and New Zealand currencies, but down 0.5% versus sterling, 0.3% relative to the yuan and loonie, 0.2% vis-a-vis the Swiss franc, and 0.1% against the peso. WTI oil advanced 2.1%, while the price of […] More
Brexit Mess, An FOMC Announcement, and Some Weak Data Reports
January 30, 2019
Last night’s British parliamentary votes produced an ill-advised win for Prime Minister May, rejecting a no-deal option or a second referendum in favor of authorization for the prime minister to attempt a renegotiation of parts of her agreement with the rest of the EU. Those governments have repeatedly ruled out renegotiation, so a no-deal Brexit […] More
