FOMC
Central Banks in India and Iceland Jump the Gun on Fed
May 4, 2022
A 50-basis point interest rate hike later today is virtually baked into the Federal Open Market Committee decision. The last hike of more than 25 bps was in May 2000. Analysts anticipate forceful forward guidance language as well. The announcement is set for 14:00 EDT (18:00 GMT), and Chairman Powell’s press conference begins 30 minutes […] More
Shortlived Equity Rally, More Inflationary Reports, and Day One of an Historic FOMC Meeting
May 3, 2022
Tech stocks had rallied in the final hour of Monday trading, but futures point to a likely drop of at least 0.5% at the start of Tuesday’s session. Share prices fell 0.9% in New Zealand, 0.6% in Taiwan, 0.4% in Australia, and are down 0.8% in the U.K., whose market had been closed for holiday […] More
Holiday Closures and Manufacturing Purchasing Manager Indices to Start the Week
May 2, 2022
For a variety of reasons, many countries are observing holiday this Monday. It’s the early spring banking holiday in Great Britain. Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait are celebrating Eid-al-Fitr. China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are shut for Labor Day. Among stock markets that are open for business this Monday, Australia and […] More
Equities and Dollar Up Ahead of FOMC Announcement
January 26, 2022
Share prices so far today have climbed 1.8% or more in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Great Britain. Futures trading in the S&P 500, DJIA, and Nasdaq show overnight gains of 1.0 – 1.8%. Equities in Asia closed narrowly mixed with drops of 0.4% in Japan and South Korea but gains of 0.7% in China […] More
Dollar Buoyed by Risk Aversion Ahead of FOMC Meeting and Also Fanned by Ukraine Tensions and Weak Purchasing Manager Surveys
January 24, 2022
The dollar has stremgthened 0.3% against the euro, loonie and on a weighted DXY basis. Even sharper advances can be seen of 0.7% relative to the Australian dollar and 0.5% versus sterling. The global sell-off of equities has resumed, with losses today of 2.6% in India, 1.5% in South Korea, 1.3% in New Zealand and […] More
Dollar Falters
July 29, 2021
The dollar fell overnight by 0.4% against the euro, peso, Swissie, and DXY weighted index but even more versus the New Zealand dollar and Turkish lira (each 0.7%), loonie (0.6%), and yuan and sterling (each 0.5%). Lesser dollar declines of 0.3% and 0.2% occurred against the Australian dollar and Japanese yen, respectively. Equities, commodity prices, […] More
Awaiting Today’s Fed Forecasts and Powell’s Press Conference
March 17, 2021
Against the backdrop of a significantly improved U.S. economic growth outlook this year and rising U.S. and global inflation lately, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed from 0.89% in mid-December to 1.01% when the FOMC last met to a 13-month high of 1.67% today, the second scheduled FOMC meeting of 2021 figures to be the […] More
Dollar Rises After ECB Expresses Concern about Euro Strength and Ahead of FOMC Announcement Later Today
January 27, 2021
In a speech Klass Knot, President of the Netherlands central bank and therefore an ECB Governing Council member, has protested against the euro’s recent rise and warned that central bankers will respond if appreciation appears to jeopardize the goal of lifting inflation back to its target. Compared to Tuesday closing levels, the dollar rallied 0.4% […] More
U.S. Still Counting Votes as 24-Hour Rise Covid Cases and Deaths Exceed 107K and 1.1K
November 5, 2020
U.S. Election News: Biden’s electoral college count seems likely to reach 270 threshold. Trump is suing to halt counting of absentee ballots, and street protests against such action broke out in several cities overnight. Congress most likely will remain divided with Dems controlling the House and Republicans holding the Senate, but there too ballot counting […] More
Sharp Equity Declines but Mixed Dollar
August 20, 2020
The U.S. equity market correction triggered by downbeat FOMC minutes released yesterday afternoon set the tone for overnight losses in European and Asian markets where bourses tumbled 3.7% in South Korea and 3.3% in Taiwan and by at least 1.0% in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, India, Germany, France, Italy, U.K., and Spain. Indonesia’s market did […] More
