French business confidence
German Recession Confirmed and Interest Rate Decisions in South Korea, Turkey and Indonesia
May 25, 2023
U.S. GDP data will be released shortly. In the meantime, German GDP growth last quarter was revised to -0.3% (not annualized) from zero percent reported originally. That’s the second negative quarter in a row and the third drop in the past four quarter, resulting in a negative year-on-year growth rate of -0.5% as well. The […] More
Unusual Developments
October 20, 2022
British Prime Minister Truss just announced her resignation after an unusually brief six weeks in office. Having campaigned as the second coming of Margaret Thatcher, Truss lost the the confidence of her own party when a public roar of protest greeted her program of radical and unfunded tax cuts. Her departure is unlikely to quell […] More
Dollar and Stock Markets Partly Reverse Direction as Jackson Hole Symposium Kicks Off
August 25, 2022
In overnight action, the dollar fell 0.8% against the Australian dollar and 0.5% versus the kiwi. The greenback eased back only 0.2%, however, relative to the euro, yen, Swiss franc, sterling, loonie and weighted DXY index. Stock markets advanced 3.6% in Hong Kong, 1.2% in South Korea, 1.0% in China, 0.9% in Taiwan, 0.6% in […] More
European Consumer Confidence Taking a Hit from Putin’s War
April 21, 2022
Irish consumer sentiment sunk 9.3 index points in April to an 18-month low on top of a 10-point slide in March. At 57.7, the index has fallen from 86.8 a half year earlier. Danish consumer confidence printed at a 403-month low of minus 20.9 in April versus readings of -14.4 in March, -3.2 in February […] More
A Market Pause While Waiting for Other Shoes to Drop
February 23, 2022
Continental European share prices are up 0.6-0.9% so far today in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. Futures trading in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq point to rebounds of 0.6% and 1.0%. In Pac Rim stock market trading, China and Indonesia closed up 0.9%, Hong Kong and Australian recovered 0.6%, and Japan didn’t trade due […] More
Considerable Central Bank News and a Whole Lot More
September 23, 2021
The takeaways from Fed Chairman Powell’s press conference yesterday are that a tapering of Fed bond purchases could begin as soon as right after the next scheduled FOMC meeting and should be drawn down to zero by mid-2022, plus the lift-off date for the fed funds target could occur next year rather than in 2023. […] More
Marking Time as Drama at Jackson Hole and Kabul Unfold
August 26, 2021
The St. Louis and Kansas City Federal Reserve District presidents, who represent predominately Republican regions of the United States, publicly expressed their personal desires to see quantitative tapering begin this autumn, and Bullard of St. Louis added his hope that an interest rate hike be done before the end of 2022. The annual central banking […] More
Some Central Bank Developments and a Displeasing U.S. Labor Market Development
July 22, 2021
New U.S. jobless insurance claims last week totaled 419K, 51k greater than in the prior week, roughly 70k above street expectations, and the most in nine weeks. The news dampened the stock market euphoria of recent sessions. The dollar is little changed from its closing Wednesday levels, with dips of 0.1% against the euro, yen […] More
Investor Mood Lifted by Vaccine Hopes and U.S. Transition Go-Ahead
November 24, 2020
The U.S. dollar is grinding lower but slowly and in an orderly fashion. The currency dropped 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively, overnight against the New Zealand and Australian dollars overnight but by only 0.2% relative to the euro and loonie, and it held steady versus the yen and sterling. Favorable vaccine news has created a sense […] More
Continuing Dichotomy Between Equities and Covid Spread
July 23, 2020
In the past 24 hours, the number of identified Covid-19 infections soared by 284,408 worldwide and 10,738 in the United States, and the number of associated deaths totaled 72,575 and 1,234. All four changes were greater than in the previous 24-hour period. Japanese markets are closed today and tomorrow for Marine Day and Sports Day, […] More
