German and French consumer confidence
Renewed Move Out of Riskier Assets on Mideast Conflict Fears
March 26, 2026
The Middle Eastern war may be about to become much fiercer. President Trump’s plea for Iran to accept a deal continues to be rebuffed, and the red-line demands of each side are miles apart. Meanwhile, Israel claims to have killed another top Iranian official, this time the naval commander Alireza Tangsiri, who has been overseeing […] More
While Awaiting Several U.S. Data Releases, Investors Hear Range of Fed Official Comments
September 25, 2025
Thursday’s menu of U.S. data reports includes revised GDP and PCE price deflator, existing home sales, durable goods orders, an early bird estimate of the U.S. merchandise trade deficit, the Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey, and weekly jobless insurance claims. The wide range of views depicted in the FOMC dot-plot diagram of favored interest rates […] More
Dollar Up In Spite of Trump’s Interference in Monetary Policy
August 27, 2025
President Trump, who has been outspoken in demanding that the Federal Reserve cut its short-term interest rate substantially, is pursuing legal channels to fire Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Market watchers have been surprised at how little this potentially huge policy change has impacted the dollar or equities, and that disconnection is being seen as a […] More
Shaken Confidence
September 27, 2023
German consumer confidence dropped to a 6-month low in late September with a depressed reading of -26.5. French consumer confidence fell two points to a 4-month low of 83 in September, well below its long-term mean of 100. At -11.5, Finnish consumer sentiment slid 3.5 points in September to its weakest value since February. Business […] More
Dollar Recovers Some Ground
June 28, 2023
Tuesday’s dollar dip has been reversed, with overnight gains of 1.2% against the kiwi, 0.8% versus the Aussie dollar, 0.5% relative to sterling, 0.3% against the Swiss franc and Canadian dollar and 0.1% versus the euro. Dollar/yen remained steady. The price of Bitcoin dropped back 1.1%, and gold is 0.4% softer. WTI oil is up […] More
Equities and Crypto Up on this Risk-On Wednesday
March 29, 2023
Stock markets in Asia rose 2.1% in Hong Kong, 1.3% in Japan, and 1.2% in Indonesia. Among those in Europe so far, share prices are up 1.2% in France and Italy, 1.0% in Spain, 0.9% in Germany, and 0.9% in Great Britain. U.S. stock futures show an average rise of 0.8%. A 3.8% rise in […] More
Dollar Strengthens Ahead of Release of U.S. Personal Consumption Price Deflator
February 24, 2023
Broad-based dollar strength overnight has yielded appreciations of 0.8% against the Australian and New Zealand dollars, 0.7% relative to the yen, 0.5% versus the yuan, 0.4% vis-a-vis the loonie, peso and sterling and 0.3% against the euro. The weighted DXY dollar index is 3.6% above its level at the start of this month. Ten-year sovereign […] More
U.S. Official Rhetoric Restores Dollar’s Upward Trajectory
September 28, 2022
There will be no Plaza Accord this time, according to U.S. National Economic Council Director Brian Deese. The dollar had doubled in value against such currencies as the German mark from late 1980 to early 1985 and was generating big strains in trade flows. The dollar had corrected partly in the spring but was threatening […] More
Powell Predictably Didn’t Pull Any Punches in Jackson Hole Speech
August 26, 2022
The tone of Fed Chairman Powell’s keynote address today at the Jackson Hole Symposium was hawkish in spite of data released earlier in the day that revealed a larger July downtick in inflation than was forecast. Monetary policy will err toward restraint until officials are very sure that inflation is returning all the way to […] More
G7 Summit Wrapping Up, ECB to Raise Interest Rates, and Evidence of Softening Consumer and Business Confidence
June 28, 2022
Dollar movements overnight have been narrowly mixed, with declines of 0.4% against the loonie, 0.5% versus the ruble, 0.2% vis-a-vis the Australian dollar, and 0.1 relative to the Swiss franc but gains of 0.5% against the yen, 0.4% relative to the kiwi, 0.2% versus sterling, and 0.1% against the euro, peso and on a weighted […] More
