German CPI
Global Equities Extend Rise
July 11, 2023
Stock markets in the Pacific Rim rose 1.5% in Taiwan and Australia, 1.7% in South Korea, 1.0% in Hong Kong and Indonesia and 0.6% in China. An exception was a 0.3% dip in Japan’s Nikkei-225. The British FTSE thus far has also slipped 0.3%, but continental European share prices and U.S. stock futures are in […] More
Almost Solid Front of Hawkish Central Bank Policies With a Mounting Focus on Squelching Wage Pressure and Service Sector Prices
June 29, 2023
The leaders of the Federal Reserve, Bank of England, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan participated in a panel discussion yesterday. Powell, Bailey, and Lagarde attempted to outdo each other in displaying their commitment to lowering inflation. Whatever the cost in the short run, each insisted the long-term costs would be even greater if […] More
U.S. April CPI Figures Not Worse Than Expected, and That Just May Be Sufficient for Fed Policy to Pause
May 10, 2023
The dollar fell overnight by 0.6% against the yen, 0.3% relative to the euro, 0.2% vis-a-vis the Australian and New Zealand currencies, and 0.1% versus the British pound. Ten-year sovereign debt yields are down today by six basis points in the United States, five bps in France and Italy, four bps in Germany and the […] More
Softer Dollar, Lower Bond Yields, and Equities Recover Further
March 30, 2023
Risk-on trading continued overnight. The dollar fell 0.4% against the Swiss franc, 0.3% relative to the euro and yen, 0.2% versus the Australian dollar and sterling and 0.1% vis-a-vis the Canadian dollar, kiwi, and Mexican peso. Ten-year sovereign debt yields dipped 3 basis points in the U.K., 2 bps in Germany and a basis point […] More
Escalating Fear of a U.S. and Global Inflation
March 10, 2023
The subordination of U.S. monetary policy to an automatic formula tied to money growth in the early 1980’s was a politically effective way to put the economy in a deep recession and finally set inflation on a downward course. Nothing that drastic has been done yet, but investors are increasingly convinced that price stability can […] More
Dollar Begins March with a Decline, and Asian Equities Buoyed by Stronger-than-Expected Chinese Growth
March 1, 2023
The dollar fell back overnight by 1.0% against the euro and Chinese yuan, 1.5% versus the kiwi, 0.8% relative to the Australian dollar, 0.7% vis-a-vis the Swiss franc, 0.5% against the Japanese yen, 0.4% relative to the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso, and 0.3% versus sterling. The relaxation of Covid restrictions gave China’s economy a […] More
Dollar Down in Pre-Open Trading
February 9, 2023
The dollar fell broadly overnight, dropping 0.9% against the Australian and New Zealand dollars, 0.7% versus sterling, 0.5% relative to the euro and in weighted terms, 0.4% vis-a-vis the Japanese yen and Canadian dollar and 0.2% against the Chinese yuan. Equity markets have strengthened amid favorable earnings reports and soothing remarks from President Biden touting […] More
Chinese Data Greeted With Muted Market Reaction
January 17, 2023
A large menu of Chinese data releases proved not as weak as expected, but can the figures claimed by Beijing officials be believed as accurate? The muted reaction of investors suggests not. Chinese real GDP stagnated last quarter. Analysts were looking for a quarterly contraction of about 1% and consequently weren’t expecting year-on-year growth of […] More
2023 Opens on a Cautiously Hopeful Market Note
January 3, 2023
Share prices closed up 1.8% in Hong Kong, 0.9% in China, and 0.6% in Taiwan and Indonesia. Japan stayed closed for holiday. Stock markets have traded up at least 1.0% so far in today in Germany, France, Italy and the U.K., and U.S. equity futures show an upturn of about 0.9%. The mood change accompanying […] More
Financial Markets Exhibit Astounding Sensitivity to a Single Inflation Data Point
December 13, 2022
When the wires flashed news that U.S. CPI inflation in November was lower than forecast, share prices soared while the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield and the dollar plunged. The instant reaction of the stock market was significantly reduced in pretty short time, but the sensitivity of financial markets underscored how uncertain traders feel about current […] More
