German retail sales
Afghanistan, Covid, and August Purchasing Manager Surveys
September 1, 2021
On this 82nd anniversary of the start of World War II, U.S. military forces have left Afghanistan, creating a whole new source of geopolitical uncertainty. The rapidly spreading Delta Variant of the Covid-19 pandemic remains the dominant economic and political wild card. There were over 160k newly identified U.S. cases of Covid yesterday, and almost […] More
Investors Upbeat In Spite of Worrisome Covid Trends
August 2, 2021
Share prices on the first business day of August in the Pacific Rim closed up 2.0% in China, 1.8% in Japan, 1.5% in Taiwan, 1.3% in Australia, 1.2% in New Zealand, 1.1% in Hong Kong, and 0.7% in South Korea. Gains so far in Europe amount to 0.9% in France, 0.8% in Spain, 0.6% in […] More
Good Day for the Dollar and a Bad One for the Turkish Lira
June 2, 2021
The U.S. dollar strengthened 0.4% against its weighted DXY index overnight, advancing by 0.6% relative to the Swiss franc, 0.5% versus the Australian and New Zealand dollars, 0.4% against the euro, and 0.3% vis-a-vis the Japanese yen. Among the major currencies, only the British pound (+0.1%) outperformed the dollar. At the other extreme, the Turkish […] More
Reminders that Covid’s Negative Effect on Economic Activity Isn’t Going Away Quickly
March 2, 2021
Yesterday was a good day from a data release point of view, and equities rallied around the world. Today’s news has been more sobering. German retail sales, which had tumbled 9.1% in December but been forecast to be fairly flat in January, instead took a further 4.5% dive and recorded an even greater year-on-year slide […] More
Big Stakes in Today’s Georgian Senate Votes: Investors Await Outcome
January 5, 2021
Polls close at 19:00 EST (midnight GMT) in Georgia where both senate seats are being contested today in runoff elections. Democrats need to win each seat in order to control the senate and oust Mitch McConnell as the upper chamber’s gatekeeper to all legislation. The outcome is uncertain and awaited by investors. Stock markets, where […] More
U.K./EU Trade Talks and U.S. Fiscal Stimulus Negotiations Getting Late
December 2, 2020
Time is fast running out for post-Brexit trade talks between the European Union and British government and for U.S. congressional fiscal stimulus negotiations. Both of these remain bogged down, and failure to compromise would have adverse short-term economic implications. Investors are becoming more uneasy. Sterling dropped 0.9% against the dollar overnight, and U.S. and European […] More
Equities Still Well Bid for the Most Part
September 2, 2020
Fed Governor Brainard’s call for more fiscal and monetary stimulus encouraged the risk appetite of investors overnight especially in European trading. Ten-year German bund and British gilt yields fell by 3 basis points each, and stock markets have risen by 2.3% in France and Germany, 2.2% in Italy, 1.7% in Switzerland, and 1.6% in Great […] More
Stock Markets Open Third Quarter on a Downbeat Despite Higher Factory PMI Readings
July 1, 2020
Share prices fell 0.8% in Japan and show daily losses so far of about 1.5% in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The British Ftse is 1.1% weaker, and U.S. futures point to a drop at the open. Euroland’s June purchasing managers index printed at a 4-month high of 47.4, which is half a point above […] More
Market Strains in Spite of Some Better-than-Feared Economic Data
April 1, 2020
The second quarter and Japan’s new fiscal year began on a difficult note for world financial markets. The Japanese Nikkei slumped 4.5%, while markets in India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Singapore closed down 4.1%, 3.9%, 2.2%, 1.6% and 1.4%. The German Dax and Paris Cac are currently each 4.1%, while share price losses […] More
More Evidence of a Global Slowdown
July 2, 2019
The dollar fell 0.4% against the Australian currency and 0.3% vis-a-vis the Japanese yen but is little changed otherwise. Equity markets in the pacific Rim slid 0.4% in South Korea and 0.3% in Taiwan but advanced 1.1% in China. In Europe, the British Ftse is up 0.5%, but the German Dax is unchanged. The U.S. […] More
