Japanese consumer confidence
Dollar Buoyed by Higher U.S. Long-Term Interest Rates and Reinvigorated Hawkish Fedspeak
March 2, 2023
In overnight action, the dollar advanced 0.6% against the euro, sterling, yuan and kiwi and by 0.5% relative to the yen and Australian dollar. At 4.07%, the ten-year U.S. Treasury yield has climbed 8 basis points today and 67 basis points over the four weeks since February 2nd. The Federal Reserve District presidents in Minnesota […] 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
U.S. Political Stress, PMI Services, A U.S. Jobs Report Shocker, and FOMC Minutes on Today’s Radar Screen
January 6, 2021
In the Georgian senate runoff elections, Warnock has apparently beaten his Republican opponent, and Ossoff holds a razor-thin 50.2%/49.8% lead over the Republican incumbent with 98% of ballots counted. If these leads hold, Democrats would take over the senate majority. The congress is scheduled to tally the state certified presidential electoral voting results this afternoon […] 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
Share Prices Up on Hopes that Covid-19 May Be Starting to Lessen
April 6, 2020
Stock markets in the Pacific Rim rallied 4.3% in Australia, 4.2% in Japan and South Korea, 4.1% in Indonesia, 2.2% in Hong Kong, and 1.6% in Taiwan. China and India did not partake in this rebound as those markets were closed Monday for the Ching Ming Festival and Mahavir Jayanti Holiday. Equities in Europe have […] More
Markets Looking for Action, Not Words, as Virus Spreads
March 3, 2020
Share prices had rallied sharply on Monday amid hopes for an appropriately forceful policy response to counteract the drag from the spreading covid-19 pandemic. The OCED is warning that global growth this year will slow to an 11-year low even if the virus impact is comparatively short-lived and that growth could be as low as […] More
Many Data Releases while Investors Monitor Coronavirus and Await FOMC Decision
January 29, 2020
China remains closed ostensibly for holiday but in reality due to the spreading coronavirus epidemic with the number of confirmed cases so far surpassing 6,000. Taiwan markets also were shut. The dollar firmed overnight by 0.3% against the kiwi, 0.2% relative to the euro, Swiss franc, loonie and Aussie dollar, and 0.1% vis-a-vis the peso […] More
Dollar Firms Modestly; Equity Markets are Mixed
January 8, 2020
The dollar recorded overnight gains of 0.3% against the euro, 0.2% versus the yen and sterling, and 0.1% vis-a-vis the loonie. The dollar remains unchanged relative to the yuan, Swiss franc and kiwi. ADP estimates that U.S. private-sector employment increased last month by a robust 202k, beating November’s result and exceeding analyst expectations. There was […] More
Nervous Market Tone Continuing
October 2, 2019
Investors remain leery that policymakers are up to the task of containing the slowdown of global growth. Monetary stimulus has grown old and less effective, while fiscal support is largely missing in action. The trade war motors on even as evidence such as the September purchasing manager surveys show that nobody wins. British Prime Minister […] More
Some Weak Data from Japan and Germany and No End to U.S. Government Shutdown
January 8, 2019
Consumer confidence in Japan ended 2018 at a 25-month low. A 1.9% plunge in German industrial production in November has raised the risk of a second consecutive quarterly contraction of real GDP in Europe’s largest economy. GDP fell 0.2% in the third quarter, and industrial output posted back-to-back month-on-month declines of 0.8% in October and […] More