Manufacturing PMIs
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
Dollar, U.S. Share Prices and 10-Year Treasury Yield Fall
March 2, 2020
The mood of investors turned dark again even before the U.S. market open in spite of overnight share price rebounds of 3.2% in China, 1.0% in Japan, 0.8% in South Korea and 0.6% in Hong Kong. A brief respite was aided by special statement from Fed Chairman Powell: The fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain […] More
Markets Guided by Fresh Urge to Seek Safety
January 3, 2020
Safe haven currencies like the dollar and yen rose overnight. Investors shifted funds out of stocks, which had soared Thursday, into fixed income securities. 10-year sovereign debt yields fell five basis points each in the U.S., Germany and Great Britain. Equity markets dropped 0.8% in Japan, 0.6% in Indonesia and Australia, and 0.4% in India […] More
Holidays, Manufacturing PMSs, and A Hurricane for the Ages
September 2, 2019
It’s Labor Day in the United States and Canada. When Hurricane Dorian hit the northern Bahama Islands, it became the strongest Atlantic Hurricane to make landfall. Dorian is currently 120 miles east of West Palm Beach and crawling very slowly, with the hope that it will veer north rather than move over Florida. The dollar […] More
Central Banks and Manufacturing PMI Reports in the Spotlight
August 1, 2019
The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee left policy settings unchanged by a unanimous 9-0 vote as was expected. Today’s report coincided with the release of the quarterly Inflation Report. Projected growth in the U.K. last quarter was likely zero percent and that for 2019 has been lowered to 1.3%. The forecast assumes a Brexit […] More
U.S. and Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Manager Indices Each Fell Last Month
July 1, 2019
The ISM-compiled U.S. manufacturing PMI slipped 0.4 points in June to a 32-month low of 51.7 despite more rapid expansion in production. A pronounced slowdown in demand and a drop in prices were the driving forces. Euroland’s IHS-compiled PMI, meanwhile, edged just 0.1 point lower to a 3-month low of 47.6, marking the sixth consecutive […] More
Risk Preference Restored after China and U.S. Postpone Tariff Escalation
July 1, 2019
Trump and Xi agreed that their government negotiators would keep talking about trade. Feared jump in tariffs avoided for now. Share prices advanced 2.2% in China, 2.1% in Hong Kong and Japan, and 1.5% in Singapore and Taiwan. The S&P 500 is 1.2% higher. European stock market gains so far amount to 1.3% in Germany, […] More
Hawkish Central Bank Actions, Released Factory Surveys, and U.S. Politics in Turmoil
May 2, 2019
The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to leave its Base Rate at 0.75% but indicated that markets aren’t discounting enough future rate increases. The MPC’s statement affirms An ongoing tightening of monetary policy over the forecast period, at a gradual pace and to a limited extent, would be appropriate to return inflation […] More
Holidays and Waiting for the FOMC Rate Announcement
May 1, 2019
Many centers are closed for May Day/Labour Day observances, including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Norway, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand. Japan’s Golden week continues with today’s accession of Naruhito as emperor, and India’s Maharashtra Day has been marred by vandalism in which fire […] More
Stocks and Sovereign Debt Yields Up on Better-than-Expected Chinese and British Manufacturing Data
April 1, 2019
This is not an April Fool’s joke. China’s NBS manufacturing purchasing managers index climbed 1.3 points to a 6-month high of 50.5 in March from February’s 3-year low, while the Caixin-compiled Chinese manufacturing PMI reading of 50.8 constituted an 8-month high. Also, the NBS nonmanufacturing PMI rose 0.5 points to a 6-month high as well […] More
