Merkel
Sterling Up, Yuan Down
August 22, 2019
Sterling strengthened 0.9% against the dollar and euro overnight. This appreciation was a response to remarks by German Chancellor Merkel after talks with British Prime Minister Johnson. Merkel considers a solution on the contentious border issue between Northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland still possible by the October 31st Brexit deadline. The Chinese yuan […] More
New Highs for the Dollar
January 5, 2015
Fresh U.S. dollar highs for the move were set overnight of 1.1867 per euro, 1.5178 per pound, 0.8035 per AUD, CHF 1.0295 and C$ 1.1845. The U.S. currency is currently below its overnight peaks but retains gains from Friday’s closing of 0.8% against the euro, 0.7% versus the Swiss franc, 0.6% relative to sterling, 0.4% […] More
No Respite from Volatility
October 16, 2014
The dollar and yen were well bid overnight. Japan’s currency climbed 0.3% against the greenback, which otherwise advanced 1.3% relative to the Australian dollar, 0.9% vis-a-vis the kiwi, 0.8% against the loonie, 0.6% versus the euro and Swissie but just 0.1% against sterling. Stocks slumped overnight by 2.2% in Japan, 1.4% in Singapore, 1.3% in […] More
Historic Bank of Japan Two-Day Policy Board Meeting Began
January 21, 2013
Currency markets will lack U.S. leadership today. It’s Martin Luther King Day, and attention will be fixed on the Obama inaugural speech. A warning directed at China by U.S. Secretary of State Clinton against a unilateral action in the Sino-Japanese Island dispute drew criticism from China’s Foreign Ministry. Euro area finance ministers began a two-day […] More
Transformative Election Results in Japan
December 17, 2012
Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party captured 294 seats in the lower house of parliament, a massive gain from the 119 seats it held previously. Along with New Komeito’s 31-seat total, the incoming coalition will control a “supermajority” of 325 seats, more than 2/3rds of the 480 seats in that legislative chamber, and that total will enable […] More
Little Change in Dollar as Draghi Defends Non-Standard Measures
August 29, 2012
The dollar is 0.2% stronger against the euro, Swissie, and yen. The greenback also eased 0.1% versus sterling and the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollars. The yuan is steady. In a published interview, ECB Pdt Draghi, who will not be attending the Jackson Hole Symposium this weekend, took on his German and Dutch critics, […] More
Strengthening Euro
August 21, 2012
The euro climbed 0.9% against the dollar and touched a six-week peak against the yen of 99.075 overnight. By policy design, the Swiss franc also advanced 0.9% against the greenback, moving in tandem with the euro. The U.S. currency has also lost 0.6% versus the New Zealand dollar, 0.5% relative to the Aussie dollar, 0.4% […] More
Growth Outlook Weighing on Investor Psychology
July 16, 2012
The dollar has risen by 0.5% against the euro, 0.4% versus the Swiss franc, 0.2% relative to sterling, and 0.1% against the Australian dollar, but the greenback also lost 0.1% against the kiwi and yuan and 0.3% vis-a-vis the yen. Premier Wen said the slowdown in China’s economy may last for some time. Hardline remarks […] More
Germany Losing the High Moral Ground
June 27, 2012
The nearly three-year-old euro debt and banking crisis is a regional crisis within a global financial crisis that first broke out two years earlier. The stresses of the Great Recession exposed shortcomings in the European Economic and Monetary Union that must be fixed if the arrangement is to persevere. Until recently, Germany occupied the moral […] More
Risk Appetite Attempting to Stage a Recovery
January 10, 2012
Stocks, commodity prices and commodity-sensitive currencies are higher. Share prices rose 3.3% in China, 2.2% in India, 1.3% in Indonesia, and 1.1% in Singapore and Australia. In Europe, the German Dax, Paris Cac and British Ftse have so far risen 2.5%, 2.3%, and 1.2% on the day. Oil and gold prices have climbed 1.6% each […] More