National Bank of Romania
Xi-Trump Summit Is Over But Concerns about Iran and Inflation Continue
May 15, 2026
The meeting between the Chinese and U.S. presidents exuded friendly optics but failed to allay fears about the continuing shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz and rising inflationary pressures felt around the world. More military confrontations were reported today from the Middle East. The dollar wore its refuge currency crown as the 11th week of […] More
Suspense as Trump’s Deadline Draws Nearer
April 7, 2026
The deadline for Iran to meet all of Trump’s demands is now just twelve hours away. Four hours of unprecedentedly massive destruction to the country’s power and bridge infrastructure will ensue. ….Or the U.S. president might move the goal posts and reset the clock, as he’s done before. In the meantime as this state of […] More
Escalating Economic Conflict Between Europe and the United States
January 19, 2026
(156) Martin Luther King, Jr, the civil rights pioneer who espoused peace and brotherhood, would have been 97 years old, but on this commemorative observance of his birthday, President Trump has ramped up tensions with European nations opposed to his ownership demands on Greenland by threatening an additional tariff of 10% against Denmark, Norway, Germany, […] More
Dollar and Bond Yields Mixed Equities Mostly Gain
November 12, 2025
The U.S. stock market weathered the record long federal shutdown with surprising resilience and is now rising as the shutdown’s end approaches. The House of Representatives is expected to approve the funding extension today, after which the bill will go to the president to be signed. In pre-open futures trading, the SPX, DOW, Nasdaq and […] More
Gold, Oil, Dollar and Stocks Up, but Bond Prices and Bitcoin Down
August 8, 2025
Gold rose 0.8% overnight as gold bar imports were added to the reciprocal tariff list. The price of WTI oil firmed 0.5%, whereas Bitcoin’s cost slipped by 0.5%. U.S. stock markets opened moderately higher in contrast to declines of other stock markets this Friday amounting to 1.8% in India, 0.4% in Singapore, 0.6% in South […] More
Little Respite for Worried Investors
April 7, 2025
(197) The heavy selloff of riskier assets extended dynamically into a fresh week. President Trump has shown no inclination of blinking first on his broadly based and very large tariff hikes. Reactions by other countries have been mixed. The ten-year U.S. Treasury yield eased another basis point and is now below 4.0%. Comparable German bund […] More
Electrifying Market Response to U.S. December CPI Data
January 15, 2025
At first glance, today’s huge sigh of relief by investors appears overly optimistic. They previously were fearful that disinflation may have run out of steam, or worse, given way to a fresh upward cycle. The total consumer price index increased 0.4% on month, propelled by a 2.6% leap in the energy component. Year-on-year inflation, a […] More
Better Market Tone Than Earlier This Week
April 4, 2024
There’s an old adage not to bet against the central bank. Market participants earlier this week had been unnerved by fears that disinflation is stalling amid improving aggregate demand. Yesterday’s speech at Stanford University by Fed Chairman Powell depicted essentially unchanged forward policy guidance. The precise path of the federal funds target may be currently […] More
Hotter-than-Predicted U.S. CPI Data Elicit Adverse Market Reaction
February 13, 2024
U.S. consumer price inflation unexpectedly remained above 3.0% in January. A 0.3% monthly increase was the most since September, and the 12-month rate of increased slowed less sharply than forecast, returning to November’s 5-month low of 3.1% but showing no net improvement since 3.0% recorded last June. U.S. core consumer prices, which exclude food and […] More
Wave of Risk Aversion Following Moody’s Downgrade of Mid-Sized Banks and China’s Weak Trade Figures
August 8, 2023
Ten-year sovereign debt yields plunged overnight by 16 basis points in France, 15 bps in Germany and Spain, 12 bps in the U.K. and nine basis points in the United States. Prices for gold and oil have dropped 0.4% and 2.3%, while that for Bitcoin advanced 0.7%. Share prices fell 1.8% in Hong Kong and […] More
