purchasing manager surveys
Market Hopes Hinging on a Big U.S. Fiscal Stimulus
March 24, 2020
Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. congress have still not reached agreement on fiscal policy, but markets are apparently more hopeful that it will get done soon. As a result, stock markets, commodity prices, and sovereign debt prices are up, while the dollar gave up some recent gains overnight. The global count of confirmed coronavirus […] More
Dollar Continuing to Flourish Amid Coronavirus Concerns
February 21, 2020
The dollar climbed overnight by 0.8% against the peso, 0.3% relative to the Australian and New Zealand dollars and 0.1% versus the Chinese Renminbi. There have been dips of 0.3% against sterling, 0.2% versus the Swiss franc and 0.1% relative to the yen and euro. Dollar strength can be seen against a broad spectrum of […] More
Meaningful Data from Abroad and a Paralyzed U.S. Federal Government
November 22, 2019
Today’s main dollar move has been a 0.4% rise against sterling. Provisional U.K. purchasing manager survey results from November revealed surprisingly weaker-than-expected developments. The composite PMI fell 1.5 points to a sub-50 reading of 48.5, lowest since July 2016 or, that is, right after the infamously ill-advised Brexit referendum. Both manufacturing (48.3) and services (48.6) […] More
Central Bankers Less Confident about What To Do
February 21, 2019
FOMC minutes from the late January policy review clarified that the Committee’s new buzz word “patience” reflects uncertainty as to what outlook the latest economic data and other factors may be implying. “In light of the range of uncertainties associated with global economic and financial developments, the Committee decided that it was not useful at […] More
Turkish Lira Slumps while Global Equities Perform Better
July 24, 2018
Turkey’s sharp monetary tightening in May and June was unexpectedly not extended further this month, and the lira fell as much as 4% today. Turkish bond prices also fell sharply. Turkey’s 14-year CPI inflation high of 15.4% is still cresting. In yet another state under authoritarian rule, Hungary’s central bank also left monetary policy unchanged […] More
A Newsworthy Start to the Week
May 23, 2016
At the weekend meeting in Japan of Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers, participants disagreed over the yen, expressed concern about Brexit and, more generally, the outlook for global growth, and pledged coordinated effort to prevent the financing of terrorism. U.S. Treasury Secretary Lew towed the precedent pledge not to engage in competitive […] More
Sterling’s the Biggest Loser Against a Strengthening Dollar
February 22, 2016
Sterling fell 2.0% against the U.S. currency, which also has risen 0.9% against the euro, 0.8% relative to the Swiss franc and 0.5% vis-a-vis the yen. Emerging market currencies and commodity-sensitive monies have also performed well this Monday. The U.S. dollar lost 1.1% against the Aussie dollar, 0.4% versus the kiwi, 0.5% against the rand […] More
After FOMC Minutes, a Bunch of New Data Releases and ECB Minutes
May 21, 2015
FOMC minutes released late yesterday suggest that a June rate hike is possible but improbable. Today’s release of ECB Governing Council minutes, known formally as the “ECB Account,” reflect determination to complete the entire program of quantitative easing scheduled to run through September 2016, satisfaction with how QE is working thus far, but continuing frustration […] More
Scant Change in the Dollar on a Busy Data Release Day
November 20, 2014
The dollar has dipped 0.1% against the loonie, kiwi, and yuan and edged 0.1% higher versus the euro, Swissie and Australian dollar. Sterling is steady. The yen is down 0.2% on balance but touched new lows for the move overnight of 118.99 per dollar and 149.17 per euro. In the past two years since November […] More
Little Growth and Even Less Inflation
October 23, 2014
As on Wednesday, data released today have accentuated subdued growth and disinflation. The kiwi fell 1% against the U.S. dollar, which otherwise shows no change against the loonie, Australian dollar or yuan, downticks of 0.2% relative to the euro and Swiss franc, and rises of 0.3% vis-a-vis the yen and 0.2% against sterling. Share prices […] More
