U.S. consumer confidence
Balancing Strong Corporate Earnings Against Continuing Frustration Over Failure to Reopen the Strait of Hormuz
May 22, 2026
This week at least the lack of cheery news on the U.S./Iranian negotiating front was outweighed by proof of continuing heavy investment in AI and overall strong profitability in the tech industries. U.S. equities rose further today. Japan’s Nikkei leaped by 2.7% and was nearly matched by a rebound in Taiwanese equities. Stock markets rose […] More
More of the Same: Gentle Dollar Down-Drift and Resilient Equities
December 5, 2025
Friday has seen several data releases but without meaningful impact on world financial markets as 2025 draws closer to its end. Prior to the release of U.S. personal income & consumption, consumer confidence, and the all-important PCE price deflator, the dollar was trading 0.1% lower against the euro, Swiss franc and on a weighted basis. […] More
News of Likely Congressional CR Deal to Avert Government Shutdown Outweighs Impact of Further Weak Data and Escalated Verbal Trade War
March 14, 2025
Friday’s positive developments outweighed downside news in the market trenches. Overnight moves in the dollar were mixed, as the greenback gained 0.6% against the yen, 0.4% versus the Swissy, and 0.1% vis-a-vis sterling but fell by 0.9% against the peso, 0.7% relative to the kiwi, 0.5% versus the Aussie dollar and 0.4% against the Canadian […] More
Rate Cut Fever
September 25, 2024
In the wake of a disappointing and unexpected relapse in U.S. consumer confidence in the Conference Board’s monthly measure this month, financial markets are attaching greater odds to another interest rate cut by the FOMC at its early November meeting following the sizable 50-bp initial reduction made earlier this month. The consumer sentiment index printed […] More
Some Upside Data Surprises and Kyrgyzstan’s First Central Bank Rate Cut Since May 2019
November 29, 2022
The dollar traded lower this Tuesday and has so far lost 1.2% against the Aussie dollar, 1.0% relative to the kiwi, 0.8% versus the Mexican peso, 0.7% vis-a-vis the Chinese yuan, 0.5% against the yen and sterling and 0.3% versus the euro and loonie. The Swiss franc edged 0.1% higher, in contrast. A report out […] More
Rundown of Tuesday U.S. Data Releases
September 27, 2022
Home price inflation decelerated in July to a 15-month low of 16.1% according to the Case-Shiller index and to a 17-month low of 13.9% meaured by the FHFA index. The Dallas Fed manufacturing survey index weakened 4.3 points to a 2-month low of -17.2 in September, but the Richmond Fed manufacturing index recovered eight index […] More
Tuesday Rundown of U.S. Data Results
October 26, 2021
U.S. house price inflation remain high in August but not quite so torrid as in July. Compared to the prior month, the HPI rose 1.2% according to the Case-Shiller index of 20 metropolitan areas and 1.0% according the the FHFA index. The 12-month increase from the Case-Shiller survey was a 2-month low of 19.7%, down […] More
Heavy Day for Released Data
August 31, 2021
Typical of the final business day of the month, August 31, 2021 has experienced a bunch of reported data around the world. In financial markets, the dollar has slipped back 0.2% against its DXY weighted index but is up 0.5% compared to a month ago. Overnight moves in the dollar include drops of 0.2% versus […] More
China Remains in the Spotlight
July 27, 2021
The Shanghai Composite equity index fell 2.3% on Monday and another 2.5% on Tuesday reflecting the deteriorating relationship between the Chinese and U.S. governments and investor fears over intensifying Sino regulations constricting the business activities of foreign companies. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index has taken an even bigger blow, dropping 1.5% last Friday, 4.1% yesterday […] More
Partial Unwind of Monday’s Sharp Market Moves
January 28, 2020
Markets in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan remained closed on Tuesday. Stock exchanges in the Pacific Rim extended Monday’s losses with declines of 3.1% in South Korea, 1.8% in Singapore, 1.4% in Australia, and 1.1% in New Zealand. However, in European trading, Italian equities have jumped 1.6%, and there’s been a recovery so far of […] More
