U.S. current account
First Batch of September PMI Surveys, Fed Official Comments and the OECD Interim Global Economic Outlook
September 23, 2025
There was scant dollar movement overnight of 0.1% or less, and U.S. stock futures are also marking time ahead of a speech by Fed Chairman Powell. Share prices in the Pacific Rim closed up 1.0% in Japan, 1.4% in Taiwan and 1.1% in Indonesia but down by 0.7% in Hong Kong and 0.2% in China. […] More
Central Bank Roll Call
March 20, 2025
The immediate sigh of relief by market participants — expressed in higher share prices and a retreat of the 10-year Treasury yield — to yesterday’s Federal Reserve show quickly wore off during overnight hours. Less emphasis has been attached to the unchanged Fed signal of likely two interest rate cuts later this year and to […] More
Broad-Based Rally in Global Equities
September 19, 2024
Yesterday’s bold decision by Fed officials, who cut their interest rate by 50 basis points, ignited a rally across global stock markets today that has been shared by U.S. futures. In contrast to yesterday’s modestly lower closing levels, pre-open trading this morning currently points to gains of 2.2% in the Nasdaq, 1.7% in the S&P […] More
Busy Thursday Calendar for Central Bank Watchers
March 23, 2023
Wednesday belonged to the Federal Reserve, but no fewer than eight other central banks announced their interest rate decisions today. The Swiss National Bank’s policy interest rate was hiked 50 basis points to a 14-1/2 year high of 1.50%. Rate increases of 25 basis points were engineered by the Central Bank of Norway to 3.0%, […] More
Thursday Central Bank Derby Results in Japanese Forex Intervention, Many Interest Rate Hikes, and One Bizarre Cut
September 22, 2022
Net overnight movements in the dollar have ranged widely from a 1.8% plunge against the yen to a 1.1% rise versus the Swiss franc. In between, the dollar fell 0.3% versus the euro, Australian dollar, and sterling. After numerous rhetorical complaints by officials about the weakness of the yen, Japanese officials sold foreign currency directly […] More
Stagflationary Outlook Gaining Traction and Western Leaders in Brussels Plan Contingent Plans for Ukraine Crisis
March 24, 2022
The world’s attention today is on Brussels where U.S. President Biden will be meeting with NATO allies, the European Council of political leaders, and Other Group of Seven members. The meetings are meant to coordinate a response to Russia’s continuing invasion of Ukraine, where the use of Russian weapons of mass destruction appears increasingly probable. […] More
Volatile Markets as Investors Scramble to Assess Omicron Variant
December 21, 2021
Ten-year sovereign debt yields rose nine basis points overnight in the U.K., eight bps in Spain and Italy, seven bps in France, six bps in Germany, five bps in the United States and a basis point in Japan. The steep drop in stock markets was partially trimmed overnight, but equities still appear vulnerable. U.S. stock […] More
Equities Trying to Rebound and Dollar Slips a Bit Ahead of Wednesday’s FOMC Announcement
September 21, 2021
The dollar is down 0.15% against the DXY weighted index. Dollar/yen is unchanged from Monday’s closing level, and the greenback lost 0.1% overnight against the euro and sterling and 0.4% relative to the loonie and Swiss franc. U.S. stocks had suffered their steepest daily loss on Monday since May, and share prices in other markets […] More
Dollar Is a Touch Softer
June 23, 2021
The dollar is 0.1% softer against its DXY weighted index. The greenback slid 0.3% overnight against the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollars, 0.2% versus sterling and 0.1% relative to the yuan but firmed 0.1% against the yen and is unchanged against the euro, Swiss franc and Turkish lira. Equity markets are mixed. Share prices […] More
Dollar Strengthens on Comparatively Better U.S. Economic and Vaccine Deployment Outlook
March 23, 2021
The dollar advanced broadly overnight by 1.8% against the New Zealand dollar, 1.4% relative to the Turkish lira, 1.0% versus the Australian dollar, 0.7% against the Mexican peso, 0.6% vis-a-vis the Swiss franc and sterling, 0.5% against the euro and 0.4% versus the Canadian dollar and on a trade-weighted basis. Investors are awaiting today’s releases of […] More
