U.S. new home sales
Takeaways from Today’s U.S. Data Releases
January 26, 2023
Quarterly U.S. real GDP growth of 2.9% annualized in the final quarter slightly exceeded expectations and was only marginally slower than the third quarter’s 3.2% pace. Despite back-to-back contractions of 1.6% in 1Q and 0.6% in 2Q, GDP still managed to expand on average by 2.1% in 2022 after the prior year’s rebound of 5.9%. […] 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
Weather Extremes, Covid, and Sino-U.S. Government Talks on Investors’ Minds
July 26, 2021
The starting round of high level talks between China and the United States has not gone well. Much of the world including both those countries are experiencing extreme weather conditions this summer. Talk of emerging from the Covid pandemic is looking premature as reported infections rise in many places. In the United States, such reached […] More
Monetary Policy Differences Starting to Emerge Across Nations
February 24, 2021
The dollar weakened 0.7% overnight against its closest neighbors, the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar. The greenback also fell by 0.6% versus the kiwi, 0.2% relative to the yuan, and 0.1% vis-a-vis the Australian dollar and sterling but advanced 0.6% relative to the Japanese yen and 0.3% vis-a-vis the Swiss franc. Equities were clobbered in […] More
Sterling Looking a Touch Fragile
December 23, 2019
The weakest major currency this Monday has been sterling, which has slipped below $1.30 and by 0.4% in all from Friday’s close. The U.S. dollar otherwise has been mixed, dipping 0.2% against both the Australian and New Zealand dollars and 0.1% relative to the yen and euro. The dollar alternatively shows slight gains of 0.2% […] More
More Evidence that Tariffs Are Hurting Manufacturing All Over
July 24, 2019
Preliminary purchasing manager survey results from July in Japan, Australia, Euroland, and the U.S. were published today, and their main message is that trade wars hurt just about everybody. Japan’s manufacturing PMI printed below 50 for a third straight month and the fifth time in six months. Readings under 50 imply a contraction of activity. […] More
Softer Dollar and Share Prices
July 25, 2018
The dollar fell 0.8% overnight against the peso and 0.5% versus the yuan, and it has slipped 0.3% against the loonie, 0.1% vis-a-vis the Australian dollar, and 0.2% relative to the yen, euro, Swiss franc, kiwi, and sterling. Share price losses amount to 0.3% in Taiwan and South Korea, 0.8% in the U.K., 0.6% in […] More
Little Change in Dollar after Long Thanksgiving Holiday Break
November 27, 2017
The dollar turned into the final week of November, showing no overnight net movement against the loonie, Australian dollar or sterling, a dip of 0.1% against the euro and a 0.1% uptick relative to the Swiss franc. Slightly larger declines of 0.4% have occurred against the kiwi and yen. Commodity prices fell rather significantly. West […] More
Sovereign Debt Yields Lower on Last Business Day Before Christmas
December 23, 2016
Ten-year sovereign debt yields retreated four basis points in Germany and Italy, three bps in U.K., France and Canada and two bps in the United States. Japan’s market is shut to commemorate the Emperor’s birthday. The dollar slipped 0.2% overnight against the euro and yen but climbed against commodity-sensitive currencies and sterling. The greenback is […] More
Chinese Central Bank to the Rescue — Really No Big Deal
August 25, 2015
The People’s Bank of China reduced its one-year lending and deposit rates by 25 basis points each to 4.60% and 1.75% while also slicing its reserve requirement ratio to 18.0% from 18.5%. Stock markets rebounded on the news. Near 10:30 EDT, key U.S. stock market indices were up by 2.5-3%. In Europe, share prices gained […] More
