U.S. PPI
U.S. PPI and ECB Rate Announcement Fail To Clarify Confusion about Future Inflation and Central Bank Interest Rates
April 11, 2024
Central bankers have consistently sent a message that disinflation will be a bumpy process and that monetary policy normalization will hinge on growing confidence that inflation targets will be fully resecured. In other words, time and evolving information will dictate what is done. It is not apparent if inflation will meet these parameters without a […] More
Marking Time Ahead of U.S. Producer Price Release
February 16, 2024
The dollar is unchanged from Thursday closing levels against the euro, sterling, yuan, peso and Canadian dollar. The greenback has dipped 0.1% versus the Australian and New Zealand dollars but edged up 0.1% relative to the Swiss franc. Chinese markets remain shut as they’ve been all week in observance of the start of the Year […] More
U.S. PPI Report Just One of Many Price Releases Today… FOMC Meeting Will Be the Main Event
June 14, 2023
Even before the 08:30 release of U.S. producer prices, investors learned today that Wholesale price inflation in India had plunged more deeply below zero percent to -3.48%, a 78-month low. Wholesale prices in Germany during May also moved farther into deflationary territory of -2.6%, a 34-month low. Swedish consumer price inflation slowed in May to […] More
Lower Inflation But Spreading Troubles for Regional Banks
May 11, 2023
Investors remain edgy. PacWest is the latest bank to report a big exodus of deposits. Disney stock dropped sharply. The standoff in the debt ceiling talks hasn’t shown any sign of cracking. Equities closed down 0.8% in China, Indonesia, Taiwan and Australia. The German Dax and Dow Jones Industrials are also off 0.8% so far […] More
Fresh Wave of Concern Surrounding Financial Institutions
March 15, 2023
Equities had rebounded Tuesday following U.S. government measures to protect depositors and amid a slew of reassuring comments from the experts that 2023 is not 2008. In Asia overnight, stock markets had climbed 1.5% in Hong Kong, 1.4% in Singapore, 1.3% in South Korea, and 0.6% in China where growth in retail sales (+3.5% year-on-year […] More
Week Ends With a Disappointing U.S. Producer Price Report
December 9, 2022
Some Asian stock markets continued to rally on China’s announced relaxation of Covid restraint measures, which lessens a significant demand depressant in that key economy, but financial markets elsewhere around the world continue to fret over stagflation and the tightening of monetary policies. Next week will be the last one of 2022 before year-end conditions […] More
Fresh Developments Driving Investor Hopes
November 15, 2022
Equities in the Pacific Rim rose by 4.1% in Hong Kong, 2.6% in Taiwan, and 1.6% in China as yesterday’s talks between the presidents of the United States and China went as well as could have been expected considering their government’s significant differences. The South Korean Kospi rose only 0.2%, and Japan’s Nikkei dipped 0.1%. […] More
Dollar Hits New 21st Century High against the Yen, Falls Back 0.8% versus Sterling, and Otherwise Generally Stable
October 12, 2022
The yen touched a new 24-year low of 146.67 per dollar overnight. The Bank of Japan’s continuing negative short-term interest rate stands apart from other central bank policies. Direct currency market intervention can do only so much to limit the yen’s weakness. Japanese data reported this Wednesday showed a 4.3% on-year increase in machine tool […] More
Revolting Developments but the Dollar Rally Plays On and Central Bankers Scramble to Catch Up
July 14, 2022
Not for the first time this year, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s candid remarks about a deteriorating global economic outlook has fanned investors’ flight to safety. The litany of problems includes soaring inflation, tighter monetary policies, Russia’s relentless destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure, other geopolitical tensions, and weakening business and consumer confidence. He could have added […] More
Dollar Well-Bid Ahead of Tomorrow’s FOMC Rate Hike and Today’s PPI Report
June 14, 2022
The weighted dollar is trading just a tad below’s yesterday’s strongest reading since November 2002. Compared to closing levels in NY on Monday, the dollar has strengthened 0.5% against sterling and Mexican peso, 0.4% versus the Australian dollar, 0.3% relative to the Canadian dollar, 0.2% versus the kiwi, and 0.1% vis-a-vis the Japanese yen. The […] More
