U.S. PPI
Market’s Initial Reaction to American Rescue Plan Not Favorable
January 15, 2021
U.S. stock futures point to a decline of at least 0.5% at the open. Stock markets closed Friday with losses of 2.0% in South Korea, 1.1% in India, 0.9% in Indonesia, 0.8% in New Zealand, 0.6% in Taiwan and Japan. Equities are currently down about 1% in the U.K., Germany, France and Spain. The 10-year […] More
Stymied Effort to Get Fiscal Package and Covid Concerns Depress Stocks and Lift Dollar
December 11, 2020
While bipartisan consensus has emerged over the size of a U.S. fiscal stimulus (slightly above $900 billion), disagreement over the composition of relief and particularly over the issue of liability protection for businesses continues to prevent a senate vote before Christmas. There also is no trade deal yet between Great Britain and the European Union, […] More
Marginally Softer Dollar
October 14, 2020
The U.S. dollar edged down overnight by 0.3% against sterling, 0.2% relative to the Australian and New Zealand dollars, and 0.1% versus the yuan, Swiss franc and yen, while holding steady vis-a-vis the euro and loonie. The dollar price of gold firmed 0.5%. Stock markets in the Pacific Rim rose 0.9% in Indonesia, 0.7% in […] More
Some Sizable Financial Market Moves Overnight
August 11, 2020
The dollar lost 0.4% against the euro, Swiss franc, Australian dollar and Mexican peso. The U.S. currency also fell 0.5% versus the Canadian dollar, 0.3% relative to sterling, 0.2% vis-a-vis the Chinese yuan, and 0.1% against the kiwi but ticked 0.1% higher versus the yen. This time, dollar depreciation wasn’t correlated with a strengthening price […] More
Waves of Pessimism Persist on Numerous Fronts
June 11, 2020
The spreading of Covid-19 infections has intensified in several areas including big U.S. states like California, Florida, and Texas. Total U.S. reported cases eclipsed 2 million and at 2.066 million now represent 27.6% of the global total. As forecast by medical experts, reopening businesses has occurred at a clear cost, and this trade-off can be […] More
Politicians Between a Rock and a Hard Place, and Investors Lack Confidence that the Right Choices Will Be Made
May 13, 2020
Investors are concerned about the grim warnings from medical experts yesterday about the dangers of reopening business prematurely and without a plan for dealing with localized flare-ups of the pandemic. Hong Kong reported a new case after weeks without one. At the same time, frightening data continue to be reported, and worries are mounting that […] More
Worst Day Yet
March 12, 2020
Ironically on the one-month anniversary of the DJIA record high close, financial markets have experienced a calamitous session, and the catalyst for intensifying chaos was President Trump’s prime-time speech last night on the coronavirus pandemic. The tally of global cases stands now at 129,296 with 4,749 dead so far. Equity markets fell today by 11.7% […] More
Risk Preference Restored to Some Extent
February 19, 2020
EUR/USD is unchanged from yesterday’s closing level. The dollar is also flat against the yuan and kiwi, up most strongly versus the yen (0.8%) and then 0.3% relative to sterling. To the surprise of few, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is not proving to be as adept at governance as he was at running for election. […] More
Share Prices Slip
January 15, 2020
If all goes as planned, the Phase One trade deal between China and the United States will be signed today, but significant tariffs remain. The quarterly meeting of branch managers at the Bank of Japan downgraded economic conditions in three of the nine main regions but found none to be experiencing contracting growth and remained […] More
Central Banks, Economic Data Surprises, and British Voters in the News This Thursday
December 12, 2019
Polls in Britain’s parliamentary election today will close at 22:00 GMT 17:00 EST. The fate of Brexit is at stake. U.S. producer prices stayed unchanged in November, defying expectations of an increase and leaving the 12-month increase at 1.1%. An even bigger surprise was a leap in new jobless insurance claims last week to 252k, […] More
