Yellen
Oil Rebounds and Another Warning against Rapid Yen Swings
April 8, 2016
West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 3.5% to $37.56 per barrel, taking some shine of the risk averse mood of recent sessions. There’s some hope that a scheduled OPEC meeting later this month could produce an accord with Russia to limit production. Share prices in Europe have rebounded 3.2% in Italy, 1.6% in Greece, 1.3% […] More
High-Flying Yen
April 7, 2016
The yen climbed to new highs for the move of 108.02 per dollar and 123.12 per euro. The yen overnight gained 1.3% on balance against the U.S. currency despite yesterday’s hint from a Ministry of Finance official that intervention is possible. Today, Prime Minister Abe seemed to undermine that threat, saying that countries should not […] More
Easter Monday
March 28, 2016
Markets are closed in Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., Sweden, Finland, Australia, and New Zealand for Easter Monday and in South Africa for Family Day. No meaningful data have been reported out of Asia or Europe. U.S. personal income and spending figures get released later today, as do pending home sales. The main take-away from […] More
Torrential Data and Continuing High Market Volatility
September 30, 2015
Considerable economic data were released on this final day of the third quarter. Markets await speeches from Fed Chair Janet Yellen and New York Fed District President Dudley. Share prices rebounded 2.1% in Australia, 1.9% in Hong Kong, 1.5% in India, 1.1% in Indonesia, 2.7% in Japan, 1.0% in South Korea and 0.8% in China. […] More
Dollar and European Equities Firm after Yellen Clarification
September 25, 2015
Fed Chair Yellen in a speech at the University of Massachusetts repeated that an interest rate hike by yearend is likely and indicated that she personally favored starting gradual rate normalization by then. Investors seem pleased with that clarification and reduction of policy uncertainty. Japanese core consumer prices fell 0.1% on year in August, returning […] More
Dollar and European Equities Firm after Yellen Clarification
September 25, 2015
Fed Chair Yellen in a speech at the University of Massachusetts repeated that an interest rate hike by yearend is likely and indicated that she personally favored starting gradual rate normalization by then. Investors seem pleased with that clarification and reduction of policy uncertainty. Japanese core consumer prices fell 0.1% on year in August, returning […] More
Ugly Day for Stocks
September 22, 2015
Equities in Europe have plunged 3.1% in France, 2.8% in Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland and 2.1% in Britain. U.S. futures point to a debacle here, too. VW shares continued to implode. Stocks in Asia had been more mixed, with Japan still closed for the second of three straight days in a bridge between Respect […] More
Draghi, Yellen and Greece in the News
July 16, 2015
Not much data were released in Asia and Europe today. ECB President Draghi’s press conference at 12:30 GMT will be dominated by questions about Greece. As expected, ECB interest rates were left unchanged by the Governing Council. The refinancing rate, deposit rate, and marginal lending rate stay at 0.05%, -0.20%, and 0.30%. With violent protests […] More
Positive Reaction to Tuesday’s Yellen Testimony and China Reopens
February 25, 2015
Today is a quiet day from a data-release standpoint, so investors will be looking to testimonies by Fed Chairperson Yellen and ECB President Draghi for direction. Yellen reprises yesterday’s Humphrey-Hawkins semiannual appearance before congress, this time testifying to the House Financial Services Committee. Draghi will be speaking before the EU parliament. The ECB took a […] More
Awaiting Janet Yellen’s Semi-Annual Humphrey-Hawkins Testimony
February 24, 2015
Day One of Fed Chair Yellen’s testimony on the economy and monetary policy begins at 10:00 before the Senate Banking Committee. On Wednesday, she will reprise the testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. The testimony comes amid rising Congressional hostility to an independent central bank. Indeed, a major question before the American people in […] More
