The record of the ECB’s December meeting was released, and there are two takeaways. The first is that officials may have been more concerned with the deteriorating situation than they let on at the time. Apparently, paring near-term growth forecasts was seen as a sufficient signal that risks were increasing. This allowed Draghi to maintain the “broadly balanced” risk assessment. Although Draghi did acknowledge that the...
Read More »FX Daily, January 11: Trade Optimism and the Recovery in Oil Boosts Risk Appetites
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.26% at 1.1287 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 11(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Optimism on trade talks between the US and China coupled with the biggest rally in WTI in two years (11%+) have helped keep the equity market recovery intact.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose today, the eighth time in the past ten...
Read More »FX Daily, January 10: Equity Bounce Stalls while the Greenback Steadies at Lower Levels
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.39% at 1.1288 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 10(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Equities, bonds and the dollar are consolidating the moves seen earlier this week. This means equities are trading heavy and bonds firmer. The euro is paring gains that carried it to its best level (~$1.1570) since mid-October. After...
Read More »FX Daily, January 09: Equities Continue Recovery, Greenback Remains Heavy
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.08% at 1.1233 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 9(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Global equities have extended the New Year rally. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced for the fifth consecutive session and the 10th in the past 11. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 in Europe is rising for the second consecutive session,...
Read More »Keep Fitch’s Warning in Perspective
- Click to enlarge The global head of Fitch’s sovereign ratings warned that the continued US government shutdown could jeopardize the AAA-status the rating agency grants America. It spurred little market reaction (and for good reason). First, the rating cut is not imminent, though some of the headlines suggest otherwise. Fitch’s McCormack though was clear: ” If the shutdown continues to March 1 and the debt ceiling...
Read More »FX Daily, January 8: Dollar Steadies, but Weakly for Turn-Around Tuesday
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.15% at 1.1222 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 8(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The global capital markets remain calm after the surge in volatility seen over the last couple of weeks. Asian equities were mixed, with the Japanese, Australia and Indian shares gaining, but other large regional markets, like China,...
Read More »FX Daily, January 07: Recovery Falters in Europe
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.08% at 1.1229 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, January 07(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The combination of robust US jobs and wage growth, more comforting words from Powell and a strong rally US stocks before the weekend helped lift Asian markets today and underpinned risk-taking appetites. However, renewed protests in France (and Hungary)...
Read More »FX Weekly Preview: For the Millionth Time, Markets Exaggerate
The S&P 500 fell more than 12% in a few weeks. The 10-year Treasury yield fell nearly 40 bp. There were cries that the sky was falling. A recession is imminent, we are warned by prognosticators. The Fed went ahead and raised interest rates on March 21, 2018, and the S&P 500 proceeded to gap lower the next day and continued to sell-off the following day. Investors did not like the unanimous decision. Yet far from...
Read More »Apple, China, Yen, and US Jobs: Welcome to 2019
The New Year is off to an auspicious start. The Japanese yen, the third most actively traded currency behind the dollar and euro, got caught in a vortex of a retail short squeeze, algos, and who knows what else. The US dollar plunged from around JPY109 to a slightly below JPY105 in a few minutes a little more than an hour after US markets closed yesterday. Japanese markets were still closed for the holiday, which may...
Read More »A Word on Q3 COFER-It Might not be What You Think
The IMF offers the most authoritative report on central bank reserves on a quarterly basis with a quarter lag. The report, the Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER), covering Q318 has been released. It may be have been overlooked during the holidays, but if and when the pundits see it, the leading takeaway is that the dollar’s share of global reserves fell below 62% for the first time five...
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