Tag Archives: 4.) Marc to Market

Overview: The new week has begun off quietly. The dollar is in narrow ranges against the G10 currencies, +/- 0.15% as the North American market prepares to open. The Dollar Index is trading inside the narrow pre-weekend range. With softer US CPI, retail sales, and industrial production due this week, we have a downside bias for the greenback. Most emerging market currencies are firmer. A few Asian currencies, including the Chinese yuan and Philippine peso are among...

(On business trip over next few days. Commentary to resume Monday.  Thanks for your patience.) Overview: Sweden's Riksbank became the second G10 central bank to cut rates this year. The Swiss National Bank cut its deposit rate in March. A couple other large central banks, including the European Central Bank, and possibly the Bank of Canada, may cut rates next month. The Swedish krona is the weakest of the G10 currencies today, off by about 0.45%, but the Australian...

Overview: The dollar is firmer against all the G10 currencies today. The market is somewhat less fearful of intervention and the yen is extending yesterday's losses. It is rivaling the Australian dollar for the weakest of the major currencies after the Reserve Bank of Australia left rates on hold and played down speculation of possibility of a rate hike. Both currencies are off around 0.4% in late European morning turnover. Disappointing German factory orders shows...

Overview: The dollar is mostly a little softer today in thin market conditions, with Tokyo, Seoul, and London closed for holidays. The Japanese yen is the weakest G10 currency, losing about 0.5% and slipping through last Friday's lows. At first, after Fed Chair Powell did not endorse rate hike speculation, the market thought he was dovish. But after the softer than expected jobs data and weakness in the ISM services, the market shifted from doubting one cut to...

The resilience of the US economy and stickiness of price pressures spurred a reassessment of the trajectory of Fed policy. This sparked a sharp rise in US interest rates and extended the dollar’s advance. The somewhat disappointing April jobs report and a softer CPI report in the middle of May could signal that the interest rate adjustment is over. Federal Reserve Chair Powell played down the likelihood of the need to lift rates again, and as it was in  Q4 23, when...

Overview: The greenback is trading with a softer bias ahead of the US jobs report. Solid, even if not spectacular job growth, is expected. However, recent survey data warns of the downside risks. Moreover, counter-intuitively, the dollar has not often rallied this year into the employment data, but frequently has in response. The dollar is softer against the G10 currencies. The Norwegian krone is the strongest, up about 0.6% after the central bank delivered a...

Overview: The US dollar is mixed, but the spotlight is on the Japanese yen. It appears that with the market challenging Monday's intervention, Japanese officials entered the market shortly after the US equity market closed yesterday, as the Asia Pacific session got underway and sold dollars again. Initial estimates suggest the intervention amount was two-thirds of Monday's. The timing caught the markets wrongfooted. Tokyo markets are closed Friday and Monday, but...

Overview: Much of Asia and Europe are off for the May Day labor holiday. The dollar is mostly softer in the thin activity. However, the dollar has edged higher against the yen and approached JPY158. The euro initially fell to $1.0650, a six-day low and where a billion euros in options expire later today. It has recovered to almost $1.0675. Emerging market currencies are subdued. Central European currencies, the South African rand, and Mexican peso are sporting...

Overview:  Stronger than expected eurozone GDP strengthened the sense that a nascent recovery may be taking hold and has given the euro a bid in the European morning. The dollar, though, is enjoying a firmer tone against the other G10 currencies today. Australia's unexpected weakness in retail sales has weighed on the Antipodean currencies. The Aussie and Kiwi are off slightly more than 0.5% today. Japanese data were mixed (a recovery in industrial production but...

Overview:  The FOMC meeting, the US employment report, and eurozone CPI were to be the highlights of the week, but the Japanese yen stole the march to start the week. The dollar soared to almost JPY160.20 before falling sharply to JPY154.55 and then rebounding to almost JPY156.00. Intervention has not been confirmed and BOJ data will not cover it until next month. On balance, it appears that most think it was algo-trading in thin markets given the Japanese holiday....