Tag Archives: China

In Volcker’s days, when he used money supply to justify tightening monetary policy despite high unemployment, the money supply was released while markets were open, and it was The report. Later, by the mid-1980s, leading up to the Plaza Agreement, the deterioration of the US monthly trade balance was critical. It became The report. For several years now, the monthly jobs report superseded it. It is the first hard data for a new month and often sets the tone for the...

Overview: Benchmark 10-year yields are off 6-8 basis points in Europe and the United States. The panic seen at the start of the week in the UK has subsided considerably, as sterling recovered to almost where it was a week ago, while BOE’s hand has help steady the Gilt market. Equities in Asia Pacific suffered after the losses in the US yesterday. Hong Kong and India were notable exceptions. Europe’s Stoxx 600 is recouping around half of yesterday 1.65% fall, while...

Overview: Sterling’s pounding continued in Asia where it was driven to $1.0350, a new record low before stabilizing. UK rates also continued to rise sharply after the new government promised more tax cuts next year. The right-wing victory in Italy was not surprising but it kept pressure on Italian bonds. China took more action to slow the yuan’s descent The dollar is broadly higher. All the G10 currencies and most emerging market currencies are lower. Risk appetites...

As September winds down, three sets of economic reports will draw the most attention. We will review them and then offer a snapshot of the emerging market central bank meetings. As we have seen in the UK and Norway, several emerging market countries raised rates early (beginning in the middle of last year) but still experienced an acceleration of inflation. It obviously begs the unanswerable question about the impact on US inflation if the Fed had taken its foot off...

Overview: Yesterday’s late rally in US shares carried into the Asia Pacific session where all of the large markets advanced. However, the bears are not abdicating and Europe’s Stoxx 600 is off for the sixth consecutive session and US futures are trading lower. The sell-off in the bond market continues. European benchmark yields are mostly 8-10 bp higher and the US 10-year Treasury yield is up nearly five basis points to approach 3.54%. The two-year continues to...

Overview:  The busy week is off to a slow start as Japan is on holiday and the UK and Canadian markets are closed to honor Queen (Australia will commemorate with a holiday on Thursday). Nevertheless, the sell-off in equities continues and the US dollar is firm. Most of the large markets in Asia fell. India is a notable exception. Its benchmark rose for the first time in four sessions, helped by bank shares and Infosys. Europe’s Stoxx 600 is off for the fifth...

Overview:  The dollar is well bid. It has risen to new two-year highs against the dollar bloc and Chinese yuan. Aided by worse than expected retail sales, sterling, on its anniversary of leaving the European Exchange Rate Mechanism fell to its lowest level since 1985. This fits into the broader risk-off move. The S&P 500 fell to new two-month lows yesterday, and FedEx warnings after the bell yesterday add to the string of worrisome comments from leading US...

The headline reads “Moscow World Standard to Destroy LBMA’s Monopoly in Precious Metals Pricing”. Wow! Could it be? Is this it?! The gold revaluation we’ve all been waiting for! Someone, who has the power, will give us a venue in which we can sell our gold at its true price… how does $50,000 sound, eh? Not so fast. Betting Against the Incumbent? For one thing, there are sanctions. If you’re a citizen of a Western country, there is a legal barrier between you and a...

Overview: The bout of profit-taking on long dollar positions begun last week has carried into the start of this week.  Despite the escalating rhetoric, the yen is not participating today and is trading within the pre-weekend ranges.  The greenback’s lows have been set in the European morning and have stretched the intraday momentum indicators, suggesting that North American dealers may not follow suit. The uncertainty about the Swedish election outcome has not...

Overview: The dollar is having one of the largest setbacks in recent weeks. We expected the dollar to soften ahead of next week’s CPI, which may fan ideas/hopes of a peak in US price pressures, but the magnitude and speed of the move is surprising, and likely speaks to the extreme positioning. Still, we caution that the intraday momentum indicators are stretched, and the underlying bullish sentiment, may see North American operators take advantage of the dollar’s...