Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.16% to 1.0601 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 26(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The warning by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention that Americans should prepare for an outbreak of Covid-19 sent the S&P 500 tumbling to an 11-week low and the 10-year Treasury yield to a record low near 1.30%. The volatility of the S&P (VIX) jumped to its...
Read More »FX Daily, February 25: Capital Markets Remain Fragile after Yesterday’s Bloodletting
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.27% to 1.0592 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 25(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Yesterday’s bloodletting in global equities has calmed, but investors remain on edge. Despite all the concerns that the markets were under-appreciating the implications of the new coronavirus, there is a sense that yesterday’s moves were in excess. Japanese markets, which were...
Read More »FX Daily, February 24: Stocks Slammed and Yields Drop as Virus Containment Fails
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.15% to 1.0588 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 24(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The ring of containment of Covid-19 has grown from China. The new frontline is Japan, South Korea, Italy, and Iran. A lockdown of around 50k people near Milan and Austria blocking trains from Italy is scaring investors. Asian markets fell, but South Korea bore the brunt with a...
Read More »FX Weekly Preview: Sources of Imbalance and the Pushback Against New Divergence
The US dollar’s surge alongside gold has eclipsed the equity market rally as the key development in the capital markets. Even the traditional seemingly safe-haven yen was no match for the greenback. The dollar appeared to have been rolling over in Q4 19, as the sentiment surveys in Europe improved, Japanese officials seemingly thought the economy could withstand a sales tax increase, and data suggested the Chinese economy was gaining some traction. However, 2020 has...
Read More »Time Again For Triple Digit Dollar
Being a member of the institutional “elite” means never having to say you’re sorry; or even admit that you have no idea what you are doing. For Christine Lagarde, Mario Draghi’s retirement from the European Central Bank could not have come at a more opportune moment. Fresh off the Argentina debacle, she failed herself upward to an even better gig. Lagarde had staked a lot on the organization’s largest ever rescue plan. It was a show of force meant to shore up...
Read More »FX Daily, February 19: Investors’ Confidence Snaps Back
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.08% to 1.0617 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 19(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: After shunning risk yesterday, investors re-entered the fray today, and the animal spirits returned. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index snapped a four-day slide, and China’s markets were among the few losers in the region today. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 recovered yesterday’s losses in...
Read More »FX Daily, February 18: Apple’s Warning Weighs on Sentiment
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.11% to 1.0613 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 18(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Apple’s warning that it will miss Q1 revenue due to the knock-on effects of the coronavirus seemed to be a modest wake-up call to investors, who, judging from the equity market, were looking beyond. Equities have fallen, and bonds have rallied. Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korean...
Read More »FX Daily, February 17: Dismal Q4 Japanese GDP Fails to Spur Yen Movement
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.02% to 1.0635 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 17(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: It is only a US holiday today, but the global capital markets are subdued. In the Asia-Pacific region, equities traded lower with China and Hong Kong, the main advancers. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has fallen in only two weeks since the end of last November, and that was during the...
Read More »FX Daily, February 14: Investors Continue to Look Past the Coronavirus
Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.24% to 1.0641 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 14(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The capital markets are heading into the weekend, still trying to look past the coronavirus despite the new cases in Hubei. Tokyo was a notable exception in the Asia Pacific region, as the other major equity markets, like in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Australia,...
Read More »FX Daily, February 13: Surprise? China Undercounts Afflictions and Fatalities, Curbs Risk Taking
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.13% to 1.0619 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 13(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: There is one overriding driver today, and that is the incorporation of CAT scan diagnoses of the virus in Hubei, ground-zero. This follows the arrival of WHO officials into China a couple days ago. Not only have the cases jumped, but so did the number of deaths. It plays on fears...
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