Summary: BOE cuts rates and expands QE. Door is open to more easing. Sterling stabilizes after selling off 2 cents. Sterling has slumped two cents in the wake of the Bank of England’s announcement. It cut the base rate 25 bp and announced a resumption of its asset purchase program. It will buy GBP60 bln of Gilts and added corporate bonds to its purchase plan, which will be completed over the next six...
Read More »FX Daily, August 03: Consolidation Featured
Swiss Franc Click to enlarge. FX Rates The US dollar is consolidating yesterday’s losses. The greenback’s upticks have thus far been shallow and unimpressive, except perhaps against the New Zealand dollar, which is off 0.8% ahead of next week’s RBNZ meeting. Softer than expected labor cost increase reinforces the conviction that a 25 bp rate cut will be delivered next week. The asset markets are more...
Read More »FX Daily, August 02: Greenback Slides Despite RBA Rate Cut and 7-year Low in UK Construction PMI
Swiss Franc The euro appreciated against both Swiss Franc and dollar. Swiss retail sales was again very weak, but emphasize our last month comment: The measurement of retail sales (and also GDP) ignore the active second-hand markets in Switzerland. The Swiss SVME PMI was at 50.1 close to contraction, another piece of bad data. Click to enlarge. FX Rates The US dollar is offered against the major currencies, but...
Read More »FX Daily, August 01: Dog Days of August Begin
Swiss Franc Click to enlarge. FX Rates The US dollar is trading with a small upside bias in narrow trading ranges. The main news has consisted of PMI reports, while investors continue to digest last week’s developments. In particular the BOJ’s underwhelming response to poor economic data and a missed opportunity to reinforce the fiscal stimulus, and the dismal US GDP. The dollar has been pinned today in the lower...
Read More »FX Weekly Preview: After this Week, Does August Matter?
Summary: RBA meeting is a close call. BOE meeting consensus on rate cut, maybe new QE and lending-for-funding. More details of Japan’s fiscal policy. U.S. jobs data. After this week, and outside of RBNZ rate cut, August may be uneventful. There are four events this week that will command the attention of global investors. The Reserve of Bank of Australia is first.It is a close call, though the median in the...
Read More »FX Daily, July 28: Dollar Pulls Back Further Post-FOMC
Swiss Franc The Swiss Franc is having a very volatile week. With the European stress tests approaching and with a bad U.S. durable goods release, the EUR/CHF is on the descent again. Data on net immigration to Switzerland has been published. The number of people who are leaving Switzerland is on the rise and the net immigration number has fallen. This is positive for the euro and negative for CHF. This decrease in...
Read More »FX Daily, July 27: Yen Falls on Fiscal Stimulus, while Sterling and Aussie Can’t Sustain Upticks
Swiss Franc The Euro kept on climbing, after yesterday’s rapid rise. Click to enlarge. The Swiss consumption indicator by UBS shows improvements. The indicator is still distant from the highs in 2012. At the time stronger growth in Emerging Markets and the weaker franc helped the Swiss economy. Switzerland UBS Consumption Indicator Japan As uncertainty over Japan’s fiscal stimulus roiled the yen and domestic...
Read More »FX Daily, July 26: Strange Day: Yen Soars , Swissie Falls
Swiss Franc The Swiss Franc strangely depreciated on a day, when the other safe-haven, the yen strongly improved. The euro went up to 1.0899 by 0.54%. The reason seems to be technical. USD/CHF Finally over 200DMA? After USD/CHF broke the 200 days moving average (0.9854), and a descending channel since November 2015. This break could lead to a new pattern building. If the SNB has sustained the rise with some...
Read More »FX Daily, July 25: Big Week Begins Slowly
Swiss Franc Click to enlarge. FX Rates What promises to be a busy week has begun off slowly. The US dollar has been largely confined to its pre-weekend ranges against most of the major currencies. Equity markets are mostly firmer following the new record highs on Wall Street. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index eked out a small gain (0.1%), with losses in Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore offsetting gains elsewhere. ...
Read More »FX Daily, July 22: Flash PMIs Show Brexit Impact Localized
Swiss Franc The EUR/CHF ended lower today. Today’s data showed that Germany has stronger growth than the rest of the Eurozone. Given the strong Swiss trade ties with Germany, the Swiss franc appreciated. See more in Correlation between CHF and the German Economy Click to enlarge. FX Rates As the week draws to a close, there are three main developments in the capital markets. First, the profit-taking seen in US...
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