Swiss Franc A bad day for the dollar means a good day for CHF, that appreciates against both euro and dollar. Click to enlarge. FX Rates It is not a good day for the US dollar. It is being sold across the board. The seemingly dovish FOMC minutes released late yesterday appears to have gotten the ball rolling. The takeaway for many was that any officials wanted more time to assess the data at the July meeting. The...
Read More »FX Daily, August 17: Dollar Snaps Back
Swiss Franc Click to enlarge. FX Rates The US dollar is enjoying a mid-week bounce against all the major currencies. It appears that participants in Asia and Europe are giving more credence to NY Fed Dudley’s comments yesterday. Although many in the market have given up on a rate hike this year, Dudley reaffirmed his belief that the economy was accelerating in H2 and that the market was being too complacent. Many...
Read More »Great Graphic: Dollar-Yen–Possible Head and Shoulders Continuation Pattern
Summary: This technical pattern is most often a reversal pattern, but not always. It may be a continuation pattern in the dollar against the yen. It highlights the importance of the JPY100 level and warns of risk toward JPY92.50. It aligns well with the sequence of macro events. This Great Graphic was created on Bloomberg. I use it to illustrate a possible head and shoulder pattern that has been carved by the...
Read More »FX Daily, August 16: Dollar Slumps, but Driver may Not be so Obvious
Swiss Franc Click to enlarge. FX Rates The US dollar is being sold across the board today. The US Dollar Index is off 0.65% late in the European morning, which, if sustained, would make it the largest drop in two weeks. The proximate cause being cited by participants and the media is weak US data that is prompting a Fed re-think. However, we are a bit skeptical. It is not that the US data has been strong, or that...
Read More »FX Daily, August 15: Dollar Eases to Start the New Week
Swiss Franc The Swiss Franc was nearly unchanged against the euro. Click to enlarge. FX Rates The US dollar closed the pre-weekend session well off its lows that were seen in response to the disappointing retail sales report. It has been unable to sustain the upside momentum, and as North American dealers prepare to return to their posts, it is trading lower against most of the major currencies. The notable...
Read More »FX Weekly Preview: Thoughts on the Significance of Ten Developments
Summary: The GDP deflator may be just as important as overall growth for BOJ considerations and the possibility of fresh action next month. Falling UK rates and a weaker pound are desirable from a policy point of view. Dudley’s press conference may be more important than FOMC minutes. Two German state elections that will be held next month comes as Merkel’s popularity has waned. Japan Japan’s Q2 GDP: The...
Read More »Weekly Speculative Positions: Switch to Small Net Long CHF
Speculative position adjustments in the currency futures continued at a low pace in the Commitment of Traders report for the week ending August 9. There were though two distinct patterns: Speculators reduced their exposure in EUR, CHF and peso. Speculator increased their exposure in JPY, GBP, CAD and NZD. Euro, Swiss Franc, Peso: Lower Exposures The first pattern is found in the euro, Swiss franc,...
Read More »FX Daily, August 04: The BOE Owns Today, but Tomorrow is a Different Story
Swiss Franc The Swiss Franc appreciated today against the euro. Given that the Bank of England started monetary easing, this slight appreciation is unexpectedly weak – reason was probably intervention. The SNB intervention level should be around 1 billion francs. Numbers revealed in next week’s sight deposits. Click to enlarge. Bank of England The Bank of England owns today, though tomorrow will be about the US...
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...
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