Category Archive: 4.) Marc to Market

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FX Daily, July 17: Markets Mark Time, Dollar Consolidates Losses

2017-07-17

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2017-07-17

After falling to new lows for the year against several major currencies in response to disappointing retail sales and uninspiring CPI before the weekend, the US dollar has begun the new week on a more stable note. It is firmer against nearly all the major currencies, though is mixed against the emerging market currencies.

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FX Weekly Preview: Focus Shifts from Fed to ECB

2017-07-17

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2017-07-17

Market has downgraded chances of a September hike from low to lower, but the chances of a December hike are higher than the day after the June hike. ECB meeting is the most important event of the week. A small change in the risk assessment is likely. The US and Europe have been more disruptive to the global capital markets this year than China.

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Great Graphic: Dollar Index Bottoming?

2017-07-15

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2017-07-15

The Dollar Index set the year's high on January 3 a little above 103.20. Today it made a marginal new lows for the year at 95.464. The previous low, set at the end of last month was 95.47.

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FX Daily, July 14: Aussie Scales New Highs for the Year, as the Greenback Remains on the Defensive

2017-07-14

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2017-07-14

The Australian dollar has taken over leadership in the dollar bloc from the Canadian dollar. The Aussies are up about 0.35% today to extend this week's gains to more than 2% and reach a new high for the year a little more than $0.7760. The Canadian dollar is up 1.1% this week, in comparison.

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FX Daily, July 13: Sterling and Antipodeans Trade Higher

2017-07-13

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2017-07-13

The US dollar is mostly consolidating yesterday's move. Sterling is pushing back through $1.29 as the hawks on the MPC may not have been dissuaded by disappointing PMI readings and the softer earnings growth. The table is being set for another 5-3 vote at next month's MPC meeting.

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FX Daily, July 12: Currencies Stabilize, but Yen Strengthens

2017-07-12

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2017-07-12

The US dollar and sterling have stabilized after being sold off yesterday. The yen, which had begun recovering from a four-month low, is the strongest of the major currencies today, gaining around 0.5% against the dollar (@~JPY113.40).

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Great Graphic: Aussie is Approaching 15-month Trendline

2017-07-12

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2017-07-12

Australian Dollar
This Great Graphic, made on Bloomberg, depicts the Australian dollar since April 2016. We drew in the trendline from that April high, through the November high and the March 2017 high. It nearly catches last month's high as well. It comes in now near $0.7725.

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FX Daily, July 11: Markets Looking for Next Cue

2017-07-11

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2017-07-11

Investors await fresh policy clues as the Bank of England's Broadbent is seen as a key vote on a closely balanced MPC, while the Fed's Brainard, is also seen as a bellwether, will speak shortly after midday in NY. Broadbent has not spoken since the election, and his current views are not known.

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FX Weekly Preview: Bank of Canada, US CPI, and UK Labor Update Featured

2017-07-10

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2017-07-10

Yellen will unlikely deviate from general tone of post-FOMC meeting remarks. FOMC minutes were clear, most members see the decline in inflation due to transitory developments. Bank of Canada is expected to hike rates and will likely leave the door open to another rate cut in Q4. UK wage growth has continued to slow.

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FX Daily, July 07: Taper Tantrum 2.0 Dominates

2017-07-07

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2017-07-07

Taper Tantrum 2.0, emanating from Europe rather than the United States continues to overshadow other developments. Yesterday, the yield on the 10-year German Bund pushed through the 50 bp mark that has capped the occasional rise in yields in recent months. The record of the ECB meeting was understood as indicating that the official assessment had surpassed the actual communication in order try to minimize the impact.

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FX Daily, July 06: Stocks and Bonds Mostly Heavier, while Dollar Hovers Little Changed

2017-07-06

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2017-07-06

The US dollar is narrowly mixed against the major currencies after being confined to tight ranges through the Asian session and European morning. Equities are nursing small losses, and interest rates are pushing higher. The yield on the 10-year German Bund reached 50 bp for the first time since early 2016. Oil prices have steadied after yesterday's slide.

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FX Daily, July 05: Dollar Firm as Investors Await Fresh Directional Cues

2017-07-05

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2017-07-05

The US dollar is enjoying a firm tone today. Yesterday's two weakest major currencies, the Australian dollar and Swedish krona are the strongest currencies, but little changed on the session. After a strong rebound in the greenback to start the week, it mostly consolidated yesterday.

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FX Daily, July 03: Dollar Bounces to Start H2

2017-07-03

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2017-07-03

The beleaguered US dollar is enjoying a respite from the selling pressure that pushed it lower against all the major currencies in the first six months of 2017. A measure of the dollar on a trade-weighted basis fell about 5% in the first half after appreciating nearly 8% in Q4 16.

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FX Weekly Preview: Official Coordination or Is the Market Getting Ahead of Itself?

2017-07-03

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2017-07-03

The consensus narrative sees a coordinated attempt by officials to prepare investors for less accommodative monetary policy. Data from the eurozone and UK may suggest the respective economies are not accelerating. Before getting to the jobs report, the US economic data, like auto sales, may be soft, while the prices paid in the manufacturing ISM may ease.

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FX Daily, June 30: Greenback Stabilizes

2017-06-30

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2017-06-30

The US dollar has been battered this week amid a shift in sentiment seen in how the market responded to comments mostly emanating from the ECB's annual conference. It is not really clear that Draghi or Carney gave new policy indications.

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FX Daily, June 29: Run on Dollar and Yen Continues

2017-06-29

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2017-06-29

The main driver of the foreign exchange market is the continued reassessment of the trajectory of monetary policy in the UK, EMU, and Canada. The OIS market does not show that higher rates are discounted for the next policy meeting (August, September, and July respectively), but rather there is greater confidence that, outside of Japan, peak monetary stimulus is behind us.

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FX Daily, June 28: Draghi’s Sparks Mini Taper Tantrum, Euro Chief Beneficiary

2017-06-28

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2017-06-28

Sounding confident, ECB President Draghi seemed prepared to reduce the asset purchases, and this overshadowed his explicit recognition that substantial accommodation is still necessary. This is very much in line with what many, including ourselves, anticipate: At the September ECB meeting, an extension of the asset purchases into the first part of next year, coupled with a reduction in the amounts being purchased.

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Great Graphic: Dollar Breaks Out Against Yen

2017-06-28

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2017-06-28

Dollar's Decline
The dollar is at new lows for the year against the euro and Swiss franc. Draghi's comments earlier that transitory forces are dampening price pressures were seen as broadly similar to the Fed's leadership's assessment about US prices. The implication is that the ECB will announce tapering its purchases as it extends them into next year.

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Great Graphic: US Wage Growth Exceeds Productivity Growth

2017-06-28

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2017-06-28

One of the longstanding challenges to growth US aggregate demand has been that wages have not kept pace with inflation and productivity.  The decoupling appears to have taken place in the late 1960s or early 1970s depending on exactly which metric one uses.In my book, the Political Economy of Tomorrow, I argue the decoupling of men's wages from productivity and inflation made it possible and necessary for women to enter the workforce in large...

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