Category Archive: 4) FX Trends

Main Author Marc Chandler
Marc Chandler
He has been covering the global capital markets in one fashion or another for more than 30 years, working at economic consulting firms and global investment banks. After 14 years as the global head of currency strategy for Brown Brothers Harriman, Chandler joined Bannockburn Global Forex, as a managing partner and chief markets strategist as of October 1, 2018.

FX Daily, December 21: Dollar Mixed in Thinning Activity, Dow 20,000 Watch Continues

The US dollar is narrowly mixed as the holiday markets make for light turnover. Global equity markets are not finding much encouragement from the new record highs by the Dow Jones Industrials. There have been a few developments to note.

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You Know what Happened to Nominal Exchange Rates, but What about Effective Exchange Rates?

Yen is up slightly this year on an effective trade weighted basis. The euro has gained about 1% this year on an effective trade weighted basis. Sterling's decline has been significant on an effective basis. The yuan's decline looks to have corrected overshoot and is still holding an 11-year uptrend on the BIS real effective basis.

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FX Daily, December 19: EUR/CHF Dives under 1.07

Once again a line in sand for the Swiss National Bank is broken. The EUR/CHF falls under 1.07. But trading algorithms are like this: When the EUR/USD is falling, then the EUR/CHF must follow. The SNB decided not to intervene any more at 1.07.

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Weekly Speculative Positions: Short CHF Close to Records of 2015

The net short CHF speculative position is close to reaching new records. Shortly before the end of the peg, speculators were net short CHF by 26.4K contracts. Now we are at 25.4K.

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FX Weekly Preview: Twas the Week Before Christmas, Amidst Powerful Trends

The Nikkei, the dollar-yen and 10 yr US yield have risen nine of the past 11 weeks. The Dollar Index and 2 yr US yields have risen while gold has sold off in eight of past 11 weeks. Issue in next two weeks, profit-taking or trend extension? Spoiler alert: I expect some profit-taking.

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BIS: A Paradigm Shift on Bond Yields?

Review of recent BIS report. US election spurred a substantial change in sentiment. Equity and bond market reactions are roughly similar to when Reagan was elected, with the dollar, at least initially, stronger than then.

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FX Weekly Review, December 12 – December 16: Fed Lifts Dollar, but Consolidation may be on Tap

The small adjustment to Fed’s anticipated path for the Fed funds target helped lift the US dollar to its highest level against the euro since 2003, and to ten-month highs against the Japanese yen. The graph shows that the dollar has improved by 25% against the euro, but only by 10% against CHF over the last 3 years.

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Rising Trade Tensions

Obama Administration has taken a hardline against China's trade practices. Other countries are also resisting China's arguments that it is a market economy. Last week, US imposed anti-dumping duties on imported washing machines from China.

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FX Daily, December 16: Markets Turn Quiet Ahead of the Weekend, Dollar Consolidates Gains

Some mild position squaring pressures are evident ahead of the weekend, and for many market participants the year is coming to an end. Outside of the BOJ meeting next week, the calendar turns light and markets are moving into holiday mode. The Dollar Index is seeing this week's gains trimmed, but it is up nearly 1.4% this week. Although the election has seen the dollar's gains accelerate, the current leg up began in early October. The Dollar...

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Fed Hikes, Sees Three More in 2017–A Year Ago it Saw Four in 2016

Biggest change is that Fed sees three instead of two hikes next year. Minor tweaks in the forecasts. Fiscal policy could raise the long-run growth potential, which would be a net good but not needed to reach full employment.

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FX Daily, December 15: Greenback Extends Gains on Back of Fed

Sterling has made steady gains against the CHF over the past month and although the spike has levelled this week, the Pound has certainly gained a foothold. Yesterday’s decision by the US Federal Reserve to raise their base rate from 0.25% to 0.5% did little to shift the value of GBP/CHF but with investors still digesting the outcome, we may yet find it still has an effect.

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Cool Video: Big Picture Dollar Outlook

I had the privilege of joining Scarlet Fu and Joe Wisenthal on the set of What'd You Miss on Bloomberg TV yesterday afternoon. It was within a couple of hours of the second Fed rate hike in a decade. The dollar rallied.

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FX Daily, December 14: Markets Quietly Edge into FOMC Meeting

The Pound is entering mid-December in the same fashion it begun the month after having a very strong November as well. After being buoyed by Donald Trump’s victory and the High Courts ruling that parliamentary approval is needed before invoking Article 50, the Pound has been boosted further after economic data has also impressed, with yesterday being a good example of this.

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FX Daily, December 13: Narrowly Mixed Dollar Conceals Resilience

The US dollar is little changed against most of the major currencies. The dollar finished yesterday's North American session on a soft note, but follow through selling has been limited. After rallying to near 10-month high above JPY116 yesterday, the greenback finished on session lows near JPY115.00. Initial potential seemed to extend toward JPY114.30, but dollar buyers reemerged near JPY114.75, and it rose back the middle of the two-day range...

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Busy Week for the UK

The UK reports inflation, employment and retail sales this week. The BOE meets but will keep rates steady. The US 2-year premium over the UK is the highest since at least 1992 today.

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FX Daily, December 12: Dollar and Yen Trade Lower to Start the Week

The US dollar and Japanese yen are trading lower. The tone is largely consolidative, and the foreign exchange market is not main focus today. Instead, the OPEC-non-OPEC agreement before the weekend is arguably the key driver today. Oil prices are up 4.5%-4.8%, lifting bond yields and supporting oil producers' currencies, like the Norwegian krone, Canadian dollar, the Russian ruble and Mexican peso.

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Weekly Speculative Positions: Short CHF Close to Records of 2015

The net short CHF speculative position is close to reaching new records. Shortly before the end of the peg, speculators were net short CHF by 26.4K contracts. Now we are at 25.4K.

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FX Weekly Preview: What the FOMC Says may be More Important than What it Does

FOMC meeting is the last highlight of the year. OPEC and non-OPEC producers strike a deal: optics good and that can lift prices further in near term. Italy will have a new Prime Minister, the fourth unelected PM.

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FX Weekly Review, December 05 – December 09: Dollar Bulls Running Out of Time to See Parity vs Euro in 2016

  Swiss Franc Currency Index The Swiss Franc index remained in a losing position compared to the dollar index. However since November 25, it has remained stable. Given that the ECB extended the QE period, the EUR/CHF has fallen to 1.0730 again.   USD/CHF The US dollar is finishing the year on a firm note.  It rose … Continue reading »

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