Tag Archive: China

FX Daily, August 31: Month-End Gyrations and the Fed’s Ad Hocery

Markets are searching for direction at month-end. Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan lower. Berkshire Hathaway confirmed taking a $6 bln stake in Japanese trading companies over the past year, and the pullback in the yen helped lift shares.  The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 2% last week. 

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FX Daily, August 27: After much Build-Up, Could Powell be Anti-Climactic?

The strong rally in US equities yesterday, with the fifth consecutive gain in the S&P 500 and a big outside up day in gold, failed to spur follow-through buying today. Asia Pacific equities were mixed. China, Australia, and India rose while most of the rest of the regional markets fell.

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FX Daily, August 26: Hurricane Laura Lifts Oil Prices

A consolidative tone has emerged after US equity benchmarks reached new highs yesterday. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index had reached seven-month highs on Tuesday, but Japan, China, and Australian stocks saw modest profit-taking today. European shares are recouping yesterday's minor loss, and US shares are flat. 

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FX Daily, August 24: Markets Prove Resilient to Start New Week

New virus outbreaks in Europe and Asia are not adversely impacting the capital markets today. Global equities are firmer. Some reports suggesting the US ban on WeChat may not be as broad as initially signaled helped lift Hong Kong shares, but nearly all the markets in the region traded higher.

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FX Daily, August 20: FOMC Minutes Spur Profit-Taking

Overview: The FOMC minutes depicted a Federal Reserve that appeared to be not quite ready to take fresh initiatives, whether it is yield curve control or changing the composition or quantities of its bond purchases.  This unleashed profit-taking on some of the large moves in equities, the dollar, and gold.

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FX Daily, August 19: US Equities Outperform but Does Little for the Heavy Greenback

Overview:  The S&P 500 and NASDAQ set new all-time highs yesterday, but the continued outperformance of US equities have failed to lend the dollar much support.  It was sold to new lows for the year yesterday against the euro, sterling, the Swedish krona, and the Australian dollar. 

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FX Daily, August 18: Canada Shrugs Off Loss of Morneau and Gold Reclaims $2000 Threshold

The NASDAQ rallied 1% yesterday to record highs as the Dow Industrials struggled, and the S&P 500 was able to eke out a small gain. The coattails were short, and the strength of the yen may have contributed to a 0.2% loss of the Nikkei. Still, its 6.2% advance this month is the best among the G10.

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It Was Bad In The Other Sense, So Now What?

According to the latest figures, Japan has tallied 56,074 total coronavirus cases since the outbreak began, leading to the death of an estimated 1,103 Japanese citizens. Out of a total population north of 125 million, it’s hugely incongruous.

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FX Daily, August 17: The Dollar Softens to Start the New Week

The capital markets are looking for direction.  Asia Pacific equity markets were mixed, with gains in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan countering losses in Japan, South Korea, and Australia.  European and US shares are trading slightly firmer.

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FX Daily, August 14: Consolidation Featured Ahead of the Weekend

The equity rally is stalling ahead of the weekend. Most markets in the Asia Pacific region eased, though China and Australia advanced. Japanese shares were mixed. The Nikkei, though advanced for the fourth consecutive session, while the Topis slipped.

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FX Daily, August 12: Dollar was Sold in Asia and Europe, but is Poised to Bounce in North America

The biggest rise in the US 10-year yield in a couple of months, as the record quarterly refunding, got underway may have helped stabilize the dollar after an earlier decline. The S&P 500 threatened to extend its advance for the eighth consecutive session yesterday, but a late sell-off stopped it cold after scaling to new five-month highs.

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FX Daily, August 11: Gold and the Dollar are Sold while Stocks March Higher

A rotation of sorts seems to be unfolding. The euro posted its second back-to-back loss in over a month. The Canadian dollar, which has been an under-performer among the major currencies for the past six weeks, gained, while most fell. 

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FX Daily, August 10: Monday in August

Overview: The new week has begun slowly with Singapore and Tokyo markets closed for national holidays. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 2% last week and edged higher today, led by 1.5%-1.7% rallies in South Korea and Australia.  Hong Kong was a notable exception and eased around 0.6%.

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The Ant and the Grasshopper: A Window into Macro Part II

Regardless of the dollar's role and function in the world economy and the halls of finance, in the near and intermediate terms, investors and businesses are more concerned with foreign exchange prices.  The greenback has fallen out of favor. Its main supports, like wide interest rate differentials, favorable growth differentials, and political certainty if not stability, have weakened.

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FX Daily, August 07: Position Adjustment Dominates ahead of US/Canada Employment Reports

Escalating dramas may be behind the position adjustment today ahead of the US jobs data. The US and China feud expanded beyond Tiktok to WeChat, and efforts to tighten disclosure rules for Chinese companies listed in the US are nearing. The negotiations between the White House and the Democrats broke down, preventing or at least delaying additional stimulus. 

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FX Daily, August 06: Markets Consolidate

The Australian dollar powered to marginal news highs for the year as the move against the US dollar continued yesterday. The euro stopped a few hundredths of a cent below the high seen at the end of last week. However, neither sustained the upside momentum and have come back offered today.

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FX Daily, August 5: Corrective Pressures in the FX Market Prove Short-Lived

The drop in US yields to new lows amid paralysis in Washington, except apparently over a lip-syncing app's threat to US national security, sent the dollar back to its lows after a modest recovery in early North American trading yesterday. 

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FX Daily, August 4: Markets Looking for Fresh Directional Cues

Asia Pacific equities rallied after the US shares rallied with the Nasdaq reaching record highs after it and the S&P 500 gapped higher yesterday.  Japan and Hong Kong led the rally with more than 2% gains, while the Shanghai Composite lagged with about a 0.1% gain.

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FX Daily, August 3: Stronger EMU PMIs Fail to Recharge the Euro’s Upside Momentum

Overview: The capital markets are decidedly mixed today as investors are pulled between rising infections, heightened tensions between the US and China, lack of progress on new US stimulus, and technical forces as the new month begins.

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FX Daily, July 24: Strong PMIs Have Limited Impact as Profit-Taking Hits Equities

US stocks stumbled yesterday, and the S&P 500 nearly gave back the week's gains with its roughly 1.25% loss, the largest of the month.  The NASDAQ 100 fell to two-week lows.  Slower cloud growth at Microsoft and a delay in the next generation of chips at Intel were among the drags.

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