Tag Archive: Currency Movement

FX Daily, August 28: Powell and Abe Drive Markets

After a confused and volatile reaction to the Federal Reserve's formal adoption of an average inflation target, it took Asian and European traders to embrace the signal and take the dollar lower. It is falling against nearly all the currencies and has slumped to new lows for the year against sterling and the Australian dollar.

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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 21: PMIs Shake Investor Confidence

The second disappointing Fed manufacturing survey report and an unexpected rise in weekly jobless claims helped reverse the disappointment over the FOMC minutes. Bonds and stocks rallied--not on good macroeconomic news, but the opposite, which underscores the likelihood of more support for longer.

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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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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 13: Dollar Remains Offered

The poor price action on Tuesday in the S&P 500 was shrugged off, and new highs for the recovery were made as the record high nears. The dollar, on the other hand, seemed to find plenty of sellers against most of the major currencies. The yen was a notable exception.

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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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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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August Monthly

The dollar's losses accelerated in July, and further declines are likely even if there is short-lived bounce to correct the over-extended technical condition.  We have been arguing for a year that the third significant dollar rally since the end of Bretton Woods was over, but the disruption of the global capital markets in March gave the old bull market one more push.

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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 30: Greenback’s Bounce is Likely Short-Lived

A wave of profit-taking is seen through most of the capital markets today, with the exception of the bond market, where yields continue to trend lower.  The US 10-year is now yielding 55 bp, a new low since early March, and the five-year yield set a new record low near 23 bp.  European yields are 2-4 bp lower.

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