Tag Archive: ECB

Dollar Gains Pared

2022-06-02

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2022-06-02

Asia Pacific equities were mostly lower.  China and India bucked the trend.  Europe’s Stoxx 600 is steady with no follow through selling after yesterday reversal. US index futures are posting modest gains and are trying to snap a two-day drop. 

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Bank of Canada’s Turn

2022-06-01

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2022-06-01

Overview: The recent equity rally is stalling. Asia Pacific equities were mixed, with Japan, South Korea, and Australia, among the major bourses posting gains. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 500 is slipping lower for the second consecutive session, ending a four-day bounce. US equity futures are little changed.

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Dollar and Yen Surge

2022-05-12

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2022-05-12

Overview: Global equities are bleeding lower. Several large markets in the Asia Pacific region, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and India are off more than 2%. Japan and Australian bourses fell by more than 1.5%.

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China Then Europe Then…

2022-05-08

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2022-05-08

This is the difference, though in the end it only amounts to a matter of timing. When pressed (very modestly) on the slow pace of the ECB’s “inflation” “fighting” (theater) campaign, its President, Christine Lagarde, once again demonstrated her willingness to be patient if not cautious.

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What Really ‘Raises’ The Rising ‘Dollar’

2022-05-03

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2022-05-03

It’s one of those things which everyone just accepts because everyone says it must be true. If the US$ is rising, what else other than the Federal Reserve. In particular, the Fed has to be raising rates in relation to other central banks; interest rate differentials.

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The Euro Continues to Stuggle to Sustain Even Modest Upticks, but Specs Still Long in the Futures

2022-05-02

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2022-05-02

Overview: The US dollar begins the new week on a firm note ahead of the mid-week conclusion of the FOMC meeting.  Many centers are closed for the May Day holiday, making for thinner market conditions.  Equities are mostly lower in the markets that traded today.  This includes Japan, South Korea, Australia, and India in the Asia Pacific. 

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Good Friday

2022-04-15

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2022-04-15

Overview:  Most centers are closed for the holidays today.  The Asia Pacific equity markets were open and moved lower following the losses on Wall Street yesterday.  The weakness of the yen failed to underpin Japanese shares.

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Short Covering in the US Treasury Market Extends the Yield Pullback

2022-04-14

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2022-04-14

Overview: What appears to be a powerful short-covering rally in the US debt market has helped steady equities and weighed on the dollar.  Singapore and South Korea joined New Zealand and Canada in tightening monetary policy.  Attention turns to the ECB now on the eve of a long-holiday weekend for many members.  The tech-sector led the US equity recovery yesterday, snapping a three-day decline.  Most of the major markets in Asia Pacific advanced but...

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Equities Finding a Bid in Europe After Sliding in Asia Pacific

2022-04-08

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2022-04-08

Overview:  The capital markets are calmer today.  The market is digesting the FOMC minutes, where officials tipped an aggressive path to shrink the balance sheet and confirmed an "expeditious" campaign to lift the Fed funds rate to neutrality.  Benchmark 10-year yields are softer, with the US off a couple basis points to 2.58%.  European yields are 1-3 bp lower. 

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Goldilocks And The Three Central Banks

2022-04-07

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2022-04-07

This isn’t going to be like the tale of Goldilocks, at least not how it’s usually told. There are three central banks, sure, call them bears if you wish, each pursuing a different set of fuzzy policies. One is clearly hot, the other quite cold, the final almost certainly won’t be “just right.” Rather, this one in the middle simply finds itself…in the middle of the other two.Running red-hot to the point of near-horror, that’s “our” Federal...

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US Jobs, EMU CPI, Japan’s Tankan, and China’s PMI Highlight the Week Ahead

2022-03-27

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2022-03-27

This year was supposed to be about the easing of the pandemic and the normalization of policy. Instead, Russia's invasion of Ukraine threw a wrench in the macroeconomic forecasts as St. Peter’s victories broke the brackets of the NCAA basketball championship pools.

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ECB Meeting and US and China’s CPI are the Macro Highlights in the Week Ahead

2022-03-05

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2022-03-05

One of the most significant market responses to Russia's attack on Ukraine is in the expectations for the trajectory of monetary policy in many of the high-income countries, including the US, eurozone, UK and Canada.  The market has abandoned speculation of a 50 bp hike in mid-March by the FOMC and the Bank of England.  It has also scaled back the ECB's move to 20 bp this year from 50 bp.

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Capital and Commodity Markets Strain

2022-03-04

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2022-03-04

Overview:  The capital and commodity markets are becoming less orderly.  The scramble for dollars is pressuring the cross-currency basis swaps.  Volatility is racing higher in bond and stock markets.  The industrial metals and other supplies, and foodstuffs that Russia and Ukraine are important providers have skyrocketed.  Large Asia Pacific equity markets, including Japan, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan fell by 1%-2%, while South Korea, Australia,...

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The Week Winds Down with Equities under Pressure and the Dollar Mostly Firmer

2021-12-17

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2021-12-17

Overview: The combination of the volatility and a large number of central bank meetings have exhausted market participants, and the holiday phase appears to have begun. Equities are under pressure following the sell-off yesterday in the US. Japan, China, and Hong Kong suffered more than 1.2% losses, while Australia, South Korea, and Taiwan posted minor gains. It was the fifth loss in the past six sessions for the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. Europe's...

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Fed Unleashes Animal Spirits

2021-12-16

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2021-12-16

Overview:  The Fed's hawkish pivot came a few weeks before yesterday's FOMC meeting, which confirmed more or less what the market had already largely anticipated. Buy the (dollar) on rumors (of tapering and more aggressive stance on rates) and sell the fact unfolded, and unleashed the risk-appetites which rippled through the capital markets. US stocks rallied yesterday, and the futures point to a gap higher opening today. Large Asia Pacific...

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Has the Market Carried the Fed’s Water? Is the Dollar Vulnerable to Buy the Rumor and Sell the Fact?

2021-12-15

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2021-12-15

Overview: The US dollar is trading with a bit of heavier bias against most of the major currencies as the focus turns to today's FOMC meeting, where a clear consensus has emerged in favor of faster tapering and a dot plot pointing to a steeper pace rate hikes.  Emerging market currencies led by Turkey and South Africa are mostly lower. The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is lower for the third straight session.  The US 10-year Treasury...

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Central Bank Fest

2021-12-11

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2021-12-11

Next week is the last big week of the year, and what a week it will be:  Five major central banks meet and at least nine from emerging market countries.  Norway's Norges Bank is the most likely major central bank to hike its key (deposit) rate (December 16).  It would be the second hike of the year.  The economy is enjoying a solid recovery, and headline inflation rose to 4.6% in November, its fastest pace since 2008.  The underlying rate, which...

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Jobs (US) and Inflation (EMU) Highlight the Week Ahead

2021-11-27

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2021-11-27

The new covid variant and quick imposition of travel restrictions on several countries in southern Africa have injected a new dynamic into the mix.

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Covid Wave Knocks Euro Down and to new 6-year Lows Against the Swiss Franc

2021-11-19

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2021-11-19

Overview:  Concerns about the virus surge in Europe cut short the euro's bounce and sent it back below $1.1300 and are also weighing on central European currencies, including the Hungarian forint, despite yesterday's aggressive hike of the one-week deposit rate.  Austria has reintroduced a hard 20-day lockdown.  Germany's health minister warned that the situation deteriorated and vaccines were not enough to break the wave.  He was explicit that a...

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China’s CPI Accelerated to 1.5%, US CPI to Approach 6%

2021-11-10

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2021-11-10

Overview: As bond yields slumped yesterday, stocks snapped their advancing streak.  The Stoxx 600 fell for the first time in nine sessions yesterday and is lower today.  The S&P 500 ended a nine-session advance, and the NASDAQ snapped a 12-session rally.  Futures on the indices point to a lower open.  Bonds are paring yesterday's gain, which saw the US 10-year yield fall below its 200-day moving average (~1.45%) and may explain the soft auction...

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