Tag Archive: macro

December 2024 Monthly

2024-11-30

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2024-11-30

The trends were already entrenched before the US election and continued through most of last month. The trend toward higher rates and higher equities stalled, while the dollar remained strong. Investors and business continue to wrestle with the implications of the Republican sweep in the US elections.There are two broad issues that are the source of uncertainty. The first is the broad tariff Trump has advocated on the campaign trail: 60% on China...

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Week Ahead: Little to Stop the Surging Dollar

2024-11-23

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2024-11-23

The dollar's Q4 rally continued last week. The Dollar Index has risen in the first eight weeks of the fourth quarter, gaining a little more than 7%. Half of the G10 currencies (the euro, the Swedish krona, the Norwegian and Danish krone, and New Zealand dollar) fell to new lows for the year last week. Part of the story is the paring of Fed cut speculation. The derivatives market no longer has even 50 bp of cut discounted between now and the middle...

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Week Ahead: Powerful Forces Rippling Through the Capital Markets Do Not Appear Exhausted

2024-11-16

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2024-11-16

There are powerful forces in the capital markets, and they do not appear exhausted even if there is some near-term consolidation. The Dollar Index has risen for seven weeks, which is to say that it has not fallen on a weekly basis so far here in Q4. The US two-year yield has risen for the past four weeks and six of the past seven. It has surged from about 3.55% at the end of September to 4.38% last week. The US 10-year yield has fallen in only two...

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Week Ahead: US Dollar Poised to Extend Gains

2024-11-09

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2024-11-09

Two of the most tumultuous weeks of the year are behind us. The sweeping GOP victory in the US cannot be considered anything but a mandate. The shock experienced in 2016 is not being repeated, but there is limited visibility  Perhaps, the stance articulated at the press conference by Fed Chair Powell that the central bank does not "guess, speculate, or assume" about the policies of the next administration and the impact on efforts to...

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November 2024 Monthly

2024-11-02

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2024-11-02

We have all experienced how capital markets exaggerate. A few months ago, the focus was on the carry-trade, then the unwind. More recently, it was the euphoria around the numerous measures Beijing announced to support the property and stock markets and the attempt to reduce the risk of the local government debt. And now, as the US election approaches, it has become an important market driver. If the markets were fully rational, we might explain...

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Week Ahead: Buckle Up–Turbulence Coming

2024-10-26

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2024-10-26

The US dollar extended its dramatic recovery against the major currencies for the fourth consecutive week. The dollar's rally seems to stand on two-legs. The first shift in the expected trajectory of Fed policy, which has been partly encouraged by relatively firm economic data, both surveys and real sector reports. The derivatives market has from discounting 75 bp of cuts before the end of the year to not be quite sure that 50 bp will be delivered....

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Week Ahead: Is the Closeness of the US Election a Source of Dollar Demand?

2024-10-19

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2024-10-19

The dollar rose against all the G10 currencies last week, but it was not because of higher US rates. In fact, the 10-year US Treasury yield fell for the first time in five weeks. The two-year yield did not rise for the first time in three weeks. Rather than an increase in US rates, several other countries' rates fell. The result was that the US 2-year premium over Germany rose for the fourth consecutive week and is now the most since June. The US...

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Week Ahead: Is the US Rate Adjustment Nearly Over? Be On Guard for Reversal Patterns

2024-10-12

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2024-10-12

The combination of the stronger-than-expected US September jobs report and the slightly firmer inflation readings lifted US interest rates and the dollar. Several Fed officials spoke, and it did not appear that the employment or price reports changed views as much as it had impacted the capital markets.

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Week Ahead: US CPI, China Returns, RBNZ to Cut 50 bp (?)

2024-10-05

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2024-10-05

There were several developments last week that shape the investment climate. First, the September US employment report was stronger than expected and this reinforces the message from Fed Chair Powell. After initiating the easing cycle with 50 bp cut, the central bank is not in a rush and two quarter-point cuts in Q4 is most likely scenario. Once again, the market has converged to the Fed rather than the other way around. Second, the new Japanese...

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October 2024 Monthly

2024-09-28

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2024-09-28

With the Federal Reserve's 50 bp rate cut, seven of the G10 central banks have begun an easing cycle that will extend, broaden, and may accelerate going forward. Australia and Norway will likely join the party next year, while some, like Canada and Sweden may increase the pace of its cuts in Q4.

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Week Ahead: Did the Fed’s Rate Cut Signal a Near-Term Low in US Rates?

2024-09-21

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2024-09-21

The Federal Reserve kicked off its easing cycle with a 50 bp rate cut on September 18. It is the seventh G10 central bank to cut rates this year. Japan is going in the other direction, albeit slowly. Norway's central bank says do not cut on a rate cut this year but be more confident of rate cuts next year. That leaves the Reserve Bank of Australia, which meets this week. It has been pushing against market speculation of a rate cut this year, and...

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Week Ahead: Four G10 Central Banks Meet, Only the Fed Moves

2024-09-14

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2024-09-14

The market had been gradually scaling back from speculation of a 50 bp cut this week by the Federal Reserve. The euro and sterling tested important technical support near $1.10 and $1.30 respectively. The Dollar Index set last week's high after the August CPI. However, the general tone of the markets changed, spurred at least initially by a Dow Jones story that many observers believe was likely planted by senior Fed official to put a 50 bp cut back...

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Week Ahead: Can the US CPI Do What Payrolls Didn’t and Persuade the Market that the Fed Will Deliver a 50 bp Cut ?

2024-09-07

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2024-09-07

After the US jobs report and Fed speak, the market scaled back the odds of a 50 bp cut at the September 17-18 FOMC meeting. It settled last week slightly below a 30% chance. The odds were shaved for the second consecutive week. Fed officials have indicated that the full employment mandate is now of greater significance given its growing confidence that inflation is heading back toward its 2% target. Next week's August CPI and PPI are likely to be...

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September 2024 Monthly

2024-08-31

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2024-08-31

As the summer in the Northern Hemisphere gives way to the fall, monetary policy and politics will shape the investment and business climate. Even if history does not repeat itself, there are still insights to be gleaned. In the last few months of 2023, the market expected aggressive interest rate cuts this year.

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Week Ahead: Inflation Gauges and Stretched US Dollar Drop

2024-08-24

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2024-08-24

In the middle of last week, the Fed funds futures discounted 103 bp of cuts this year. There was some movement but after Fed Chair Powell’s, but the market finished the week with 104 bp of cuts priced into the Fed funds futures curve. The two-year note yield settled at a three-week low and the dollar slumped. The Dollar Index's 1.7% lost last week, its fifth consecutive drop and the largest weekly decline of the year. Although the euro rose to...

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Week Ahead: Price Action Might be More Important than Data, Barring US CPI Surprise

2024-08-10

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2024-08-10

There is no need to debate whether it was tightening by the Bank of Japan or the fourth consecutive rise in the US unemployment rate that spurred the dramatic market reaction at the start of last week. It seems reasonable that both played a role. And the dramatic unwinding of short yen positions, which appeared to help fuel a recovery of the Swiss franc, Chinese yuan began before the Bank of Japan meeting and the US employment report. Moreover, on...

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August 2024 Monthly

2024-08-03

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2024-08-03

We suspect the long-anticipated turn of the US dollar is at hand. The policy mix of tight monetary policy and loose fiscal policy is coming to an end. The moderation of price pressures for the past three months has boosted the confidence of Federal Reserve officials that inflation is headed back toward its 2% target. At the conclusion of the July FOMC meeting, Federal Reserve Chair Powell gave his strongest signal yet that a rate cut at the next...

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Week Ahead: Alphabet Soup–BOJ, EMU CPI, FOMC, BOE, US NFP

2024-07-27

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2024-07-27

A dollar-centric narrative would note that the greenback rose against most of the G10 currencies last week. Yet, the dollar, the most actively traded currency, was arguably not the prime mover in recent days. Rather, the unwinding of carry trades seems to be the driver of much of the price action. The low yielding yen and Swiss franc were the only G10 currencies to rise against the US dollar. The Australian and New Zealand dollars were the worst...

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Week Ahead: US Dollar to Extend Recovery while Stocks Correct Lower

2024-07-20

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2024-07-20

The consolidative phase for the dollar, we anticipated last week, after its recent drop, is evolving into a proper upside correction. We expect the dollar to trade broadly firmer over the next week or so. It is also part of a larger picture, where US interest rates also look to have put in a near-term bottom and are set to recover. Ideas that next US administration may favor a weaker dollar has become a talking point. Yet, of all the forces that...

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BOJ Appears to have Intervened last Friday Too, but Market Sells Yen Anyway

2024-07-16

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2024-07-16

Jury duty assignment prevents a more comprehensive note, but here is a snapshot. Overview: The US dollar is consolidating in narrow ranges against most of the G10 currencies. The Australian and New Zealand dollars, along with the Japanese yen are off by about 0.25%, but the others are +/- 0.10. The latest BOJ data appears to imply that officials intervened not only last Thursday, but Friday as well. Emerging market currencies are mixed but mostly...

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