Tag Archive: PMI

US-EU Rapprochement, Can France and UK Do the Same?

Overview:  It is mostly a quiet start to the new month.  Most of Europe is closed for the All -Saints holiday and the week's key events start tomorrow with the Reserve Bank of Australia meeting.  News that the Liberal Democrats retained a majority in the lower chamber of the Diet helped lift Japanese indices by 2%.  Most of the large regional markets gained, though China and Hong Kong markets fell. US index futures are trading with a higher bias...

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Risk Appetites Return from Holiday

Overview: After an ugly week, market participants have returned with strong risk appetites.  Equities are rebounding, and the greenback is paring recent gains.  Bond yields are firm, as are commodities.  Asia Pacific equities got the ball rolling with more than 1% gains in several large markets, including Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. 

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FX Daily, July 01: The Greenback is Bid to Start the Second Half

Soft Asian manufacturing PMIs weighed on local shares after the S&P 500 set new record highs yesterday. European shares are recouping yesterday's month-end losses, while US futures indices are bid. The US 10-year yield is around 1.47%, and European yields are 1-2 bp higher. 

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FX Daily, June 23: Japan Retains Distinction of being the only G7 Country with Sub-50 PMI Composite

Federal Reserve officials, lead by Chair Powell, pushed gently against the more hawkish interpretations of last week's FOMC meeting. Tapering not a rate hike was the focus of discussions. Powell reiterated that price pressures would prove transitory and would ease after the re-opening disruptions settled down.

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FX Daily, June 03: Don’t Believe Sino-American Thaw or Fed’s Corporate Bond Divestment is a Policy Signal

Market participants appear to be biding their time ahead of tomorrow's US jobs report as they digest recent developments. The dollar is firmer, equities are mixed, and benchmark bond yields are a little firmer. China and Hong Kong shares continue their recent underperformance, while most of the large markets in the Asia Pacific region edged higher.

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FX Daily, June 01: CNY Softens after PBOC’s Move; Equities Advance on Stronger World Outlook

The US dollar fell against most major currencies following the PBOC's modest move to reduce the upward pressure on the yuan. Follow-through selling was seen earlier today, and sterling reached a new three-year high. However, the dollar found a bid in the European morning, while the Scandi currencies held on to most of their earlier gains.

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FX Daily, April 23: Greenback Slips into the Weekend

Overview:  Many narratives link the prospect of higher capital gains tax on about a third of 1% of Americans as the catalyst for losses in US equities yesterday (and Bitcoin) and weakness in some global shares today.  Of the large markets in the Asia Pacific region, only Japan, which is reimposing a formal emergency in Tokyo, Osaka, and two other prefectures, fell. 

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FX Daily, March 1: Animal Spirits Roar Like a Lion to Start the New Month

Overview:  Equities and bonds jump back.  Most Asia Pacific markets advanced 1.5-2.5% after the regional MSCI benchmark dropped 3.65% before the weekend and 5.3% last week.  The recovery in European stocks was even more impressive. 

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FX Daily, February 19: Equities Stabilizing While the Greenback Remains Under Pressure

Overview: The bond and equity markets are trying to stabilize ahead of the weekend.  The dollar remains under pressure.  In the Asia Pacific region, Hong Kong, China, and South Korean markets advanced, but most markets could not overcome the profit-taking pressures.

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FX Daily, February 3: The Greenback Remains Resilient as the Bulls Drive Equities Higher

Equities have charged higher, and the greenback is mostly firmer.  News that Draghi may become Italy's next Prime Minister has boosted Italian bonds.  The PBOC unexpectedly drained liquidity, and this may have deterred buying of Chinese stocks, a notable exception in the regional rally.

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FX Daily, February 1: Markets Snap Back

Global equities are snapping back today, while the greenback retained the strength seen last week that was attributed to safe-haven flows. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index snapped a four-day decline led by Hong Kong, South Korea, India, and Indonesia.

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FX Daily, January 6: High Drama Weighs on the Greenback and Lifts Yields

Overview:  One of the two Georgia Senate contests remains too close to call, but the market appears to be pricing in a Democrat sweep.  The 10-year yield has punched above 1% but has offered the greenback little support.  Yesterday, the dollar-bloc currencies rose to highs since early Q2 2018 and are extending those gains today. 

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Seizing The Dirt Shirt Title

In mid-December 2019, before the world had heard of COVID, China’s Central Economic Work Conference had released a rather startling statement for the world to consume. In the West, everything was said to be on the up. Central banks had responded, forcefully, many claimed, more than enough to deal with that year’s “unexpected” globally synchronized downturn.

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FX Daily, January 04: Rising Equities and Slumping Dollar Greet the New Year

Overview:  The first day of the New Year, but it feels a lot like last year.  The dollar is under pressure, and equities are higher.  Outside of Japan and Malaysia, The MSCI Asia Pacific Index extended last week's 3.6% gain. It has not rallied for seven consecutive sessions.

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FX Daily, November 4: Indecision Keeps Investors on Edge, but the Dollar Rides High

Initially, the markets built on Tuesday's price action, but as soon as a few counties in Florida indicated that it was not going to be the "blue wave," risk came off, and it was most evident in the bond and currency markets. Equities rallied in the Asia Pacific area, and all but Hong Kong, Australia, and Indonesia advanced. 

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FX Daily, October 05: Monday’s Dollar Blues

New actions to contain the virus are being taken in the US and Europe, but investors are looking past it and taking equities and risk assets, in general, higher to start the new week. MSCI Asia Pacific recouped most of last week's 0.7% loss with gains of move than 1% in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Australia.

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What’s Zambia Got To With It (everything)

As one of Africa’s largest copper producers, it seemed like a no-brainer. Financial firms across the Western world, pension funds from the US or banks in Europe, they lined up for a bit of additional yield. This was 2012, still global recovery on the horizon – at least that’s what “they” all kept saying.

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FX Daily, September 23: Trying to Find Solid Ground

A more stable tone is evident in the capital markets after the S&P 500, and NASDAQ rose more than one percent yesterday.  Japan returned from a two-day holiday, and local shares slipped fractionally, while China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Australian shares rallied.  India and Taiwan fell.

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Purchasing Managers Indigestion

There’s already doubt given how the two major series supposedly measuring the same thing seemingly can’t agree. If the rebound was truly robust, it would show up unambiguously everywhere. But IHS Markit’s purchasing managers indices struggled to get back above 50 in July, barely getting there, suggesting the economy might be slowing or even stalling way too close to the bottom.

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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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