Tag Archive: U.K. Unemployment Rate

Unemployment rate measures the percentage of the total work force that is unemployed and actively seeking employment during the reported month.

FX Daily, June 16: Correction Scenario Tested

2020-06-16

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2020-06-16

Overview: Shortly after the US stock market opened sharply lower, the Federal Reserve announced that it's Main Street facility was up and running. US stocks never looked back. After the S&P 500 recouped its full decline, the Fed announced it would begin buying corporate bonds. Up until now, it had been buying representative ETFs. Stocks rallied further on the news before pulling back into the close. The rally in risk assets carried into Asia.

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FX Daily, May 19: Optimism Burns Eternal

2020-05-19

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2020-05-19

Overview: Hopes for a vaccine and a German-French proposal to break the logjam at the EU for a joint recovery effort helped propel equities higher yesterday. There was strong follow-through in the Asia Pacific region, where most markets advanced by more than 1% today. However,  the bloom came off the rose, so to speak, in Europe. After a higher opening, markets reversed lower, and the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is off about 0.75% in late morning turnover.

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FX Daily, April 21: Oil Drilled Below Zero, Equity Rally Stalls, Greenback Advances

2020-04-21

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2020-04-21

Overview:  Oil's wild ride has been joined by two other developments that are keeping investors off-balance. First, reports suggest that North Korea's Kim Jong-Un maybe in critical condition after surgery. He apparently was absent from last week's events celebrating his grandfather.

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FX Daily, March 17: Even Turn Around Tuesday is Flat

2020-03-17

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2020-03-17

Overview:  While the markets are not as disorderly as they have been, the tone is fragile, and the animal spirits have been crushed.  Australian stocks fell more than 10% last week and dropped another 9.7% yesterday before rebounding by almost 6% today to be one of the few Asia Pacific equity markets to rise.  The Nikkei eked out a small gain, but the broader Topix rose 2.6%.

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FX Daily, February 18: Apple’s Warning Weighs on Sentiment

2020-02-18

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2020-02-18

Overview: Apple's warning that it will miss Q1 revenue due to the knock-on effects of the coronavirus seemed to be a modest wake-up call to investors, who, judging from the equity market, were looking beyond. Equities have fallen, and bonds have rallied. Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korean stocks fell by more than 1%, and only China and Indonesia were able to post gains.

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FX Daily, January 21: New Respiratory Illness Saps Risk-Taking Appetites

2020-01-21

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2020-01-21

The spread of a new respiratory illness in China has spurred a wave of profit-taking in equities and risk assets more generally. All of the markets in the Asia Pacific region tumbled, with Hong Kong hit the hardest (-2.8%) after posting a key reversal yesterday. The sell-off continued in Europe. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is off about 0.8% in late morning turnover, led by consumer discretionary, materials, and energy. 

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FX Daily, December 17: Sterling Drops as New Brinkmanship Begins

2019-12-17

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2019-12-17

Overview: Efforts by a UK Prime Minister emboldened by a strong electoral victory to ensure that trade negotiations with the EU are not extended as the divorce has encouraged further profit-taking on sterling. After testing the $1.35 area on the exit polls last week, sterling had returned to where it closed before the results were known near $1.3160.

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FX Daily, December 16: China Data Surprises to the Upside while Europe’s Manufacturing PMI Disappoints

2019-12-16

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2019-12-16

Overview: Despite better than expected Chinese data, and last week's investor-friendly developments, Asia Pacific equities were mixed. Australia led the advancing bourses with a 1.6% gain, its largest for the year despite the government revising down growth and wages. China, Taiwan, and Indian markets also moved higher.

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FX Daily, November 12: Farage Declares Truce with Tories after being Offered a Peerage, Underpins Sterling

2019-11-12

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2019-11-12

Global capital markets are calm as investors look for a new catalyst. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index snapped back after posting its first back-to-back decline in a month. All the equity markets were higher, but Australia. The Nikkei, Kospi, and Taiex led the advance with about a 0.8% gain. European shares closed firmly near session highs yesterday, even if still lower on the day, and there has been some follow-through buying today.

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FX Daily, October 15: Non-Disruptive Brexit Hopes Remain Elevated

2019-10-15

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2019-10-15

Overview: Ideas that a Brexit deal may be close is helping to firm sterling, while soft Chinese PPI offset the spike in food prices to show the weakness of the world's second-largest economy. Minutes from the meeting of the Reserve Bank of Australia earlier this month kept a door open to a rate cut before the end of the year.  Japan returned from holiday, and the Nikkei gapped higher, and its nearly 1.9% advance led the MSCI Asia Pacific Index...

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FX Daily, September 10: Turn Around Tuesday

2019-09-10

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2019-09-10

Overview: The momentum from the end of last week carried into yesterday's activity, but the momentum began fading.  Today, equities were mixed in Asia Pacific and weaker in Europe. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 reversed lower yesterday and is slipped further today.  The S&P 500 may gap lower at the open.

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FX Daily, August 13: Investors Remain on Edge

2019-08-13

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2019-08-13

Overview:  The confrontation in Hong Kong and the fallout from the Argentine primary over the weekend join concerns the conflict between the two largest economies and slower growth to force the animal spirits into hibernation.  Global equities remain under pressure.  Japan's Topix joined several other markets in the region to have given up its year-to-date gain. 

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FX Daily, July 16: Sterling Weakness Punctures Subdued Session

2019-07-16

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2019-07-16

Overview: Summer in the northern hemisphere contributing to the subdued activity in the global capital markets. The MSCI Asia Pacific index stalled after a four-day advance, with Japanese, Chinese, and Australian equities offsetting gains in Taiwan, South Korea, and India.  Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is flattish, struggling to extend its three-day rally.

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FX Daily, June 11: Markets Take Another Small Step Away from the Edge

2019-06-11

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2019-06-11

Overview: The recovery in equities continues today in light news day.  Nearly all the bourses in the Asia Pacific region rose, led by a 2.6% gain of the Shanghai Composite. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose for a third session. European equity benchmarks are rising for the sixth time in the past seven sessions.

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FX Daily, May 14: Too Weak to Muster Much of a Turnaround Tuesday, Markets See Small Reprieve

2019-05-14

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2019-05-14

OECD Gauge hits Lowest Level
President Trump's willingness to meet China's Xi at the G20 meeting at the end of next month and his "feeling" that an agreement will still be found seemed sufficient to break the momentum that had swept through the capital market.

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FX Daily, April 16: The Dollar and Stocks Catch a Bid

2019-04-16

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2019-04-16

Amid light news, global equities are moving higher In Asia, the Nikkei rose to a new high since early December, while the Shanghai Composite rose 2.3% and posted its highest close since March 2018. European equities are solid, with the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 moving higher for the fifth consecutive session.

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FX Daily, August 14: Brief Respite but Little Relief

2018-08-14

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2018-08-14

Corrective pressures grip the capital markets today, helped by the easing of the selling pressure on Turkey, but its more a respite than a relief as no new policy initiatives are behind the lira's upticks. The implication of this is that it is unlikely to last. In fact, the dollar's low in early Europe a just above TRY6.41 after trading a little above TRY7.23 yesterday may be about the most that can reasonably be expected.

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FX Daily, July 17: Dollar on Back Foot Ahead of Powell

2018-07-17

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2018-07-17

The US dollar eased in Asia session and the European morning. The greenback had appeared technically vulnerable, and the economic news stream is light. Sterling, unlike most of the other major currencies, remains within yesterday's range. Yesterday's high, a little above $1.3290, maybe reinforced a little today by the GBP245 mln $1.33 option that is expiring. Brexit concerns may also be acting as a drag.

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FX Daily, April 17: Dollar Recovers from Further Selling as Turnaround Tuesday Unfolds

2018-04-17

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2018-04-17

After the retreating in the North American session yesterday, despite a rebound in retail sales after three-months of declines, the greenback has been sold further in Europe and Asia. The euro edged through last week's high near $1.24, and sterling rose through the January high to reach its best level since the mid-2016 referendum. Sterling rose through $1.4375 before the easing after the employment report.

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FX Daily, February 21: Markets Mark Time

2018-02-21

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2018-02-21

The economic data stream is picking up, but there is an uneasy calm in the markets. It is almost as if the dramatic drop in stocks has left many with a sense of incompleteness, like waiting for another shoe to drop. The price action has not clarified the situation very much. The equity markets are stalling in front of important chart points as are yields and the dollar.

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