Tag Archive: U.K.

High Anxiety: China’s Covid and US Inflation

Overview: Anxiety is running high. Rather than ease its Covid restrictions, a surge in cases is seeing more areas in China come under restrictions. The US reports CPI and of the ten reports this year, seven of them have been stronger than expected.

Read More »

The Week Ahead: How Sticky is US Inflation and How Soft is China’s?

There are three potential inflection points. The first is a pause from the Fed; if nothing else, Powell signaled it was too early to think about it. The second is for the Bank of Japan to change monetary policy. Governor Kuroda has signaled that it is not time. Conventional wisdom is there will not be a change until Kuroda's term ends next April. However, we note that the surveys suggest economists and BOJ inflation forecasts for next year have...

Read More »

RBA Hikes by 25 bp, Chinese Stocks Surge, and the Greenback Trades Heavier

Overview: Risk appetites have returned today. Bonds and stocks are advancing, while the dollar is better offered. Unsourced claims that Beijing has formed a committee to assess how to exit the zero-Covid policy sent Chinese shares sharply higher. An index of mainland companies list in Hong Kong jumped nearly 7% and closed up almost 5.5%. The Hang Seng surged 5.2%, while all the large markets in the region advanced. Europe’s Stoxx 600 recovered...

Read More »

The Dollar Returns from the Weekend Bid

The dollar has come back from the weekend bid. After the ECB and BOJ meetings last week, the focus has shifted back to the US where the FOMC meeting concludes in the middle of the week and the October employment report is out ahead of the weekend. Sterling and the yen are the weakest performers among the G10 currencies and are off 0.45%-0.50%. The Antipodeans are performing best and are straddling little changed levels.

Read More »

BOJ Doesn’t Surprise, but EMU does with October CPI and Q3 Growth

Bonds and stocks are being sold ahead of the weekend.  Poor corporate earnings and higher inflation in Japan and Europe are weighing on sentiment.  The dollar is mostly higher. Hong Kong and mainland China led large Asia Pacific markets lower.  India and Singapore were notable exceptions.

Read More »

Dollar Slump Stalls Ahead of ECB Meeting

The dollar’s recent losses have left it stretched on a near-term basis after today’s ECB meeting, the focus will shift to the Federal Reserve, next week’s meeting, and the employment report. The greenback is trading with a firmer bias against the G10 currencies, while the emerging market currencies are more mixed.

Read More »

Consolidative Tuesday

Overview: The yen and sterling are trading quietly after the recent drama, but with the Party Congress ending, the Chinese yuan has been permitted to fall faster. It approached the 2% band today and its loss of about 0.65% today makes it the weakest among the emerging market currencies.

Read More »

BOJ Injects More Volatility, while UK’s Tory Party Leadership Contest may be Over Today

Overview:  Japanese efforts to curb the weakness of the yen provided drama today. What many suspect was intervention before the weekend was wearing off and officials may have sold dollars again today in front of JPY150.

Read More »

Macro and Prices: The Week Ahead

There are five macro highlights in the week ahead. After providing a thumbnail sketch of them, we will look more closely at the price action of the leading dollar-pairs. We suspect that the dollar is in the process of carving out a top amid ideas that a 5.0% terminal Fed funds rate is discounted.

Read More »

Greenback Holds Above JPY150, while BOJ goes MIA

Overview: The continued surge in US rates and inability of the equity market to sustain gains saw the post-Truss sterling rally unwind amid a broader recovery of the dollar. Sterling has been sold to new lows for the week.

Read More »

Currency and Bond Markets Challenge the Bank of Japan

Asia Pacific equities were mixed as the China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korean markets, among the large markets were unable to gain in the wake of a solid performance in the US. Europe is also struggling to maintain the upside momentum that has lifted the Stoxx 600 for the past four sessions.

Read More »

Turn Around Tuesday Aside, is the Dollar Topping?

Global equities moved higher in the wake of the strong gains in the US yesterday. US futures point to the possibility of a gap higher opening today. Most of the large Asia Pacific bourses rallied 1%-2%, with China’s CSI a notable exception, slipping fractionally.

Read More »

Sterling and UK Debt Market Respond Favorably to the Return of Orthodoxy

Overview: The markets have returned from the weekend with a greater appetite for risk. Equities and bonds are rallying, and the dollar is better offered. China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Indian bourses advanced. Mainland shares edged higher even though Zhengzhou, a city of one million people, near an iPhone manufacturing hub was locked down due to Covid. Europe’s Stoxx 600 is up nearly 0.5% to extend its recovery into a third session.

Read More »

Week Ahead: Focus Shifts away from the US after Robust Jobs Data and Stronger than Expected Inflation

The latest US employment and inflation figures are passed. The market is confident of a 75 bp rate hike next month. While a 50 bp in December is still the odds-on favorite, the market has a slight chance (~15%) of a 100 bp move instead after the robust jobs report and stronger-than-expected September CPI.

Read More »

Dollar Recovers from Yesterday’s Stunning Reversal, but has Sentiment Turned in North America?

There has been little follow-through dollar selling so far today after yesterday’s dramatic downside reversal after the initial flurry of buying in response to the stronger than expected US CPI.

Read More »

Can We Look Past US CPI ?

Overview: There seems to be a nervous calm today ahead of the US CPI. The dollar is hovering near JPY147 but the risk of BOJ intervention in the North American session seems slim. The BOE’s emergency Gilt buying operation ends tomorrow and UK bonds yields have tumbled. While equities in the Asia Pacific region lost ground, Europe’s Stoxx 600 is trying to snap a six-day decline.

Read More »

The Tragedy of the Commons

Overview: The dramatic moves spurred by the BOE maintaining the end of the week deadline for its Gilt purchases, which have been quite modest given its wherewithal, have calmed. Sterling is firmer on the day, though long-end Gilt yields are higher. The dollar has pushed above JPY145.90, where the BOJ intervened last month.

Read More »

Bank of England Steps in to Buy Inflation-Linked Bonds for the First Time

Overview:  The dollar continues to ride high. It reached its highest level against the yen since the recent intervention. The Canadian dollar has fallen to its lowest level in two-and-a-half years and the New Zealand dollar is approaching the 2020 extreme.

Read More »

No Rest for the Weary: The Week Ahead

In Volcker's days, when he used money supply to justify tightening monetary policy despite high unemployment, the money supply was released while markets were open, and it was The report. Later, by the mid-1980s, leading up to the Plaza Agreement, the deterioration of the US monthly trade balance was critical.

Read More »