Tag Archive: USD/CHF

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

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%.

Read More »

FX Daily, March 16: Monday Blues: Fed Moves Bigly and Stocks Slump

2020-03-16

by Marc Chandler

2020-03-16

Overview: The Federal Reserve and central banks in the Asia Pacific region acted forcefully, but were unable to ease the consternation of investors. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut key rates by 75 bp. The Bank of Japan appears to have doubled its ETF purchase target to JPY12 trillion, and the Reserve Bank of Australia is preparing for new measures that will be announced Thursday.

Read More »

FX Daily, March 12: Trump Dump as Market Turns to ECB

2020-03-12

by Marc Chandler

2020-03-12

Overview: After the Bank of England and the UK Treasury announced both monetary and fiscal support, the focus turns to the ECB, but the proximity of the US Congressional recess (next week) without strong fiscal measures being in place sucked the oxygen away from other issues. President Trump's national address in the Asian session failed to reassure investors.

Read More »

FX Daily, March 11: US Over-Promises and Under-Delivers, while BOE Steps Up with 50 bp Rate Cut

2020-03-11

by Marc Chandler

2020-03-11

Overview: The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrials sold off after the higher open and briefly traded below yesterday's lows. Investors seemed disappointed that the Trump Administration was not ready with specific policies after Monday's tease that had initially helped lift Asia Pacific and European markets earlier on Tuesday. This sparked a sharp decline in Europe into the close.

Read More »

FX Daily, March 10: Markets Stabilize after Body Blow

2020-03-10

by Marc Chandler

2020-03-10

Overview: It appears after a few days of miscues, US officials struck the right chord, and the global capital markets seemed to stabilize shortly after the US session ended. President Trump's press conference today is expected to spell out in greater detail relief for households and businesses. Asia Pacific equities rallied, led by a 3% surge in Australia.

Read More »

FX Daily, March 9: Monday Meltdown

2020-03-09

by Marc Chandler

2020-03-09

Overview: Equities plunged, and yields sank as the coronavirus threatens a global recession. The oil price war signaled by Saudi Arabia and Russia aggravates the desperate situation. Equities markets in the Asia Pacific region slumped 3-7%. The Shanghai Composite was fell 3%. The Nikkei was off by 5%, and Australia was hit among the hardest with a 7.3% loss.

Read More »

FX Daily, March 06: Panic Deepens, US Employment Data Means Little

2020-03-06

by Marc Chandler

2020-03-06

The sharp sell-off in US equities and yields yesterday is spurring a mini-meltdown globally today. Many of the Asia Pacific markets, including Japan, Australia, Taiwan, and India, saw more than 2% drops, while most others fell more than 1%. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index snapped the four-day advance had lifted it about 2.8% coming into today.

Read More »

FX Daily, March 5: The Capital Markets YoYo Continues

2020-03-05

by Marc Chandler

2020-03-05

Overview: The 4.2% rally in the S&P 500 yesterday helped lift Asia Pacific markets earlier today, and the five basis point backing up of the US 10-year yield pushed regional yields higher. However, the coattails proved short, and Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is snapping a three-day advance and is off about 1.3% in late morning turnover to give back yesterday's gains.

Read More »

FX Daily, March 4: Equities Trade Higher, While Yields Continue to Fall

2020-03-04

by Marc Chandler

2020-03-04

Overview: The G7 delivered up a nothing burger than was shortly followed by a 50 bp Fed cut. The equity market seemed to enjoy it briefly and extended Monday's dramatic gains, before falling out of bed. The S&P 500 lost about 2.2%, while the Dow Industrial slumped 3%, but shortly after the markets closed, equities began recovering, and the recovery carried over to the Asia Pacific region and Europe.

Read More »

FX Daily, March 2: Central Banks’ Words of Assurance have Short Life

2020-03-02

by Marc Chandler

2020-03-02

Overview: Comments beginning with Powell before the weekend, and BOJ and BOE earlier today promising support have saw equity markets briefly stabilize after last week's dramatic moves. The G7 will hold a teleconference this week, but speculation of a coordinated rate move does not seem particularly likely. Most of the large stock markets in the Asia Pacific region rallied, led by a 3%+ advance in China.

Read More »

FX Daily, February 28: Fallout Accelerates

2020-02-28

by Marc Chandler

2020-02-28

Overview: The dramatic response by investors to Covid-19 continues unabated and worse. The slide is accelerating. The S&P 500 posted a 4.4% loss yesterday, its worst session since 2011, and the sell-off is continuing. Many markets in Asia Pacific, including Japan, China, Korea, Australia, India, Singapore, and Thailand, fell by more than 3%.

Read More »

FX Daily, February 27: The Rot Continues but Somewhat Less Dollar Friendly

2020-02-27

by Marc Chandler

2020-02-27

A new phase of the Covid-19 is at hand. Yesterday was the first time that the number of new cases in the world surpassed the number of new cases China acknowledged. This confirms what we have known, namely that the battle for containing it in China has been lost.

Read More »

FX Daily, February 26: Dramatic Investor Adjustment Continues

2020-02-26

by Marc Chandler

2020-02-26

Overview: The warning by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention that Americans should prepare for an outbreak of Covid-19 sent the S&P 500 tumbling to an 11-week low and the 10-year Treasury yield to a record low near 1.30%. The volatility of the S&P (VIX) jumped to its highest level since 2018. The sell-off in global equities continues unabated.

Read More »

FX Daily, February 25: Capital Markets Remain Fragile after Yesterday’s Bloodletting

2020-02-25

by Marc Chandler

2020-02-25

Overview: Yesterday's bloodletting in global equities has calmed, but investors remain on edge. Despite all the concerns that the markets were under-appreciating the implications of the new coronavirus, there is a sense that yesterday's moves were in excess. Japanese markets, which were closed on Monday, played catch-up today, and the Nikkei shed 3.3%.

Read More »

FX Daily, February 24: Stocks Slammed and Yields Drop as Virus Containment Fails

2020-02-24

by Marc Chandler

2020-02-24

Overview: The ring of containment of Covid-19 has grown from China. The new frontline is Japan, South Korea, Italy, and Iran. A lockdown of around 50k people near Milan and Austria blocking trains from Italy is scaring investors. Asian markets fell, but South Korea bore the brunt with a nearly 4% decline. The national holiday in Japan spared local equities.

Read More »

FX Daily, February 21: Covid-19 Contagion Outside China Keeps Investors on the Defensive

2020-02-21

by Marc Chandler

2020-02-21

Overview: The spread of Covid-19 outside of China and early signs of the economic consequences again emerged to weigh on investor sentiment. Poor Japanese and Australian preliminary February PMI reports and some trade indications from South Korea saw most Asia Pacific equities sell-off. China was an exception. The small gain (0.3%), lifted the Shanghai Composite 4.2% on the week.

Read More »