Tag Archive: #USD

Is the BOJ Tapering?

2018-01-12

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2018-01-12

The G3 central banks are in flux. The Federal Reserve is gradually raising rates and allowing the balance sheet to shrink by not fully reinvesting the maturing proceeds. The ECB will purchase half as many bonds in the first nine months of 2018 as it did in the last nine months of 2017.

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FX Daily, January 11: Capital Markets Calmer, Greenback Consolidates

2018-01-11

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2018-01-11

As market participants were just getting their sea legs back after the start of the year, it was hit by a one-two punch of ideas that BOJ policy was turning less accommodative and that Chinese officials were wary of adding to their Treasury holdings. Then late yesterday, a news wire reported that Canada suspected the US was going to withdraw from NAFTA.

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Cool Video: Bloomberg TV Clip on Central Banks

2018-01-11

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2018-01-11

Bloomberg Video
I joined Alix Steel and David Westin on the Bloomberg set earlier today. Click here for the link. In the roughly 2.5 minute clip, we talk about the US and and the monetary cycle in Europe. In the US, Q4 was another quarter of above trend growth. The Atlanta Fed says the economy is tracking 2.7%, while the NY Fed puts it at 4.0%.

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FX Daily, January 10: Yen Short Squeeze Extended

2018-01-10

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2018-01-10

Sparked by fears that the BOJ took a step toward the monetary exit by reducing the amount of long-term bonds it is buying, there is an apparent scramble to cover previously sold yen positions. The dollar finished last week near JPY113.00. It fell to about JPY112.35 yesterday, near the 50% retracement of the greenback's bounce from the late-November lows near JPY110.85.

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FX Daily, January 09: Dollar Correction Extended

2018-01-09

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2018-01-09

The US dollar's upside correction that began before the weekend has been extended in Asia and Europe today. The main exception is the Japanese yen. The yen's modest gains have been registered despite the firmness in US rates and continued advance in equities; both factors associated with a weaker Japanese currency.

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FX Daily, January 08: Dollar Posts Modest Upticks to Start the New Week

2018-01-08

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2018-01-08

The US dollar is enjoying modest but broad-based gains after trading firmly at the end of last week despite the slightly disappointing jobs report. The dollar's upticks are understood to be corrective in nature. The Canadian dollar appears to be protected by the increased prospects of a rate hike next week after its stellar employment report.

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FX Weekly Preview: Accommodative Officials and Synchronized Upturn Drive Markets

2018-01-08

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2018-01-08

The investment climate is being shaped by two powerful forces. First is the very accommodative policy stance. This includes the United States, where despite delivering the fifth rate hike in the cycle, adjusted by headline CPI, remains negative. The balance sheet has begun being reduced, financial conditions in the US are easier now than a year ago.

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FX Daily, January 05: Dollar Given Reprieve Ahead of Employment Report

2018-01-05

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2018-01-05

As the US dollar finished last year, so too did it begin the New Year, and after extending its losses, the bears have paused. Technical factors had been stretched, but it appears to have been old-fashioned macroeconomic considerations to have helped the dollar to move off the mat. Quickly summarized, these considerations are a larger than expected Australian trade deficit, slippage in Japan's service sector PMI, a larger than expected drop in the...

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Headline US Jobs Disappoint, but Earnings as Expected

2018-01-05

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2018-01-05

The headline US non-farm payrolls disappointed, rising by 148k instead of the consensus of 180k-200k. However, the other details were largely as expected and are unlikely to change views about the trajectory of Fed policy or the general direction of markets. It is a very much steady as she goes story.

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FX Daily, January 04: Greenback Continues to Consolidate Recent Losses

2018-01-04

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2018-01-04

The US dollar is sporting a softer profile across the board, though remaining largely in the ranges seen over the past couple of sessions. At the same time, the news stream suggests that the global synchronized growth cycle strengthened late last year and is bound to carry over into the New Year.

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Cool Video: Is the Third Major Dollar Rally Since Bretton Woods Over?

2018-01-04

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2018-01-04

Video Bloomberg
To many, the question about the fate of the third major dollar rally since the end of Bretton Woods was resolved last year. The dollar fell broadly. It marked the end the greenback's ride higher. However, I remain less convinced that this is really the case. And that is what I discuss in this three-minute clip from Bloomberg's What'd You Miss.

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FX Daily, January 03: Dollar Stabilizes, but Sees Little Recovery

2018-01-03

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2018-01-03

The US dollar is stabilizing but the tone remains fragile. The euro, which has advanced for five consecutive sessions coming into today is slightly lower. The euro had stalled yesterday as it approached last year's high set in September near $1.2090. Yesterday was also the third consecutive close above the upper Bollinger Band, which is found today near $1.2060.

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The Past is Not Passed: 2017 Spills into 2018

2018-01-03

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2018-01-03

The New Year may have begun in fact, but in practice, full participation may return only after the release of US employment data on January 5. The macroeconomic and policy tables have been set, though interpolating from the Overnight Index Swaps market, there is 45% chance the Bank of Canada hikes rates at its policy meeting near the middle of the month.

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FX Daily, January 2: Dollar Slump Accelerates

2018-01-02

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2018-01-02

The US dollar's slump seen in the final two weeks of 2017 is carried into today's activity. The greenback's sell-off extends to the emerging market currencies as well. The Hungarian forint is the strongest rising nearly 1%, ostensibly helped by the euro approaching last year's high. However, our sense that fumes and momentum more than fresh news is pushing the dollar down is illustrated by the Korean won. It has gained nearly 0.9% today even though...

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Petro-Yuan? Really?

2017-12-29

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2017-12-29

The launch of futures on Bitcoins was rushed so quickly through the regulatory channels that the anticipation was short-lived. And as the recent price action amply demonstrates, the existence of a derivative market has not tamed the digital token's volatility. It is still the early days, but Bitcoin futures do not look likely to change the world.

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FX Daily, December 27: What Happened on Boxing Day?

2017-12-27

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2017-12-27

There were several developments on the day after Christmas, while many markets remained closed and investors sidelined. One of the most important developments was the euro's complete recovery from the flash crash of nearly three percent on Christmas day in the North American time zone.

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Great Graphic: Sterling Toys with Three-Year Downtrend Line

2017-12-19

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2017-12-19

GBP BGN Currency
Sterling is the second major currency this year after the euro (and its shadow the Danish krone). The downtrend line from mid-2014 is fraying. Is this the breakout?

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FX Weekly Preview: Policy Mix Underlines Positive Fundamental Backdrop for the Dollar

2017-12-18

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2017-12-18

The prospects that the Republican-controlled legislative branch would find a compromise to tax cuts were enhanced when a few senators appeared to capitulate without much to show for it may have helped lift US stocks and dollar ahead of the weekend.

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FX Daily, December 15: Premium for Dollar-Funding is not Helping Greenback Very Much

2017-12-15

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2017-12-15

The cross-currency basis swap continues to lurch in the dollar's direction, especially against the euro, and yet the dollar is not drawing much support from it. The increasing cost reflects pressure for the year-end and does not appear to reflect systemic issues. Dollar auction by the ECB and BOJ do not show any strain. The dollar has a downside bias today against most of the major currencies. And is what is true of the day is true for the week....

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