The New Zealand dollar lagged the other major currencies again overnight, but was generally sidelined in favour of more important themes offshore. The NZD stuck to a narrow range through most of the day and briefly popped back above 0.77, before succumbin More...
The Canadian dollar pushed higher against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, helped by a surge in oil prices, but it failed to maintain a break above parity with the greenback.
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Market sentiment for the USD remains in flux. Tuesday it turned back positive again. Nevertheless, we hold to the observation that the markets have tried to switch to a medium term view on prospective relative growth patterns in the U.S. vs. Europe. More...
The U.S. dollar rallied broadly on Tuesday after a report on April retail sales beat forecasts and supported views that the Federal Reserve will probably stop cutting interest rates next month.
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Currencies and fixed-income also exhibited volatility through the session as central banker comments debated the monetary policy issues concerning inflationary expectations and growth objectives, and over how quickly interest rates should be cut if growth More...
It is hard to remember a time when the US dollar has experienced a major trend change without some form of coordinated currency intervention by G7 central banks and finance ministers. More...
The dollar rose broadly on Tuesday as some investors speculated that the Federal Reserve may be nearing the end of its rate cutting cycle, while a fall in stock prices cranked up risk aversion, supporting the yen. More...
Pound saw tremendous whipsaw action tonight as it was pulled in opposite directions by higher than expected inflation readings on one side and deteriorating economic data on the other. More...
Market sentiment for the USD continues to fluctuate. Early Tuesday it has turned back positive again. Nevertheless, we hold to the observation that the markets have tried to switch to a medium term view on prospective relative growth patterns in the U.S. More...
The Canadian dollar rose slightly against the U.S. dollar on Monday, but remained stuck in a tight range, while bonds rose as traders took advantage of lower prices after last week's big selloff.
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The dollar rose against the Japanese yen and Swiss franc on Monday as investors snapped up riskier assets such as stocks, encouraged by a dip in oil prices and unexpectedly strong earnings from HSBC.
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..There has been a lot of debate about the impact of the credit crisis on the UK economy, with any new sign of weakness in economic data automatically laid at its door. We will not attempt in this More...
The $1.2 pullback in oil is keeping any euro advances in check near the $1.55 figure. Currency markets will take this week’s busy schedule of US economic reports as the first tangible basis of whether the dollar recovery is warranted by improved US econ More...
The dollar rose a full percent against the yen on Monday and approached a two-month high versus a basket of currencies, boosted by a slight rise in risk demand and growing speculation that U.S. interest cuts may be ending. More...
In currencies, the USD started the European session on a firm note as dealers took notice of comments in the weekend press regarding a ''possible'' floor plan being worked on for the dollar. A WSJ article reported over the weekend that More...
Pound roared back from a steep selloff after UK Producer Prices posted their sharpest increase ever recorded, negating any possibility of a near term BoE rate cut, as inflation pressures continue to plague UK economy. I More...
Market sentiment for the USD turned back positive on the USD early Monday, as the dust settled on the developments at the end of last week. We had noted in the middle of the previous week that it had seemed that the markets were starting to switch to a me More...
Outlook
With the New Zealand economy set for a sharp slowdown this year, owing at least as much to domestic factors as to the turmoil offshore, the NZD is likely to lag among the major currencies. More...
Market sentiment for the USD had been gaining momentum in the early part of the latest week, but turned less positive following the ECB decision and press conference on Thursday. Clearly, the central bank is still focused primarily on price levels in the More...
The Canadian dollar rose more than a cent against the U.S. dollar on Friday, a move attributed to technical factors as well as domestic jobs data, against a positive backdrop of record-setting oil More...
The dollar fell on Friday as another round of credit market losses prompted investors to reduce exposure to risky assets and heightened concern about the health of the U.S. economy.
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In currencies, Risk aversion returned to the front burner as concerns over the financial sector health resurfaced following AIG's earnings after the bell on Thursday. More...
Over the last fortnight, the US dollar has continued to firm slightly. EUR-USD fell to below 1.53 for a time, while USD-JPY traded at around 105 for a few days. From about the middle of the week, when US equity markets began to crumble, the yen started to More...
The dollar fell against most currencies on Friday as a rise in risk aversion prompted by sagging stock markets helped bolster low yielding currencies such as the yen
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In currencies, dealers noted overnight that the sentiment for the USD has been less positive since the ECB rate decision and press conference yesterday. The EUR/USD approached the 1.55 area, while the More...
he EURUSD continued its rebound from multi-week lows in the aftermath of yesterday’s very tough, unapologetically hawkish press conference by ECB President Jean Claude Trichet. More...
Market sentiment for the USD turned less positive following the ECB decision and press conference on Thursday. Clearly, the central bank is still focused primarily on price levels in the German economy to the detriment of a sizeable (35-45%) portion of th More...
The New Zealand dollar fell sharply yesterday after the shockingly weak jobs figures for the March quarter. Employment fell 1.3%, the largest quarterly fall in 19 years, More...
The Canadian dollar dropped against the U.S. dollar on Thursday after data showed Canadian housing starts fell 12 percent in April, and market players were reluctant to take big positions ahead of a key employment report due on Friday.
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Market sentiment for the USD turned less bullish following the ECB decision and press conference on Thursday. Key also in recent sessions has been a couple of pieces of weak data out of Europe and Germany. The markets now appear to be taking a medium term More...
The European central banks did little to surprise the markets in terms of expected interest rate decisions. Both the BOE and ECB maintained a steady policy as they weighed the cross currents of slower growth and higher inflation. More...
The FT story (below) on Europe and US officials (Treasury, Fed, Eurogroup and ECB) unite on a stronger dollar came out last night and had all the hallmarks of a Greg Ip-like story from the halls of monetary power to deliberately get the dollar up versus t More...
GBPUSD rose above the 1.9600 figure in immediate aftermath of the BoE rate announcement as UK monetary authorities stuck to their script and kept rates steady at 5.0%. More...
Market sentiment for the USD has continued to improve heading into the ECB decision and press conference today. Key also in recent sessions has been a couple of pieces of weak data out of Europe and Germany. The markets now appear to be taking a medium te More...
The euro hit a two-month low against the dollar on Thursday, hurt by a report that U.S. and European officials want the dollar to strengthen, as markets awaited a European Central Bank rate decision and statement. More...
• Dollar Sees Sharp Advance As Traders Not Ready To Give Up On Rebound
• Euro Tumbles As Retail Sales Reflect Economic Slowdown, Will the ECB Remain Hawkish? More...
• Dollar Sees Sharp Advance As Traders Not Ready To Give Up On Rebound
• Euro Tumbles As Retail Sales Reflect Economic Slowdown, Will the ECB Remain Hawkish? More...
The New Zealand dollar was consistently sold overnight as the US dollar recovered against all of the major currencies. The NZD was also weighed down yesterday by the RBNZ’s Financial Stability Report, which highlighted the downside risks to the New Zeal More...
The Canadian dollar fell 0.4 percent against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday as investors worried that record high oil prices would begin to crimp global economic growth.
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Market sentiment for the USD has continued to improve after a successful consolidation at the 1.5500 level in recent sessions. The USD was boosted by much weaker than expected Eurozone retail sales report. It might be the European economy (including Germa More...
The dollar rose on Wednesday as a surprise advance in U.S. productivity added to gains booked after a Federal Reserve official said the central bank must stand ready to raise interest rates to combat inflation. More...
While the market seems intent on buying dollars and selling euros making status quo outcome of Thursday’s ECB press conference only mildly bearish for the dollar, the notion that President Trichet and the Governing Council are ready to shift the focus o More...
The USD continued to maintain a steadily firming tone during the US morning following hawkish inflationary comments from Fed's Hoenig during the Asian session and data that was below expectations for More...
Weak euro zone maufacturing and retail data combined to send the euro towards 5-week lows versus the dollar on Wednesday, while the greenback garnered support after hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official. More...
The USD is trading higher on the back of a much weaker than expected Eurozone retail sales report. Some are wondering if the European economy is going to start weakening more now as a lagged effect from the high EUR, strong oil prices and the slowdown els More...
The dollar edged lower against the euro and yen on Tuesday, its second straight daily decline, after a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss at Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) suggested more financial market turmoil ahead.
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The USD was continuing to display a potential “decoupling theme” throughout the European session from its usual inverse relationship with commodities. Dealer continued to speculate that the Russian Central Bank could revalue the Ruble More...
The dollar gave up tentative gains on Tuesday versus the euro, pressured by waning risk appetite as European equities fell, while the single currency drew support from slightly stronger than expected service sector data. More...
Eurozone producer prices rose 0.7% in March helping erase losses from the Asian session, as energy costs rose to 1.8% from 1.1% the month prior. More...
The USD is holding steady following a volatile session on Monday. A key driver of trade was a spike in oil prices to new highs. Dealers were feeling that the EUR/USD should trade in tandem with the oil price, but it is possible that the USD influences the More...
The Canadian dollar pushed higher against a broadly weaker U.S. dollar on Monday, boosted by robust commodity prices, while domestic bond prices ended lower. More...
The dollar fell on Monday for the first time in three sessions as oil prices hit a record high, sparking debate about the strength of the U.S. economy. More...
As with Friday’s payrolls report, the market seems to have read the upside surprise in the ISM as more of a positive for growth trades than for the US dollar. More...
The USD displayed a degree of potential decoupling from its usual inverse relationship with commodities as the dollar maintained a steady tone in today's session despite a rise in basic metals and oil prices. More...
We focus today on the unfolding divergence between the rally in US equity markets of the past 3 weeks and the macroeconomic data in the US which have swayed from neutral to deteriorating. Friday’s release of US payrolls triggered a rally in equities and More...
Looking ahead, the data front is light overall, with the April ISM non-manufacturing composite the only number scheduled in the US today. In central bank speak big Ben is due to speak on mortgage foreclosures at Columbia university. More...
The USD has corrected modestly lower in Monday in a session market by holidays in the key Tokyo and London centers. The markets are still adjusting to the U.S. April jobs figures on Friday that were not bad as feared. Recent data from the U.S. have been w More...
Sentiment in favor of the USD has continued to improve. However, the latest USD path upward has been uneven, making it difficult for anyone trying to hold onto a long position in the USD. Early Friday, the Fed made available additional USD funds to the EC More...
The US dollar was given a boost after some better than expected jobs figures. The April payrolls decline of 20k was much less than we expected, and the separate household survey recorded a 362k gain, dragging the unemployment rate down from 5.1% to 5.0%. More...
If we are to believe the government statistics, the GDP of the US grew by 0.6% in the first quarter of this year. And unemployment actually fell. And there were only 20,000 job losses. This week we do a quick review of why the statistics can be so mislead More...
The Canadian dollar capped off its second straight losing week with a flat close against the U.S. dollar on Friday, torn between the boost from lofty oil prices and the drag from solid U.S. economic data. More...
The dollar scaled two-month highs against the yen and a basket of currencies on Friday after an unexpectedly small drop in U.S. nonfarm payrolls left investors hoping any U.S. recession would prove a shallow one. More...
In the Q1 2008 Bank of England Credit Conditions Survey (CCS), there was a jump in lenders’ expectations that default rates on loans would rise sharply, see chart a. The chart highlights that there was a greater number of respondents expecting defaults More...
Looking at the big picture, we see that having rallied for three consecutive weeks now, from 0.9926 (14-Apr) to 1.0511 (1-May) USD-CHF is closing up on an important Resistance at 1.0550. ... More...
Looking ahead, the focus this morning will rest upon the famed non-farm payrolls data for the month of April, which are expected to show a decline of 75K. While the range of estimates is varied, a recent survey of over 80 economists did not yield any esti More...
The dollar steadied versus the euro on Friday as investors looked ahead to a key non-farm payrolls report for clues on whether the economy is strong enough to enable a pause in the rate-cutting cycle.
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The strong performance the USD on Thursday surprised many traders following the late Wednesday “sell the fact” response to the FOMC decision. Most would have expected a more cautious session. Talk was that a large conversion by the Russian central ban More...
Traders squared up their positions ahead of US Non Farm payroll data due to be released at 12:30 GMT today and EURUSD climbed back towards the 1.5500 figure after a day of battering yesterday that saw the unit lose nearly 200 points against the greenback. More...
The New Zealand and Australian dollars gave back yesterday's gains as the US dollar rebounded overnight. The NZD drifted down to 0.7740 but held above yesterday's lows, while the AUD fell back towards 0.93. More...
The Canadian dollar was knocked down 1 percent to its lowest level in over two weeks versus the U.S. dollar on Thursday due mainly to a decline in prices for the key commodities that Canada produces More...
Overall the USD maintaining a firm tone as the Fed signaled a pause in its rate cut cycle after yesterday's 25bps rate cut. EUR/USD trades at 5-week lows as it approaches the 1.55 handle. More...
Despite an attempt to deliver a clear signal of a pause in policy easing after 325bps of accommodation and a host of unprecedented liquidity measures, the FOMC still has a terrible hand… More...
The dollar hit a one month high versus the euro on Thursday as market focus shifted from the Federal Reserve not signalling a definitive end to rate cuts, to worries about the health of the euro zone economy.
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The outlook for the USD has improved from late Wednesday following a “sell the fact” response to the FOMC decision. With the dust having now settled, the tone of the currency has improved. The FOMC yesterday pushed back on the market’s desire to loc More...
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25bp to 2 percent, which was right in line with the market’s expectations. However the US dollar sold off because the market was disappointed that the central bank did not give them more. More...
Morning Report Westpac Institutional Bank Wednesday April 30, 2008 - 21:54:23 GMT
The Fed cut its funds target by 25bp to 2.0%, as was widely expected. The statement was little changed from March, in particular the inflation comments, although "downside risks to growth remain" was dropped this time. The Fed noted More...
The Canadian dollar closed higher versus a generally weaker U.S. dollar on Wednesday as the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates and left the door open to further easing. More...
Market Sentiment for the USD has turned negative late on Wednesday following a session full of market-moving developments. The FOMC cut its Fed Funds target by-25bps to 2.0%, as widely expected. Its policy statement did not clearly signal that this was th More...
The dollar fell against the euro on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates as expected, but did not convincingly signal a pause in its easing campaign aimed at propping up an ailing economy. More...
U.S. Market Update Trade the News Staff Wednesday April 30, 2008 - 16:14:21 GMT
Equities push higher ahead of FOMC announcement. The early news flow was generally positive leading off with an ADP employment report that indicated job growth of 10K v the -60K expected. Q1 advanced GDP confirmed a slowing US economy but the 0.6% reading More...
The Aussie seems to have built decent Support in the 0.9326-9293 region. If and while this holds (it might), an upmove towards 0.94+ could take place. NOTE, however, that a rise past 0.9370-80... More...
