US Crude Oil and Product Inventories Fell Across the Board
The report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that total crude oil and petroleum products stocks fell -1.55 mmb to 1186.18 mmb in the week ended May April 4. Crude oil inventory fell -2.2 mmb (consensus: -0.72 mmb) to 433.76 mmb, amidst falls in 3 out of...
Sterling Patiently Awaits BoE Super Thursday, NZD Dived on Dovish RBNZ
Dollar, Sterling and Canadian Dollar remain the strongest three for the week. But is should be noted that the reasons behind the strength are different. The greenback continued to draw support from strength in treasury yields as 10 year yield broke 3% yesterday to 3.004. Fed is also on...
RBNZ Turns Dovish, Downgrading Growth and CPI Forecasts
RBNZ left the OCR unchanged at 1.75% in May. The message delivered by the central bank came in slightly more dovish than expected, sending NZDUSD to a fresh 5-month low. In his first meeting in the capacity of the RBNZ Governor, Adrian Orr made some changes in the policy...
Canadian Dollar Strong on Oil Price, Dollar Reversed Gains
Yen remains the weakest one in early US session while strength in oil price is giving Canadian Dollar a strong boost. Dollar, on the other hand, reversed earlier gains and trades broadly lower, except versus Yen. Bullish momentum of the greenback seems to be exhausted ahead of heavy weight...
Lasting Impacts of Trump’s Unilateral Withdrawal from Iran Nuclear Deal
Donald Trump confirmed that the US would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, an agreement reached in 2015 between Iran, the P5+1 (5 UNSC permanent members including US, France, Russia, UK, China + Germany) and the European Union. New sanctions, both financial sanctions and bans of oil exports, would...
Yen Broadly Lower and Trump’s Iran Deal Withdrawal Lifts Oil Price and Yield
Reactions to US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal were centered in oil and yield. Stocks had a rather quiet day yesterday with DOW ended up 0.01%, S&P 500 down -0.03% and NASDAQ up 0.02%. At the time of writing, Nikkei is down -0.35%. Meanwhile, after a volatile ride,...
Swiss Franc and Yen Surge as Markets Preparing for Risk Aversion ahead of Trump’s Iran Deal Decision
The strong rally in both Swiss Franc and Japanese Yen, together with selloff in commodity currencies, argue that forex traders are preparing themselves for some risk aversion. US President Donald Trump's decision on Iran deal today should be the key perceived risk. At the time of writing, European indices...
China Trade Surplus with US Highest This Year; No Deal from Trade Talk but Not Yet Hopeless
China recorded a trade surplus of US$ 28.8B in April, beating consensus of US$ 27.5B. In March, China reported a deficit of US$ 5B due to seasonal factor. Compared with the same period last year, trade surplus narrowed by -23.1%. The +12.9% y/y increase in exports was overshadowed by...
Dollar and Yen Staying Near Term Bullish Against Euro, With Weaker Momentum
The forex markets are basically staying in recent trends, but with weaker momentum. Dollar extended the rally against Euro and Swiss Franc, but it's kept in tight range against Sterling, Aussie and Loonie for the momentum. Yen, is broadly higher today, with EUR/JPY dipping through last week's low. But...
Dollar Extending Rally against Euro and Swiss Franc as Weak Eurozone Data Weigh
Dollar is extending recent rally against Euro and Swiss Franc in early US session. EUR/USD breached 1.19 handle as it's now trying to get rid of 1.2 firmly. USD/CHF reaches as high as 1.0055 and breached 1.0037 resistance. Weak Eurozone data is a factor weighing on the comment currency,...
Dollar Mildly Firmer in Quiet Markets, USD/JPY Pressing Channel Support
The forex markets open the week rather quietly today. Dollar is trading mildly firmer in tight range against other major currencies. Aussie is so far the weakest one today, getting no support from positive business condition and confidence data. Markets could remain quiet today with UK on holiday. The...
BoE Could be More Dovish than “Hawkish Hold”
BOE is almost certain to keep the Bank rate unchanged at 0.5% in the May meeting. Weakness in PMI data released last week aggravated concerns that recent the moderation in economic activities might persist. Doubts have arisen that whether the slowdown in 1Q18 is only driven by transitory factors...
Traders were Bearish on Precious Metals While Stayed Mixed on Energy
Speculators were mixed over the energy complex in the week ended May 1. Net LENGTH for crude oil futures plunged -21 696 contracts from a week ago to 690 727. NET LENGTH of heating oil rose +4 341 contracts to 26 997 while net LENGTH for gasoline dropped -1 940 contracts...
Yen Beat Dollar as the Strongest in Yields Driven Forex Markets
Dollar ended last week broadly higher except versus the Japanese Yen. While economic data from the US were generally disappointing, they were not bad enough to alter Fed's path of three rate hikes this year. Just that, the data didn't add to the chance of the fourth hike in...
It’s Still the Yen’s Show after US Non-Farm Payrolls and Wage Growth Missed Expectations
Dollar fails to regain spot light after worse than expected job data. Non-farm payroll showed 164k growth in April only, below expectation of 194k. Prior month's figure, though, was revised up from 103k to 135k. Unemployment rate dropped to 3.9%, down from 4.1% and beat expectation of 4.0%. That's...
Dollar to Take Back the Stage from Yen and Aussie as Non-Farm Payrolls Loom
Initial selloff in the US stock markets overnight shot up Japanese Yen. DOW initially dipped to as low as 23531.31, suffering near 400 pt loss, but reversed and closed up 0.02% at 23930.15. Nonetheless, S&P 500 and NASDAQ closed in red, down -0.23% and -0.18% respectively. Yen pared back...
Yen Stealing the Show as Dollar Consolidates, Euro and Sterling Tumble on Weak Data
Dollar is trading with a soft tone today as traders are cautiously waiting for tomorrow's job report. And just like how it was in recent months, wage growth will be more important than the headline number. For now, Yen and New Zealand Dollar have stolen the spotlight as both...
Dollar Retreats after FOMC; US, Eurozone and UK Data Awaited
Dollar trades generally lower in Asian session as it has turned into correction mode. While slightly more hawkish than expected, the FOMC statement released overnight provided little inspiration to the markets. Major US equity indices ended in red, with DOW dropped -0.72%, S&P 500 down -0.72% and NASDAQ lost...
US Crude Oil Inventory Increased Much More Than Expected
The report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that total crude oil and petroleum products stocks jumped +5.36 mmb (consensus: +0.74 mmb) to 1187.73 mmb in the week ended April 27. Crude oil inventory soared +6.22 mmb to 435.96 mmb, amidst increases in 3 out of 5...
FOMC More Hawkish on Inflation, June Rate Hike a Done Deal
As widely anticipated FOMC left the Fed funds rate target at 1.5-1.75% in May. The accompanying statement also came in largely in line with our expectations – shrugging off moderation in first quarter growth and getting more confident in the inflation outlook. The more hawkish FOMC statement maintained market...