Weekly Report

We initiate coverage on speculators' activities on major FX futures. According to CFTC's Commitments of Traders, speculators were bearish (NET SHORT) on CHF, JPY, AUD and CAD in the week ended May 8. Meanwhile, they remained bullish (NET LENGTH) over EUR, GBP and NZD. However, the positive sentiment has...

Canadian Dollar surged broadly last week following the rally in oil prices. Weaker than expected employment capped the Loonie's gain, but it ended as the strongest still. Sterling survived BoE super Thursday and ended up against all but Canadian. That's a clear indication that markets didn't see BoE announcements...

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...

Dollar was given a powerful boost last week on a couple of factors. Firstly, 10 year yield extended recent bull run and hit 3% level for the first time since 2014. Secondly, Euro was sold off steeply after the confusing messages from ECB President Mario Draghi during the post...

Dollar ended broadly higher last week as boosted by surge in treasury yields. 10 year yield finally completed its consolidation that started back in February, and rose through 2.943 high to close strongly at 2.951. That came with the background that recent comments from Fed officials affirmed its gradual...

Easing risk aversion was the main theme last week as Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc ended as the weakest two. It's not the kind that investors were in euphoria. But nonetheless, major stock indices around the world ended up higher. Dollar ended as the third weakest despite markets firming...

US-China trade war was the dominant theme in the financial markets last week. US started by announcing the list of 1300 product lines to be tariffed under Section 301 actions. China quickly responded by announcing 25% retaliation tariffs to US imports, matching the size of USD 50b product values....

Global stock markets suffered steep selloff last week as US President Donald Trump has finally declare the start of trade war with China. Dollar was under broad based pressure with the development, but it was only the second weakest one. Australian Dollar suffered most for it's close trade link...

Yen maintained solid strength throughout last week as it ended as the strongest one. Meanwhile, the fortunes of commodity currencies suddenly reversed towards the end. Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Dollar ended as the three weakest ones. Some blamed the selloff in commodity currencies to Dollar's strength. But the...

The stock markets in the US ended the week up solidly as boosted by the "perfect" job report as seen by investors. Worries over trade wars also receded as US President Donald Trump has backed down on his steel and aluminum tariff even on the day of its arrival....

The theme of trade wars overwhelmed the global financial markets last week and overshadowed any other topics. It started on news that US President Donald Trump is going to impose tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum. Trump then doubled down by tweeting "trade wars...

Dollar ended last week as the strongest major currency Fed communications solidified the case for three hikes this year. Nonetheless, as pointed out a few times, the greenback was held below key near term resistance levels against others and there is no change in its bearish outlook yet....

Dollar's broad based weakness continued last week and ended as the worst performing major currency. Stronger than expected consumer inflation reading listed treasury yield and raised the chance of a March Fed hike. Fed fund futures are now pricing in 83% chance of a March hike. But that provided just very brief support to the greenback. Dollar index extended the long term down trend to new three year low, suffering the worst weekly decline since September. Some pointed to Friday's rebound as a sign of reverse in fortune in Dollar. But we'll, for now, take a more cautious stance on it first. Elsewhere, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar ended as the second and third weakest ones. Yen, Kiwi and Pound were the strongest.

Japanese Yen ended as the strongest major currency last week as selloff in global stock markets intensified. Dollar followed closely as the second strongest. Sterling, however, ended as the weakest one despite hawkish BoE announcement which hinted at earlier and faster rate hikes. Euro followed as the second weakest while Aussie was the third weakest. DOW recorded two of the largest single day point drops over the week. And two days of more than 1000 pts decline was definitely historic. Judging from the technical pictures of DOW, FTSE and DAX, while the corrections are not finished, they would enter into "buy zone" of traditional medium term corrections on next fall. That is, we could see the selling recedes soon. However, we'd like to point out a big risk ahead, China stocks, that could make these global selloffs long term corrections.

Steep selloff in the global stock markets ended up as the biggest news last week. Some attributed the surge in global yields and stock market declines to the solid non-farm payroll report from US. The headline 200k growth confirmed underlying healthiness in the US job market. And more importantly 0.3% mom rise in average hourly earnings in January, following 0.4% mom rise in December, indicates pickup in momentum in wage growth. The case for Fed to hike three times this year looks more likely than ever. And subject to development, Fed could indeed hike the fourth time in December.

Dollar ended the week broadly and deeply lower as recent selloff intensified. It should be noted again that the current fall is the continuation of the down trend that started back in January 2017, that is, since US President Donald Trump took office. And that happened despite Fed's three rate hikes last year. DOW gained more than 30% in the period. 10 year yield struggled in most of 2017 but finally surged through a key resistance level at 2.621. Data released during the period showed solid underlying momentum in the economy, except sluggish inflation. Even though Q4 GDP missed expectation, 2.6% annualized growth is still respectable. Fed is more on track for three hikes this year, starting March.

Dollar ended the week broadly lower, except versus Canadian Dollar. The Loonie was pressured after the "dovish" BoC rate hike which indicates cautiousness of next move. On the background, there was also a lot of uncertainty surrounding NAFTA renegotiation. Euro and Yen followed closely as the third and fourth weakest, ahead of BoJ and ECB meeting. On the other hand, Sterling ended as the strongest one as markets are increasing optimistic on the Brexit deal. Indeed, businessmen and investors could be starting to prepare for a smooth Brexit transition. Australian Dollar followed as the second strongest as solid job data boosts the chance of a rate hike in the second half of the year.

Risk appetite dominated the markets last week and with global equities having a stellar start to 2018. With that, Japanese Yen and Swiss France ended as the two weakest ones. Dollar attempted to rebound multiple times but failed. Non-farm payrolls data were solid even though the headline number missed expectations. But it nonetheless gives no push for Fed to quicken it's rate path. Euro was also relatively firm throughout the week, until data showed headline and core inflation slowed in December. Sustainable strength was seen in commodity currencies. In particular, Canadian Dollar ended as the star as double boosted by strong job data and surge in oil price.

After some roller-coaster rides during the week, Dollar staged a broad based come back before the weekly close. The Republicans' tax plan is now back on track for being signed off by US President Donald Trump, by the end of the year, probably even before Christmas. There were various factors sank the greenback. Tamer than expected core CPI reading was one. An additional dissenter in Fed's rate hike was another. But looking back, the uncertainty on whether Senate could get the bill passed was probably the biggest weight on Dollar. It's still early to tell but focus will now be on whether Dollar could stage a sustainable turnaround before year end.

Dollar ended the week as the strongest major currency on optimism that Republicans are on track to get the tax bill passed by the end of the year. However, there was certain indecisiveness in Dollar's rally. In particular, the greenback lost momentum as wage growth in non-farm payroll report disappointed. That added to concerns of lack on inflationary pressure, and thus could slow down Fed's tightening pace. But there are two sides of every coin as the greenback just lost momentum, but not reversed. Dollar will look into this week's FOMC rate hike and economic projections for guidance.