Weekly Report

There wasn't a unified theme in the forex markets last week. Movements in the major currencies were driven by different factors. But a trend to note is that markets attentions were generally back to central banks, from politics. The divisions in Fed and BoE boards were very apparent and showed that the overall policy stances of both central banks could be shifting. Euro was mixed as it's awaiting economic data to push ECB officials to recede from being too dovish. Meanwhile, Canadian Dollar failed to extend the BoC inspired rally as rate hike bets cooled after tame inflation readings. The extended rout in oil price also added some weight to the Loonie and Aussie. New Zealand Dollar, on the other hand, ended as the second strongest one, next to Swiss Franc, on a mild RBNZ hawkish turn.

Central banks were back in the driving seats in the forex markets last week. Four central banks, Fed, BoE, SNB and BoJ, delivered their monetary policy decisions. But they were all overshadowed by comments from BoC that indicated the next move would be a hike. Canadian dollar ignored the extended selloff in oil price and ended the week as the strongest major currency. Aussie and Kiwi closely followed and took the second and third places. Sterling was boosted by the surprise that three policy makers voted for a rate hike in BoE MPC meeting and closed the week up against Dollar, Euro and Yen. Dollar followed as Fed, after raising interest rate by 25bps, maintained the forecast of a total of three hikes this year. Meanwhile, Yen and Swiss Franc ended as the weakest major currencies as markets were starting to price in an era of monetary policy stimulus exit.

Sterling ended last week as the weakest major currency. The Conservatives' losing of majority in the parliament created much uncertainty on politics, economic policies and Brexit negotiation. While the selloff in the Pound was steep, it's so far holding on to key support level against Dollar, Euro and Swiss Franc. And it seems like traders are still holding some of their bets to watch the developments in near term. Euro ended as the second weakest major currency for the week as traders were not satisfied with the tiny hawkish move in ECB's language. And the general weakness in European majors also dragged the Swiss Franc.

Risk appetite in the global financial markets was pretty strong last week. DOW, S&P 500 and NASDAQ shrugged off the much weaker than expected non-farm payroll report from US and all closed at record highs. Strength was also seen in other markets with FTSE 100 in UK and DAX in Germany hitting records too. In Japan, Nikkei also closed above 20000 handle for the first time since 2015. The sharp fall in US yields following NFP argues that markets could be starting to bet on a relatively slower tightening path by Fed and that could be a reason for the strength in US stocks. Eurozone sentiments, on the other hand, was lifted by optimism on easing political risks and improving economic outlook. Meanwhile, UK stocks are riding on the weakening Pound, in particular against Euro.

The biggest development last week was the sharp selloff in the British Pound on surging uncertainty over the election in June. FTSE 100 jumped to record high, riding on Sterling weakness. It was believed that the Conservative Party would have a landslide victory back in April when Prime Minster Theresa May called for a snap election. Back then, the Conservative had over 20 points lead over Labour. However, according to the latest YouGov poll showed that the margin narrowed sharply to just 5pts. The news sent GBP/USD to as low as 1.2774 before closing at 1.2794, comparing to 1.3047 high in May. EUR/GBP jumped to as high as 0.8750 before closing at 0.8725, comparing to this month's low at 0.8383. GBP/JPY also dropped sharply to as low as 142.11 before closing at 142.44, comparing to this month's high at 148.09.

Dollar was sold off broadly last week as sentiments were rocked by political turmoil in the White House, regarding US President Donald Trump's alleged intervention in FBI investigation. Selloff in equities triggered massive safe haven flows into Swiss Franc and Japanese Yen. But Euro followed closely as political risks in the Eurozone faded and on ECB expectations. Commodity currencies performed poorly in spite of the rally in oil and gold price. Aussie and Kiwi ended the week as two of the weakest major currencies, just next to Dollar. Sterling and Canadian Dollar were among the weakest batch too but showed a turnaround as oil broke 50 handle. Political uncertainty in US is set to continue as former FBI director James Comey, fired by US President Donald Trump earlier this month, agreed to testify in open session before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Dollar is vulnerable to more selling against Euro and Yen.

There are a couple of developments to note in the forex markets last week. Firstly, Dollar ended as the strongest major currencies as markets firmed up the expectation of a June hike by Fed. However, the greenback tumbled sharply against Euro and Swiss Franc before close after weaker than expected inflation data. The dollar index was rejected from 55 day EMA and closed lower at 99.19. That was also accompanied by steep decline in 10 year yield which closed at 2.335. Overall development suggests that the greenback would turn weaker against Euro again as the post French election pull back ends.

Euro surged broadly last week and led European majors higher on expectation that pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron will have an easy win in French presidential election this Sunday. Traders seemed to have ignored the news about hacking attack on Macron's campaign. With 20 pt lead over EU-sceptic far-right Marine Le Pen, there should be enough safety margin for Macron. The focus is now on the reactions in that markets on the results during the initial part of next week. As Macron's win should be well priced into the markets, there is prospect of a setback in Euro after the facts. However, judging from the strength in European indices, it's believed that there is solid underlying optimism in the European economy. And, strategy could indeed be "buy-pull-back" rather that "sell-on-news".

Euro surged sharply for the initial part of last week as boosted by the result of French president election. The common currency ended the week as the strongest major currency. But it has clearly lost some momentum after a balanced ECB press conference. On the other hand, Sterling continued to defy gravity and picked up momentum again towards the end of the week. The British Pound has indeed ended April as the strongest major currency for the month. The weakness in the Japanese Yen might take some attention. But it was the selloff in commodity currencies, in a risk-seeking environment, that is worth the watch. Meanwhile, Dollar found no support from US President Donald Trump's tax plan, but it didn't react negatively to Q1 GDP miss neither.

Geopolitical tensions somewhat took a back seat last week. The headlines were filled by news of UK snap election, French election, and to a lesser extent US tax reform. Sterling ended the week as the strongest major currency after boosted by the news of snap election and prospect of a "softer" Brexit. Euro survived the terrorist attack in Paris and French election uncertainties to end as the second strongest one. Dollar ended the week mixed as markets seemed not too convinced by news of Trump administration's tax reform. Meanwhile, Canadian Dollar ended as the weakest one as dragged down by WTI crude oil's sharp fall and break of 50 handle. The result of French election on Sunday will be the first market mover this week.

Worries on geopolitical tensions and US policies were the two main forces driving the markets in a holiday shortened week. Yen surged broadly and the relative strength to Swiss Franc argues that worries are mainly on the tensions in Korean Peninsula. The rally in Yen was also accompanied safe haven flows into US treasuries. Long term yields tumbled sharply to the lowest level this year, breaking key near term support levels. Gold surged to as high as 1290.7 and is having its sight on 1300 handle. WTI crude oil also extended recent rise before losing some momentum ahead of 55.24 resistance. In the currency markets, Dollar ended as the weakest major currency as talked down by US President Donald Trump, and dragged down by falling yields. Euro ended as the second weakest ahead of French presidential election and dragged down the Swiss Franc.

"The market is always right". That's by no means saying that the market is efficient, that's a topic for the academics. But, the market always move with certain underlying forces. We may or may not always understand why stocks, yields, currencies commodities move that way. It doesn't matter. And indeed, the voice of the market is usually the loudest when it does something that doesn't make sense. It's up to us to hear it or ignore it. And, reading news is not about reading the news but the reactions to the news. It's our choice to see the reactions, or just to criticize the reactions.

Euro was sold off broadly last week as the markets got a wake up call regarding expectation on ECB policy path. The common currency topped the top mover chart with EUR/GBP losing -1.96% and EUR/CAD lost -1.81%. Weakness in Euro also dragged down the Swiss Franc as GBP/CHF rose 1.77% while CAD/CHF rose 1.58%. On the other hand, Sterling ended as the strongest major currency last week, after some volatility on UK's trigger of Brexit finally. Yen followed as the second strongest major currency as the recovery in US stocks and yields were disappointing. Meanwhile, Canadian dollar ended as the third major currency as WTI crude oil rebounded and closed above 50 psychological level.

Risk aversion was the dominate theme last week on reverse Trump trade. DJIA suffered the biggest decline this year and lost -317.9 pts or 1.51% to close at 20596.72. S&P 500 dropped -34.27 pts or 1.44% to close at 2343.98. Treasury yield followed with 10 year yield losing -0.101 to close at 2.400. Dollar index dive through 100 handle to close at 99.62, down from prior week's close at 100.31. In the currency markets, Yen was the biggest winner last week on risk aversion and falling yields. Swiss Franc closely followed as the second strongest major currency. Dollar weakened against European majors and Yen but ended up against Aussie and Canadian Dollar. The two were the weakest major currencies last week. In other markets, Gold extended recent rise from 1194.5 and closed at 1248.5, but kept below resistance at 1264.9. WTI crude oil continued to stay in sideway consolidation between 47/50.

There were some major surprises in the markets, much volatility and some interesting developments, last week. Dollar ended the week as the weakest major currency as markets were clearly disappointed by the outcome of the dovish FOMC rate hike. Technical developments in Dollar index and treasury yields suggest there more down would be seen in the greenback in near term. There were some good reasons for Euro to surge last week. Those factors include speculations of ECB rate hike by the end of the year, as well as the Euro-friendly results of Dutch elections. But the common currency did end up as the second weakest one. In particular, the sharp pull back of EUR/CHF from as high as 1.0823 to close at 1.0718 indicates that traders are still concerned with political uncertainties ahead. On the other hand, Australian dollar ended as the strongest major currency last in spite of weak employment data. Sterling followed as the second strongest major currency after hawkish BoE minutes. Also, FTSE 100 closed at new record high despite all the Brexit and Scexit news.

The set of strong non-farm payroll data from US should have finalized the case for Fed to hike interest rate this week. Dollar was indeed given a boost over last week and ended strongly. Nonetheless, the greenback was firstly overwhelmed by strength in Euro, and secondly retreated on profit taking. Overall, Euro ended the week as the strongest major currency as supported by upbeat comments from ECB president Mario Draghi as well as rate speculations. Dollar followed as the second. At the other end, Sterling was troubled by worries over the fading impact it depreciation last year on the economy, uncertainties over Brexit terms, and uninspired by UK budget. The pound ended as the second weakest major currency next to Kiwi.

Dollar strength dominated the forex markets most of the time last week as speculations of a Fed hike in March heated up. Markets were also relieved as US president Donald Trump's first address Congress didn't deliver anything dramatic. Stock indices surged to new record high, taking yields and Dollar up too. Nonetheless, as most of the positive factors in greenback were priced, traders took profit on Dollar long positions after Fed chair Janet Yellen's comments. And more importantly, Euro staged a U turn after polls showed that far-right French president candidate Marine Le Pen lost ground, thus reducing Frexit risks. Euro has indeed ended as the strongest major currency, followed by Swiss France and Dollar. On the other hand, Canadian dollar ended as the weakest on the sharp pull back in oil price.

Yield treasury yield suffered sharp selloff on Friday. 30 year yield closed below 3.000 handle at 2.955, down -0.068. 10 year yield also lost -0.071 to close at 2.317 and carried near term bearish implications. Markets are getting increasing dissatisfied on the lack of progress from US president Donald Trump's administration regarding fiscal stimulus. There was no detail on the so called "phenomenal" tax reform yet. Instead, Trump just continued his attack on media, intelligence agencies and other countries like China. There were talks that Trump could eventually deliver virtually no fiscal stimulus that has an impact of this year's growth. All eyes will turn to his address to Congress on February 28. And reactions could be even more apparent if Trump fails to deliver anything concrete. Dollar also suffered and ended the week mixed.

While US equities surged to new record high last week, other markets didn't follow. Dollar ended mixed in spite of a chorus of hawkish comments from Fed officials, including chair Janet Yellen. A batch of stronger than expected data also provided little support to the greenback. Instead, Dollar was dragged down by treasury yields, which failed to break out from recent range and reversed during the week. Political uncertainties could be a major factor in triggering safe haven flows to US bonds. And such sentiment could also be seen in the broad based weakness in Euro, which closed as the second weakest major currency next to Sterling. Swiss Franc decouple from Euro and Sterling and ended as the second strongest currency. And overall risk aversion on European situation could be the factor in driving up the Japanese Yen, which ended as the strongest major currency.

US stocks soared to new record high last week on resurgence of talk of president Donald Trump's expansive policies. In particular, bulls regained control after Trump said he would announce "phenomenal" tax reforms within two or three weeks. DJIA closed the week up 197.9 pts, or 0.99% at 20269.37. S&P 500 gained 18.7 pts or 0.81% for the week to close at 2316.10. NASDAQ rose 67.4 pts or 1.19% to close at 5734.13. All three major indices closed at record highs. The developments helped lift treasury yield from intra-week selloff. 10 year yield closed at 2.409 after dipping to 2.325, comparing to prior week's close at 2.491. Dollar was given a boost and ended as the second strongest major currency, next to Sterling. The Dollar index closed at 100.71, up from prior week's close at 99.73. Fed chair Janet Yellen's testimony to Congress will be a major focus this week. But Trump's tweets and any economy-related announcements will be the things that move markets.