Dollar Stays Weak as Focus Turns to US CPI and FOMC Minutes
Risk appetite stays strong so far with receding fear of full-blown trade war between US and China. Major US indices closed up overnight with DOW gaining 1.79%, S&P 500% risen 1.67% and NASDAQ up 2.07%. Hong Kong HSI is lifted further by more specific details regarding China opening up...
Yen and Dollar Broadly Lower, Markets on Risk on Mode as Trade War Fear Temporarily Relieved
Japan Yen and, to a slightly lesser extent, Dollar suffer broad based selloff today as global markets return to risk seeking mode. Major European indices are generally higher with DAX up near 1% at the time of writing. CAC is up 0.55% and FTSE is up 0.6%. That followed...
China Xi Jinping in Boao Forum: Reinforces Ease of Restrictions for Foreign Investment and Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
Speaking at the Boao Forum, sometimes known as "Asian Davos", Chinese President Xi Jinping announced four major areas of reform in opening up the market. First, the government would “significantly” ease market access, lowering restrictions for foreign investment in a number of Chinese sectors. In the financial industry, Xi...
USD Dominance Stays Despite Twin Deficits and Threats to Sell Treasury
In IMF’s latest world FX reserve report*, central bank’s/ reserve managers’ demand for US dollar remained intact in 4Q17. This has not only reinforced the greenback’s dominant status as the world’s reserve currency, but also signaled other currencies still failed to gain widespread confidence due to the economic and/...
Markets Cheer as China Xi Didn’t Escalate Tension with US, Australian and Canadian Dollar Lead the Way Up
Asian markets responded positively to the highly anticipated speech by China President Xi Jinping. At the time of writing, Nikkei is trading up 0.65% and HK HSI is up 1.14%. But it should be noted that Nikkei is already trading way off today's high at 21933.99. We could see...
Sterling Surges Broadly, Taking Europeans Higher; Dollar Selling Emerges into US Session
Sterling surges broadly today and is so far trading as the strongest one. Some point to solid housing data as a trigger for the buying. Mortgage lender Halifax house price rose more than expected by 2.7% in Q1. And that should be something welcomed by BoE hawks on their...
Asian Markets Shrugged Off US Selloff; FOMC Minutes, NAFTA and Trade War Watched This Week
Asian markets open positively this week in spite of the sharp selloff in the US on Friday. At the time of writing, Nikkei is trading up 0.55%. China is back from holiday with SSE up 0.35%. Hong Kong HSI is also up 1.8%. The lack of risk aversion lifts...
Traders Turned Bearish on Both Oil and Gold
CFTC Commitments of Traders
Speculators turned bearish over the energy complex in the week ended April 3. Net LENGTH for crude oil futures plunged -16 225 contracts from a week ago to 699 545. NET LENGTH of heating oil slipped -586 contracts to 14 401 while net LENGTH for gasoline...
Dollar Mixed as Markets Pared Back Expectations of Fed Hikes Slightly, after NFP and on Trade War
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....
Dollar Supported by Wage Growth Despite NFP Miss, No Drama from China’s Brief Press Briefing
Reactions in the financial markets to the escalation in US-China trade tensions remain rather mild. Nikkei closed down just -0.36% today. European indices are in red at the time of writing. But DAX is down -0.5%, CAC down -0.3% and FTSE is nearly flat. US futures point to triple...
As Trump Seeks Attentions With Trade Tensions Escalation, Markets are Looking Forward to Non-Farm Payrolls Instead
Trade war comes back to headline as US President Donald Trump announced his intention to triple down on the tariffs on Chinese imports. But so far, market reactions are muted. Major forex pairs are trapped in yesterday's range, just with some notable weakness in New Zealand Dollar. Swiss Franc...
Widening US Trade Deficit and Higher Jobless Claims Not Deterring Dollar Rebound
Global stock markets rebounded impressively today as traders looked past the first chapter of US-China trade war. Nikkei closed up 1.53% at 21645.42 earlier today. European indices are all trading up at the time of writing, with DAX gaining 2.44% being most impressive. CAC is up 2.07% while FTSE...
US Crude Oil and Gasoline Inventories Declined, While Distillate Stockpile Rose Last Week
The report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that total crude oil and petroleum products stocks fell -3.94 mmb to 1185.58 mmb in the week ended March 30. Crude oil inventory declined -4.62 mmb to 425.33 mmb, amidst decreases in 4 out of 5 PADDs. Stockpile in...
China Announced Tariff on US Soybean Exports. What Next?
US-China trade friction aggravated as China on April 4 announced the second round of retaliation, immediately after US revelation of a list of about US$ 50B worth of made-in-China products that are subject to 25% tariffs. The first round of the retaliatory tariff, involving US$ 3B worth of US...
Stocks Staged Massive Rebound as Trade War Development Takes a Rest For Now
While the initial selloff in US stocks were steep, they quickly recovered and didn't look back. DOW made a massive 700 pts come back from session low at 2523.16 to close at 24264.30, up 230.94 pts or 0.96%. Nikkei followed and staged a strong 1.5% rebound. For now, the...
Markets Rocked by China’s Speedy and Intense Response to US Tariffs
US-China trade war is the dominant theme in the markets today. Initial reactions were muted to US announcement of the product list in Section 301 tariffs on China. However, global stock markets were rocked by China's immediate response of its own retaliation measures against the US. The speed of...
Dollar Lower as Battle 1, US-China Trade War Starts, But Other Markets Shrug Off
The US finally announced the list Chinese products to be tariffed in its Section 301 actions. China responded with strongly worded statement. But so far, market reactions are muted. After limited volatility, both Japan Nikkei and Hong Kong HSI are trading nearly flat at the time of writing. The...
Crude Oil Prices Supported by Inventory Draw and Russia’s Pledge to Fully Comply with Output Cut
Crude oil prices climbed higher for the second consecutive day as a report showing unexpected expected decline in US inventory. Meanwhile, Russia pledged that it would fully comply with the output cut deal this month. However, caution is advised over the promise as Russian oil output has reached the...
Euro Selling Gathers Momentum against Dollar and Canadian, EUR/USD Breaks 1.2285 Finally
EUR/USD finally breaks 1.2285 support with some momentum in early US session. That could be seen as a sign that the forex traders are finally back from holiday, and starting to commit on a position. Events earlier today were important, but non-market moving. PMI data from UK and Eurozone...
China’s First Renminbi Crude Oil Futures Unlikely Accelerates Currency Internationalization
On March 26, China launched its, and also the world’s, first renminbi-denominated crude oil futures. The debut appeared successful with 20M barrels of oil changed hands on average in each of the first two trading days. This represents 3% of combined WTI and Brent volumes on these days. The...