Sterling Soars as UK Reported to be Close to Brexit Transition Deal
Sterling jumps broadly after Reuters reported that UK Junior Brexit Minister Robin Walker said it's very close to transition deal with the EU. But so far, no detail is reported yet. Meanwhile, Australian Dollar remains one of the strongest one today, together with the Japanese yen. Canadian Dollar is...
Australian Dollar Lifted by Risk Appetite and Steel Tariff Exemption
Australian Dollar and New Zealand Dollar jump broadly as another week starts in full risk-on mode. Japanese Nikkei opened sharply higher and is trading up 1.4% at the time of writing. Hong Kong HSI is also up close to 1.5%. That followed the strong 1.77% rise in DOW on...
Stocks Survived Trump’s Tariffs, Boosted by Perfect NFP, Commodity Currencies Came Back
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....
Dollar Fails to Ride on Stellar 313k NFP Growth, Sluggish Wage Drags
Despite stellar report of job growth, Dollar fails to secure upside momentum so far due to sluggish wage growth. Non-farm payrolls report showed 313k growth in February, much better than expectation of 205k. Prior month's figure was also revised up from 200k to 239k. Unemployment rate was unchanged at...
Dollar Survived Event Risks, Strong as Focus Turns to Non-Farm Payrolls
The greenback emerged as a winner after most of the the event risks this week and is staying firm in Asian session. In particular, Euro's selloff after just slightly less dovish than expected ECB provides much support to the Dollar. And the greenback paid little reaction while US President...
ECB Surprisingly Removed Easing Bias, Draghi Downplayed The Implication On Future Policy
Surprising to most market participants, ECB dropped the easing bias in the forward guidance. While this had initially sent the euro slightly higher, it reversed as President Mario Draghi reinforced that the act was 'backward looking' and would not affect future monetary decision making. Policymakers remained confident over the...
Euro Struggles to Gain as ECB Draghi Talks Down Even Tiny Step of Exit
Euro is initially short up as ECB turned a bit less dovish in the statement after keeping monetary policy unchanged. However, the common currency cannot extend gains as there is no follow through buying. More importantly, ECB President Mario Draghi tries to tone down the significance of the change...
Euro Pares Gains ahead of ECB, Canadian Dollar Rebounds on Tariff Exclusion
The financial markets show that investors are well prepared for the steel and aluminum tariff by the US. Dow closed down just -0.33% overnight, at 24801.36. 10 year yield gained 0.006 to 2.883, staying in near term sideway consolidation. Nikkei is trading up 0.5% at the time of writing...
BOC Left Rates On Hold, More Concerned About US Trade Policy
As widely anticipated, BOC left the policy rate unchanged at 1.25% in March. The accompanying statement was more cautious than the previous one, over the trade outlook. Policymakers suggested that 'trade policy developments are an important and growing source of uncertainty for the global and Canadian outlooks', in addition...
Dollar Attempting to Rebound as ADP Job Beat Expectation, But Momentum Weak
Dollar is trying to regain some ground in early US session after better than expected job data. But momentum of the greenback is so far very week. Dollar suffered some selling on news of White House top economic advisor Gary Cohn's resignation, due to his opposition to President Donald...
Dollar Lower on Gary Cohn Resignation, Stocks Shrugged Off
Dollar is broadly pressured on news of White House economic advisor Gary Cohn's resignation. The dollar index dipped to as low as 89.42 and staying below 90 handle. EUR/USD is staying comfortably back above 1.24 and is set to have a take on 1.2555 key resistance. Meanwhile, USD/JPY might...
Risk Appetite Returns as EU’s Retaliatory Tariff Proposal Would Force Trump to Fold His Cards
Kiwi and Aussie are leading the way higher in the currency markets as risk appetite returns. On the other hand, Yen and Dollar are trading as the weakest ones today. Markets are increasing getting convinced that US President Donald Trump will back off from his steel and aluminum tariffs....
Trump Said He Won’t Back Down on Tariffs, But Markets Bet He Will
Market sentiments improved as some considered US President Donald Trump's threat of trade war is merely a "political show". And pressures from the Republicans and business executives will eventually force him to back down. DOW closed up 336.7 pts or 1.37% at 24874.76. S&P 500 also rebounded 29.69 pts...
RBA Left Cash Rate Unchanged At 1.5% As Property Markets Cooled
As widely anticipated, RBA left the policy rate unchanged at 1.5% in March. A cooling property market signals that further rate hike is less urgent. On top of the central bank’s agenda has returned to boosting inflation and employment. In 2017, Australia’s CPI averaged at 1.9% while the unemployment...
Canadian Dollar Dives as Trump Plays Tariff Card in NAFTA Negotiations
Canadian Dollar suffers steep selling today as US President Donald Trump singles out Canada and Mexico in his trade war rhetorics. He said in a tweet that "NAFTA, which is under renegotiation right now, has been a bad deal for U.S.A. Massive relocation of companies & jobs." And, "tariffs...
Markets Stay Defensive as Trump Steps Up His Words on Trade Wars
The forex markets are pretty steady in Asian session as an extremely busy week starts. Reactions to Italy election and Germany SPD vote on grand coalition were muted. Euro remains steady so far, staying as the second strongest major currency for the month after Yen. Canadian Dollar and Australian...
Trade Wars Overwhelmed the Markets, More Volatility ahead
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...
Global Markets Tumble Further as Trump Declares Trade Wars are Good, Dollar Pressured
Risk aversion continues to be the main theme today as US President Donald Trump declared that trade wars are good. At the time of writing, German DAX is trading down -2.2%, French CAC down -1.9% and UK FTSE down -1.1%. That follows -2.5% decline in Japanese Nikkei. US futures are pointing to triple digit decline in DOW at open. In the currency markets, Dollar is suffering steep selling against Euro, Yen and Swiss Franc. Nonetheless, commodity currencies are even weaker with Canadian Dollar leading the way down.
Trump to Impose Steel and Aluminum Tariffs, Markets Cried No!
The broader markets responded very negatively to US President Donald Trump's push for steel and aluminum import tariffs. DOW closed down -420 pts or -1.68% at 24608.98, breaking key near term support at 24792.99. S&P 500 lost -36.16 pts or -1.33% to close at 2677.67, breaking equivalent support at 2697.77. NASDAQ, the relatively stronger one recently, also dropped -92.45 pts or -1.27% to close at 7180.56, confirming failure below 7505.77 record high. Treasury yields also suffered with 10 year yield dropping -0.064 to 2.80. It looks like TNX has already topped below 3% handle. Asian markets follow with Nikkei losing over -500 pts or -2.3% at the time of writing. Hong Kong HSI is down -430 pts or -1.4%.
Dollar Trying to Extend Rally as Jobless Claims Dropped to Near Five Decade Low
Dollar is trying to ride on strong job data to extend recent rally. Initial jobless claims dropped 10k to 210k, lower than expectation of 226k. That's the lowest level in nearly five decades since December 1969. Four week moving average dropped to 220.5k, also the lowest since 1969. Continuing claims rose 57k to 1.93m in the week ended February 17. Personal income rose 0.4% in January, above expectation of 0.3%. Personal spending rose 0.2%, in line with expectation. Headline PCE was unchanged at 1.7% yoy, core PCE unchanged at 1.5% yoy. Both met expectation. Also released, Canada current account deficit narrowed to CAD -16.4b in Q4. Focus will turn to round two of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's testimony.