Risk sentiment continues to flip-flop in pre-holiday markets. Major European indexes and US futures are trading slightly higher. Swiss Franc, Yen and Dollar are all trading generally lower, while Kiwi and Aussie are trading higher with Sterling. Canadian Dollar appears to be getting little support from better than expected...
China is going against the global tide of normalization of monetary policy. The PBOC announced to cut the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) by -5 bps to 3.8%, first time April 2020. This, together with the reduction in RRR and increase RRR on foreign currencies earlier this month, indicates...
Yen trades mildly lower today, as Asian markets recover despite the steep fall in US overnight. Swiss Franc and Dollar are also soft. On the other hand, commodity currencies are all recovering mildly, but momentum is weak. Overall, the forex markets are still hesitating to break out from recent...
Commodity currencies are under broad-based pressure today, as markets are trading in risk-off mode on the spread of Omicron. Canadian Dollar is leading the way lower as WTI oil tumbles below 70. But Euro and Swiss Franc are currently the main beneficiaries, followed by Yen. Dollar and Sterling are...
A holiday shortened week starts will risk-off sentiment. Selloff in notable in Japan with Nikkei back below 28k handle, while HK HSI also hits the lowest level this year. In the currency markets, Yen is currently the strongest one for today, followed by Euro and Swiss Franc. On the...
As suggested in the CFTC Commitments of Traders report in the week ended December 14, NET LENGTH of USD index futures fell -3 624 contracts to 31 241. Speculative long positions slipped -795 contracts but shorts gained +2 829 contracts. NET SHORT of EUR futures rose +3 580 contracts...
According to the CFTC Commitments of Traders report for the week ended December 14, NET LENGTH of crude oil futures slumped -20 095 contracts to 347 137. Speculative longs declined -9 352 contracts while shorts gained +10 743 contracts. For refined oil products, NET LENGTH for heating oil dropped...
It was a very volatile week full of central bank surprises. Fed indicated that there would be as many as three rate hikes next year. BoE surprised by raising the Bank Rate. Even ECB turned out to be less dovish as expected. But in the end, if was the...
Investors are back in risk-off mode after a week of volatility. Yen is rising broadly, followed by Swiss Franc and Dollar. On the other hand, commodity currencies are back under some pressure. Euro and Sterling are both mixed. The question is whether pre-weekend selloff in stocks would intensify and...
Overall markets are rather mixed so far, as guided by the volatile risk sentiment. There is no clear follow through moves in the markets. Sterling is the strongest one for the week so far, after the surprised BoE rate hike. But Swiss Franc is the second strongest, as helped...
The ECB meeting came largely in line with expectations. While leaving the policy rates unchanged, the members confirmed that the PEPP program would end in March 2022. Meanwhile, they have extended the reinvestment process and topped up the APP program, as means to continuously provide liquidity to the market....
Sterling rises broadly after BoE surprised the markets by raising interest rates and maintains a hawkish tone. Solid risk-on sentiment as well as strong job data boosts Aussie as the second strongest. Euro is not performing badly after ECB announces to end PEPP net purchases in March. Indeed, the...
The BOE surprised the market in two consecutive months. After failing to deliver rate hike in November, the members surprisingly increased the Bank rate by +15 bps to 0.25% in December. Concerns over elevated trumped Omicron variant uncertainty. British pound rallied against US dollar and the euro.
The members voted...
Dollar initially surged after Fed decided to double tapering pace and indicated there could be as many as three rate hikes next year. Nevertheless, the rally attempted was choked off by strong risk-on rally in stocks. Investors seemed to be relieved that firstly, Fed is still cautious on the...
FOMC delivered a hawkish outlook at the December meeting. Besides doubling the size of tapering as we had anticipated, more than two-third of the members have projected at least 3 rate hikes next year. The latest economic projections suggest that inflation could rise to +5.3% this year before easing....
The report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that total crude oil and petroleum products (ex. SPR) stocks slumped -15.87 mmb to 1210.49 mmb in the week ended December 10. Crude oil inventory dropped -4.58 mmb to 428.29 mmb, compared with consensus of a +0.82 mmb increase....
Dollar is trading mixed in early US session after weaker than expected retail sales data. The greenback is extending recent rally against Canadian, but pulls back against Australian. European majors are mixed while Yen is also trading a touch weaker. Other markets are quite too with Gold's selloff taking...
While Dollar is so far the strongest one for the week, there is clearly no follow through buying. The greenback is stuck in range against most others with traders on the sideline ahead of FOMC. Canadian and New Zealand Dollars are the two exceptions, which are already breaking through...
Commodity currencies remain generally weak today on mixed market sentiment. But buying is turned to European majors, with Swiss Franc having an upper hand. Dollar and Yen, on the other hand, soften mildly. The greenback has little reaction to record PPI reading. Meanwhile, it should be noted that major...
The focus of this week’s ECB meeting is whether the PEPP would extend beyond March 2020 in light of the new Omicron variant and rapid increase the number of coronavirus cases across Europe since the November meeting. Recent comments from ECB officials signal that things would go as planned....