The UK parliament again defeated, by 149 votes, the Withdrawal Agreement that PM Theresa May secured from the EU parliament. Despite the changes, attorney general Geoffrey Cox suggested the UK still would risk struck in the Irish backstop indefinitely. His opinion has raised concerns of both Brexit hardliners and...
Sterling reverses and dives sharply as Brexit turns into a mess again. The new assurances UK Prime Minister Theresa May got from EU provided some nervous hope earlier today. But legal advice from Attorney General Geoffrey Cox killed the chance of getting the Brexit deal through the meaningful vote...
Sterling made a massive come back and is trading as the strongest one for today, as boosted by breakthrough in Brexit. At least, UK Prime Minister Theresa May believe she got important legally binding changes that's adequate to satisfy the parliament. The Pound could be given further lift ahead...
Risk markets attempt to recover today but lacks clear momentum. Nonetheless, that's enough to send Swiss Franc generally lower. At the time of writing, Canadian Dollar is the second weakest. Dollar follows as third weakest despite better than expected retail sales. Sterling on the other hand recovers broadly after...
Sterling opens the week lower and stays generally weak today. As the crucial Brexit votes loom there is no breakthrough on the issue of Irish backstop. EU's so called "concessions" were rejected by the UK government. And there is practically no chance of getting the same Brexit deal through...
According to the CFTC Commitments of Traders report for the week ended March 5, NET LENGTH for crude oil futures soared +21 130 contracts to 348 801 for the week. Speculative long positions rose +11 421 contracts while shorts declined -9 709. For refined oil products, NET LENGTH for...
As suggested in the CFTC Commitments of Traders report in the week ended March 5, NET LENGTH in USD Index gained although bets decreased on both sides. With the exception of NZD, all major currencies stayed in NET SHORT positions. Although the market has trimmed expectations of a rate...
Looking through all the financial market news last week, the message was rather unified. That is, 2019 will be a year of slowdown, globally. Economic data, central banks, governments and independent organizations are all reinforcing this message. While ECB's "pre-emptive" dovish turn triggered wild market reactions, it was just...
Dollar trades broadly lower in early US session after poor job report which shows only 20k growth, weakest since September 2017. However, weakness is at this point limited since the set of data is not totally negative. Unemployment rate did decline while wage growth accelerated. For now, Sterling is...
The impact of dovish ECB quickly spread to the whole world. Following weakness in the US and Europe, Asian stocks tumble broadly today. Adding to the misery, China's February trade data were shockingly terrible, recording -20.7% yoy contraction in exports. Weak export outlook adds to the case of "tough...
Euro tumbles broadly after ECB delivered and all-the-way dovish meeting. There will be no rate hike until at least 2020. New TLTRO-III is announced. ECB expects sizeable moderation in growth. GDP growth forecast was revised down substantially. Yet, risks surrounding outlook are still tilted to the downside. Selloff in...
ECB left the main refi rate, the marginal lending rate and the deposit rate unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.40%, respectively. However, much change was made in the economic assessment and the forward guidance, as a result of “moderation in the pace of the economic expansion”. The central bank...
Asian markets are mixed today despite selloff in US overnight. Investors are generally non-committal, probably waiting for more concrete developments regarding US-China trade negotiations and Brexit. Though, the decline in US treasury yields is worth a note as 10-year yield closed back below 2.7 handle at 2.692. It remains...
BOC left the policy rate unchanged at 1.75%. What caused the market dramatic market movement was its dovish turn – stripping off the forward guidance that the next move would be a rate hike. The abrupt turn in just two months marks the weaker than expected slowdown in Canada’s...
Yen and Dollar are trading as the strongest ones for today so far. Slightly lower than expected ADP job growth in February was offset by larger upward revision in January's data. US trade deficit surged for 2018 as a whole jumped to highest in a decade. But these data...
Australian Dollar tumbles broadly today as traders add to bet of RBA rate cuts after poor Q4 GDP. RBA Governor Philip Lowe basically maintained upbeat view on the outlook in a speech, but that was largely ignored. Sterling is also among the weakest as UK Attorney General Geoffrey Cox's...
More dovish messages from ECB seem inevitable at the upcoming meeting. Clouded by Brexit uncertainty, trade conflicts with the US and global economic slowdown, economic developments since the January meeting turned out weaker than expected. We expect ECB to revise lower its GDP and inflation forecasts, extending the duration...
Sterling trades broadly lower today and suffers fresh selling in early US session. Some attributes the decline to reports that UK Attorney General Geoffrey Cox and Brexit Minister Stephen Barclay won't get any breakthrough on Irish backstop in Brussels today. But it is actually hardly any news. UK government...
The financial markets are relatively quite in Asia today. Stocks turned mixed following the pull back in US overnight. But losses are limited while the resilient Chinese SSE is having slight gain. Chinese government lowered 2019 growth target to 6.0-6.5%, with the lower bound at lowest pace in more...
Global stock markets are generally higher today, continuing to ride on trade optimism. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett added to the positive mood and said US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has made a lot of progress with China. And the deal may be finished some time soon. Also,...