Market Overview
Contrasting Trends in Asia; BoJ, BoC and ECB to Highlight a Busy Week
Asian markets highlights sharp divergence in trends today. Nikkei surged to new 34-year high, buoyed by last week's record closes in US and bolstered by expectations that BoJ will maintain its negative interest rate policy in the this week's meeting. Japanese stock market is also riding on the optimism...
Dollar Soars and Stocks Hit Records as Markets Rethink Rate Cut Timing
Last week's market development suggest growing skepticism among traders on their own aggressive bets on early rate cut by major central banks. After a batch of economic data from US and UK, as well as the chorus of central banker comments, Q2 is starting to look much less likely...
Sterling Sees Moderate Decline After Weak Retail Sales, Losses Contained
Sterling fell broadly today following weaker-than-expected retail sales data. Despite this, the British currency's losses have been somewhat contained, indicating a degree of resilience. Concurrently, Japanese Yen and Australian Dollar are showing attempts to recover, but these efforts lack significant follow-through momentum. The day's activities seem more reflective of...
Yen’s Decline Persists Following Japan CPI Release, Dollar Upholds Its Lead
Yen' decline resume today after release of Japan's latest CPI data, which suggests that BoJ is not be under immediate pressure to exit its negative interest rate policy. . Economists have noted a crucial aspect of Japan's inflation dynamics: while cost-push inflation is clearly easing, the transition to demand-pull...
Dollar Rises on Jobless Claims, Fed Cut Expectations Continue to Shift
Dollar bounces in early US session, buoyed by unexpectedly low initial jobless claims data, which also lifts US 10-year yield. One of the key themes emerging this week is recalibration of market expectations regarding rate cut by Fed in March, with the probability now down to around 56%. Today's...
Forex Markets Steady with Stabilized Sentiment, Aussie’s Recovery Dampened by Job Data
The forex market displayed relative tranquility in Asian session, with major currencies confined to tight ranges. This subdued atmosphere reflects a degree of stabilization in investor sentiment, mirrored in the performance of major Asian stock indexes which are either experiencing mild recoveries or registering only slight losses. A notable...
Unexpected UK CPI Boosts Sterling, Risk Aversion Continues
Sterling emerged as the star performer in today's market, largely driven by surprising inflation data from the UK. CPI inflation in December showed an unexpected acceleration, with core CPI remaining at elevated level. This development led to a swift change in the market's perspective concerning BoE's policy, reducing the...
Market Trepidation Over Chinese Data, Dollar Marches On
Prevailing mood of risk aversion was evident in Asian session today. Hong Kong stocks led the region lower, reflecting investors' dissatisfaction with the latest batch of Chinese economic data. While China's Q4 GDP growth wasn't far off from analysts' expectations, it still fell short for some, contributing to the...
Dollar’s Rally Unfazed by Weak Manufacturing Data, Bolstered by Risk Aversion
Dollar continues its strong rally in early U.S. session, making an attempt to surpass January high against Euro. The market appears to be ignoring surprisingly poor results of Empire State Manufacturing survey. Instead, mild risk-off sentiment is prevailing, offering some support to the greenback.
New Zealand and Australian Dollars are...
Dollar Defies Increasing Rate Cut Expectations, Gains Ground on Risk-Off Sentiment
Dollar rises broadly on risk-off sentiment today, as as Hong Kong stocks led the region lower. The greenback's strength comes despite growing calls for Fed to initiate policy loosening earlier. Notably, Goldman Sachs has joined this chorus, predicting an initial rate cut as early as March and a total...
Euro Edges Up on ECB Hawks’ Comments, But Momentum Limited
Euro trades mildly higher today after two known ECB hawks raised skepticism about a near term rate cut. Yet, upside momentum is somewhat tempered by weak trade and production data. Also, Euro is outshone slightly by Dollar, but the latter is also struggling to break out from familiar range...
Tranquil Opening to a Data-Heavy Week: Major Data from US, UK, Japan Featured
The forex markets commenced the week on a relatively quiet note, despite generally positive risk sentiment. This was highlighted by Japan's Nikkei, which continued its impressive performance, breaking above 35k mark to reach new three-decade highs. The robust momentum could continue until the eagerly awaited BoJ meeting later in...
Dollar’s Indecisive Week, Rate Cut Bets Hold Despite Inflation Surprises
Dollar demonstrated a distinct lack of decisiveness in its trading last week, encapsulating a theme of uncertainty that has become characteristic since the start of the year. The greenback has indeed close the week within prior week's range against most major counterparts, with Canadian Dollar being the only exception.
This...
Forex Markets Show Hesitation, Gold on the Rise
Today's trading in the forex markets reflects a sense of indecision among investors. Dollar, which initially showed signs of recovery, faced an abrupt halt following unexpected decline in US PPI for December. British Pound, despite the release of stronger-than-expected UK GDP data, failed to garner significant support. Japanese Yen...
Sterling Leads the Week Ahead of UK GDP, Dollar Sluggish
Dollar's fleeting post-CPI rally was very short-lived. The greenback quickly reversed its initial gains and has since been trading within a narrow range against other major currencies. Traders appear relatively unfazed by the stronger than expected inflation readings, with markets still pricing in more than 70% chance on Fed...
Dollar Gains Post-US CPI, But Momentum Subdued
The financial markets' initial reactions to stronger than expected US CPI readings are relatively subdued. While there was an immediate response with Dollar and yields rising, and stock futures dipping, these movements lacked significant follow-through. The exception in the currency markets was USD/JPY, which broke through last week's high....
Dollar Softens as Market Anticipates US Inflation Data, Assessing Rate Cut Prospects
Dollar saw notable decline against most major currencies, maintaining its softer tone in the Asian trading session today, with the exception of its performance against Yen. This selloff amidst a backdrop of improving risk sentiment, reflected by the uptick in major US stock indexes. Investors' attention is now squarely...
Yen’s Selloff Persists in Sluggish Market, Dollar Mixed
Japanese Yen continues its decline in today's subdued trading environment. This selloff gained momentum following the release of disappointing wages growth data, which has tempered expectations for an imminent monetary policy adjustment by BoJ in January. Despite this, April is still considered a more probable time for interest rate...
Yen Weakens on Disappointing Wage Growth Data, Nikkei Soars to 33-Year High
Release of Japan's disappointing wage growth data led markets to scale back expectations of an imminent rate hike by BoJ. The continued lag in wages growth behind inflation undermines the prospects of establishing a virtuous cycle of wages and prices, which is a prerequisite to a BoJ policy shift....
Lackluster Trading in Forex as Economic Data Fails to Stir Major Movements
Currency trading today remained lackluster, characterized by limited movements across major pairs and crosses. Key economic data releases, ranging from Japan's Tokyo CPI, and retail sales figures from Australia and the Eurozone, to trade balance data from Canada and US, failed to significantly influence the markets.
Japanese Yen is currently...