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Dollar & Yen Firm, But More Needed to Prove Their Strength

Dollar and Yen remain generally firm in Asian session while Australian and New Zealand Dollars are soft. US stocks pared back much of the initial losses overnight with DOW ended nearly flat. Overall sentiments are also stable and mixed in Asia only. Coronavirus infections and politics, like US election...

US Crude Oil Inventory Declined Further. Distillate Stockpile Dived on Demand Recovery

The report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that total crude oil and petroleum products (ex. SPR) stocks plunged -16.8 mmb to 1402.34 mmb in the week ended October 9. Crude oil inventory fell -3.82 mmb (consensus: -2.84 mmb) to 489.11 mmb. Stockpile gained in 3 out...

Safe Haven Flows Back to Dollar, Yen and Bonds

Risk aversion is currently in driving seat in the markets today. In the US, hope of fresh fiscal stimulus fades for now, most likely not until after elections. In Europe, countries are going back into lockdowns as coronavirus cases hit records. Negative sentiment drive global stock indices lower and...

Aussie Weakens Broadly as RBA Hints on Further Easing, Risk Sentiments Turn Soft

Australian Dollar drops broadly today after RBA hints at more monetary easing next month. It's also weighed down by mixed job data, as well as weaker risk sentiments. It now appears that US politicians won't agree to a new stimulus deal before election. US stock indices struggled to get...

China’s Inflation Weakened as Growth in Food Price Decelerated. Subdued Core CPI Evidenced Domestic Economy Not Yet Out of the Woods

China’s headline CPI moderated to +1.7% y/y in September, from +2.4% a month ago. This has missed consensus of +1.9%. The weakness was mainly driven by pork inflation which slowed to +25.5% y/y, from +52.6% in August. This contributed about 0.7 percentage point to headline CPI’s moderation. Fresh vegetable...

Sterling Powers Up after Initial Dip, Dollar Recovery Fades

Sterling had a roller coaster ride today, dropped notably on concerns over the deadlock in Brexit negotiations. Though, it then rebounded on talks that UK is still going to engage in talks after its self imposed mid-October deadline. Additional the country avoided a national coronavirus lockdown. The Pound is...

Dollar Struggling to Extend Rebound in Indecisive Markets

The markets are overall indecisive or the moment. US indices retreated mildly just ahead of record highs overnight. Mild softness is carried forward to Asian session. G20 finance leaders are seeing a less negative outlook for the global economy. Yet, the path forward remains highly uncertain depending on the...

Sterling Softens on Restrictions and Brexit Deadlock, Aussie Retreats Further

Sterling softens broadly today as UK unemployment rate rose more than expected while the part of the country is returning to restrictions. Additionally, there appears to be no progress on Brexit negotiation ahead of the EU summit later this week. Australian Dollar is the second weakest as China moves...

Dollar Recovering as J&J Paused Vaccine Study, Aussie Tumbles

Dollar is trying to recover in Asian session while Aussie tumbles broadly. Sentiments appear to be turning cautious on news that Johnson & Johnson paused coronavirus vaccine study due to an unexplained illness in a participant. UK also started a tiered system of fresh coronavirus restrictions. WTI crude oil...

OPEC+ Compliance Remains a Lingering Concern over Crude’s Demand/Supply Balance

The near-term outlook on crude oil price has turned sour, as supply is projected to rise despite high uncertainty in the demand outlook. Both crude oil benchmarks fell more than -2%, as Norwegian output resumes after strike, Libya supply is set to increase further and US production facilities restart...

Yen Rebounds in Quiet Markets, Politics to Drive the Week

Asian markets are trading in mixed most, decoupling from strong rally from the US on Friday. The forex markets are also steady. Yen is trading broadly higher and could be riding on the rebound against Dollar to strengthen elsewhere. Dollar is the currently the second strongest for today but...

PBOC Moves to Curb Renminbi’s Strength

PBOC announced over the weekend to lower the FX risk reserve ratio for forward foreign exchange sales from 20% to 0, effective October 12. The move is likely a response to the strength in renminbi (a.k.a. RMB, CNY). The central bank pledged to “maintain the flexibility of the RMB...

Dollar Tumbled as Investors Hungry for Risks, Down Trend Resuming?

Yen and Dollar ended the week as overwhelmingly the worst performing ones. Despite all the jitters regarding US President Donald Trump's coronavirus infections, stimulus talks stalemate, major stock indices ended the week strongly higher. Yen is additionally pressured by strong rally in treasury yields too. On the other hand, Canadian...

CFTC Commitments of Traders – NET LENGTH on EUR Futures Slumped although Price Climbed Higher

As suggested in the CFTC Commitments of Traders report in the week ended October 6, NET SHORT for USD Index futures dropped further, by -2 521 to 3 034 contracts. Speculative long positions increased +3 669 contracts and short positions added +1 148 contracts. Concerning European currencies, NET LENGTH...

CFTC Commitments of Traders – Traders Bet Natural Gas Price to Rise. Demand could Increase as Weather Gets Cooler

According to the CFTC Commitments of Traders report for the week ended October 6, NET LENGTH for crude oil futures gained +9 625 contracts to 471 536 for the week. Speculative long position jumped +9 165 contracts, while shorts dropped -460 contracts. For refined oil products, NET LENGTH for...

Canadian Powers Up on Job Data, Dollar Tumbles on Risk-on Markets

Canadian Dollar strengthens against most major currencies in early US session as boosted by stronger than expected job data. That comes in the back ground of this week's strong rally in oil price too. On the other hand, Dollar is under broad based pressure as global stock markets are...

Canadian Dollar Surges With Oil Price, Job Data Eyed

Canadian Dollar surged broadly overnight, following the strong rally in oil prices, partly due to strike in Norway which affect as much as one million barrels a day of crud oil production. The Loonie is also the strongest one for the week so far, awaiting employment data for the...

ECB Minutes Tilted to Dovish Side

The message sent from the ECB minutes came in more dovish that the meeting statement released a few weeks ago. Policymakers were concerned about the inflation outlook more than previously expected. Despite upward revisions to the economic projections, the members stressed that there were “key downside risks to the...

Euro Heads Lower in Indecisive Markets, Aussie Firmer

Commodity currencies are the main drivers in the markets today, as Australian Dollar leads others higher. European majors, on the other hand turn weaker as led by Euro. Dollar and Yen are mixed for the moments, awaiting the next move in risk markets. Global stock markets seem to have...

Yen Stays Pressured on Surging Stocks and Yields, Dollar Keeps On Defending

Yen continues to feel much selling pressure, partly thanks to strength in treasury yields, and partly due to the strong rebound in US stocks overnight. Asian markets turned mixed, however, with Hong Kong and Singapore in slight red. New Zealand Dollar suffered notable selling on news that RBNZ is...