February 2018

U.S. equities fall and USD rises, as investors translate Jerome Powell’s testimony as hawkish

The economic news calendar was dominated by American fundamentals on Tuesday with the calendar releases and political events. The recently appointed Fed chair Jerome Powell wasted no time, during his testimony in front of a House committee, when suggesting that both he and the Fed think asset prices may be too high and inflation may […]

U.S. equities fall and USD rises, as investors translate Jerome Powell’s testimony as hawkish Read More »

USA equities continue their recent bounce back, USD rises, whilst investors await Fed chair Powell’s first appearance before a House panel

U.S. equity markets and overall investor sentiment, appears to have discovered an equilibrium position. The subjects of inflation, bonds, market valuations, and the U.S. dollar value, are no longer the overall concerns that caused the sudden sell off, witnessed in late January early February. Sentiment appears to be back to 2017 bullish levels, an example

USA equities continue their recent bounce back, USD rises, whilst investors await Fed chair Powell’s first appearance before a House panel Read More »

The latest USA GDP growth figures may calm investors’ nerves, but raise questions regarding the Fed’s monetary policy

On Wednesday February 28th at 13:00pm GMT (U.K. time), the latest GDP figures relating to the USA economy will be published. There are two metrics released; the annualized year on year growth figure and the figure up to and including Q4. The forecast is that the YoY figure will fall to 2.5% from the 2.6%

The latest USA GDP growth figures may calm investors’ nerves, but raise questions regarding the Fed’s monetary policy Read More »

Investors’ attention will turn to the latest Eurozone inflation figure, due to the ECB’s concerns regarding the euro’s high value

On Wednesday February 28th, at 10:00am GMT (London time), the latest estimate for the Eurozone CPI (consumer price inflation) will be released. The forecast, obtained by taking a consensus opinion from many leading economists, predicts a fall to 1.2% YoY for February, from the 1.3% recorded up to January 2018. The monthly inflation figure for

Investors’ attention will turn to the latest Eurozone inflation figure, due to the ECB’s concerns regarding the euro’s high value Read More »

U.S. equity markets ended last week with a significant rise, and investors will focus on the USA GDP figures this Wednesday to judge the direction of equities and the U.S. dollar

U.S. equity markets reversed their earlier weekly losses on Friday, with the SPX rising by 1.60% on the day, the rise has now placed the index back in positive territory for the year; YTD the rise was 2.79% at Friday’s close of business. Both the DJIA and NASDAQ have followed similar recovery patterns, however, the

U.S. equity markets ended last week with a significant rise, and investors will focus on the USA GDP figures this Wednesday to judge the direction of equities and the U.S. dollar Read More »

WEEKLY MARKET SNAPSHOT 26/2 – 2/3| A week of GDP figures for Canada, the USA, France and Italy, may indicate the strength of western global growth, whilst various CPIs will reveal the level of inflationary pressures

North America’s GDPs will come into sharp focus during the week, Canada is currently producing excellent growth figures and at 3.5% growth, the Canadian economy is top of the growth charts, for the Western Hemisphere. The USA is currently printing GDP growth of 2.6% and economists are forecasting that both countries’ figures will be maintained,

WEEKLY MARKET SNAPSHOT 26/2 – 2/3| A week of GDP figures for Canada, the USA, France and Italy, may indicate the strength of western global growth, whilst various CPIs will reveal the level of inflationary pressures Read More »

Has the short, sharp, correction in stock markets, given central banks an excuse not to raise interest rates?

“Taper tantrum” is the term used to refer to the 2013 surge in U.S. Treasury yields, which resulted from the Federal Reserve’s use of tapering to gradually reduce the amount of money it was feeding into the economy. Traders and investors may recall the phrase “taper tantrum”. The Fed was only considering cutting back on

Has the short, sharp, correction in stock markets, given central banks an excuse not to raise interest rates? Read More »

U.S. markets rise after two days of losses, U.S. dollar index falls, and yen rises versus peers

Equity markets in the USA broke their two day losing streak on Thursday, as both the DJIA and SPX closed up, encouraging jobless claims. Falling to a five week low, and continuous claims also falling, added to the overall mood of investor optimism during the New York session. However, many analysts were quoting that institutional

U.S. markets rise after two days of losses, U.S. dollar index falls, and yen rises versus peers Read More »

FOMC minutes underscores the Fed’s faith in the USA economy, but provides no clues regarding interest rate rises, U.S. dollar continues recent recovery

The FOMC minutes, relating to the January 30th-31st meeting were released on Wednesday evening and they offered up very little in the way of clues, regarding the timing of interest rate rises in 2018. Instead the minutes accentuated the positives in the USA economy and with regards to any concerns over inflation building up, the

FOMC minutes underscores the Fed’s faith in the USA economy, but provides no clues regarding interest rate rises, U.S. dollar continues recent recovery Read More »

U.S. equities sell off, gold falls, U.K. pound rises on Brexit optimism, and U.S. treasury auction raises eyebrows

Both main USA equity markets, the DJIA and SPX, sold off during Tuesday’s New York session, as the markets raced back into life after the close for the President’s Day bank holiday. Both key indices eventually closed down, ending an unbroken winning streak of six days. Certain earnings spooked the markets, most notably the giant

U.S. equities sell off, gold falls, U.K. pound rises on Brexit optimism, and U.S. treasury auction raises eyebrows Read More »