Yesterday we saw a bundle of news coming from Australia, where most traders were concentrating on the RBA and the decision regarding the cash rate. As the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the rate unchanged at 1.50%, Aussie fell of daily high. In addition, the Australian retail sales rose less than expected, increasing […]
Growth in the UK service sector picked up pace and signaled the strongest rate of service sector output growth for four months, the latest report from Markit Economics showed yesterday. UK services PMI was up from 53.0 in January and better than forecasted (53.3) coming at 54.5. The business activity rose at the fastest pace
The Euro witnessed a mixed start to the week, initially having received a boost following the weekend’s German SPD’s vote in favor of the coalition deal. However, the upside was short-lived as sentiment soured on the Italian election’s projected outcome of a hung parliament, with both the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the far-right League party
The UK Markit PMI for manufacturing held a pleasant surprise despite the fact that it did not rise, but it held better than expected (55.1) coming at 55.2 down from 55.3. Still, it is the third consecutive decline and compares with the 56.9 average in Q4 17 and 55.9 average for all last year. The
The Italian election is due to be held this coming Sunday, 4th of March 2018 and Italians are preparing to choose a new Parliament and Prime Minister. Italy is not well-known for its political stability given the fact that it has had more than 60 governments and numerous prime ministers since World War II. This
February 2018 has proven to be one of the most volatile and tumultuous months for equity markets, witnessed in many years. The month has closed out with the largest fall in the main equity markets (DJIA and SPX), seen in two years. The February fall for the DJIA is -4.28%, the SPX has registered a
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. 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
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%
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
