Zahir Shah

Sterling initially rises as Theresa May agrees to resign, then falls as U.K. Parliament fails in indicative voting, USA equity indices whipsaw as balance of payments rises

The current account deficit in the United States has widened to -$134.4 billion in Q4 2018, from an upwardly revised -$126 billion gap in Q3, coming in above the news agency forecasts of -$130 billion. Registering the highest current account gap metric in ten years, The trade deficit in the USA narrowed to -$51.1 billion […]

Sterling initially rises as Theresa May agrees to resign, then falls as U.K. Parliament fails in indicative voting, USA equity indices whipsaw as balance of payments rises Read More »

The latest GDP growth figure for the USA economy, could indicate a slowing, if the forecast is met

FX analysts and traders will concentrate their focus on the latest GDP figures for the USA economy, when the data is published at 12:30pm U.K. time, on Thursday March 28th. The general consensus reached, after news agencies such as Reuters and Bloomberg have polled their separate panel of economists, is for a fall to 2.4%

The latest GDP growth figure for the USA economy, could indicate a slowing, if the forecast is met Read More »

New Zealand kiwi dollar crashes as RBNZ delivers dovish statement, whilst it commits to upcoming interest rate cuts

The New Zealand dollar crashed versus its peers during the Sydney-Asian session as the central bank, the RBNZ, issued a monetary policy containing dovish forward guidance, suggesting that interest rate cuts were likely in the short to medium term, as opposed to its previous commitment to raise the rate. RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr declared: “Given

New Zealand kiwi dollar crashes as RBNZ delivers dovish statement, whilst it commits to upcoming interest rate cuts Read More »

U.S. dollar rises versus several peers, euro falls, whilst sterling makes modest gains as no deal Brexit recedes

USD rose versus the majority of its peers during the latter part of the London-European trading session and the New York session. This rise came despite, or perhaps as a consequence, of the poor housing and consumer confidence data published during the day’s sessions, which saw permits and housing starts miss the forecasts, whilst the

U.S. dollar rises versus several peers, euro falls, whilst sterling makes modest gains as no deal Brexit recedes Read More »

Analysts and FX traders will focus on the RBNZ interest rate decision and any accompanying monetary policy statement

At 1:00am U.K. time, on Wednesday 26th March, the central bank for New Zealand, the RBNZ, will announce its decision regarding the country’s interest rate. Referred to as the “official cash rate”, the current rate is 1.75% and the widely held consensus, after Bloomberg and Reuters have polled their panel of economists over recent days,

Analysts and FX traders will focus on the RBNZ interest rate decision and any accompanying monetary policy statement Read More »

China’s equity indices fall for second day in series, FX traders attempt to price sterling, based on U.K. Parliament taking control of Brexit

The equity markets in China fell during Tuesday’s overnight/morning Asian session, as global growth fears continued to stalk Chinese markets. The Shanghai Composite index fell by -1.51% and the CSI by -1.13%. Chinese investors could be trading ahead of the curve, by regarding the lack of definitive progress in relation to the tariff talks as

China’s equity indices fall for second day in series, FX traders attempt to price sterling, based on U.K. Parliament taking control of Brexit Read More »

Sterling pairs trade in tight ranges as Brexit confusion reigns, Euro steadies as IFO soft data for Germany comes in ahead of forecast

The U.K. pound traded in tight ranges versus its peers during Monday’s trading sessions, as analysts and FX traders struggled to make sense of the latest Brexit developments in U.K. parliament. At 10:00pm on Monday evening, MPs voted on another arcane parliamentary process; what’s termed “indicative votes” to establish what type of withdrawal agreement exit

Sterling pairs trade in tight ranges as Brexit confusion reigns, Euro steadies as IFO soft data for Germany comes in ahead of forecast Read More »

Global recession fears rise, as bond yields invert and Asian equities slump

Asian equity markets sold off during the Sydney-Asian trading sessions, as global recession fears stalked markets in: Japan China and Australia. The Nikkei slumped by -3%, Shanghai Composite by -1.97% and the ASX 200 by -1.11%. This pattern followed a sell off, in European and USA equity markets, on Friday March 22nd, which saw up

Global recession fears rise, as bond yields invert and Asian equities slump Read More »

The latest GDP growth figures for: the U.K. France, Canada and the USA, are the outstanding high impact events, FX traders need to remain vigilant of this week

Monday’s significant calendar events begins the week with the latest IFO: business climate, expectations and current assessment sentiment readings, for the German economy. Coming so soon after the poor Markit PMI readings of Friday 22nd of March (for the Eurozone’s largest economy) missed the forecasts by some distance, the results will be carefully monitored when

The latest GDP growth figures for: the U.K. France, Canada and the USA, are the outstanding high impact events, FX traders need to remain vigilant of this week Read More »

U.K. pound arrests slump as E.U. summit reaches decision, euro sells off as Markit PMIs miss forecasts.

On Thursday evening at an E.U. summit, the leaders of the E.U. 27 finally took control of the Brexit process, by declaring the revised exit dates for the U.K. The March 29th deadline has been moved; if the U.K. parliament can’t agree to the withdrawal agreement, then it exits by April 11th, under a no

U.K. pound arrests slump as E.U. summit reaches decision, euro sells off as Markit PMIs miss forecasts. Read More »