posted by Admin on Feb 8
Attention remains focused on the weakness of the Euro, with traders remaining skeptical about G7’s reassurances over Greek sovereign debt. The Euro is trading near 9 month lows against the US Dollar, with fears that the issues may not just be contained within Greece, but spread in to other weaker economies such as Spain and Portugal. The cost for insuring against default by Greece, Spain or Portugal has hit record highs.
Market News
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner stated that it was his belief that the US government “will never” lose its triple A credit rating.
In his interview with ABC News, Geithner also stated that he felt the threat of a double dip recession was less than before, albeit the recovery would be slow
UBS have lifted their 2010 GDP predictions for Switzerland to 2%
Japanese bank lending posted its biggest annual fall in more than 4 years as demand remained weak
posted by Admin on Feb 8
This was one of the most volatile weeks the markets have had in quite some time. The markets began the week attempting to bounce from near term oversold conditions and rallying to the prior weeks highs. However, they gave way to steep declines on Thursday and most of Friday on a large increase in volume. By mid-day Friday, it seemed like the indexes would finish off the week at their lows but in the afternoon the bulls mounted a strong assault on the bears, firmly reversing the intraday trend. All the indexes finished with slight gains on huge volume, while trading well off their intraday lows and forming a candle pattern commonly referred to as a hammer.
posted by Admin on Feb 5
A huge night in the foreign exchange markets saw a flight to safety, with traders continuing to flee the Euro amid concerns that the sovereign debt issues in Greece may spread further afield, to weaker economies such as Spain and Portugal. Sterling fell to its lowest levels against the US dollar in 4 months, and the Euro hit an eight month low.
Market News
Barclays Capital economists warned that the Greek issue could spread to create a “Lehman-style tsunami spreading across much of the EU”
Yesterdays initial jobless claims in the US came in a lot lower than expected, with claims rising by 8,000 to 480,000, way above analysts’ expectations, who forecast a fall of 10,000
Both the UK and the ECB left rates unchanged at 0.5% and 1% respectively
Following 11 months of support, the Bank of England announced that they would be pausing their quantative easing programme
Please note that the non-farm payroll figures are scheduled for release at 1330 this afternoon
posted by Admin on Feb 4
The euro continues to trade at circa 1.385 against the dollar as comments emanating from the IMF states that they would be prepared to help Greece if necessary, but they are confident that the Greeks will be able to deal with their financial crisis without intervention. The Greek government has put together a three-year plan to repair their economy.
Market News
Both the UK and Eurozone had rates left unchanged at 0.5% and 1% respectively
The Bank of England have halted their quantative easing programme after 11 months of asset buying
The Dollar Index rallied against a basket of other major currencies
Please note that we are scheduled to see non-farm payroll figures released tomorrow ahead of the opening bell
Major Economic News
TIME MARKET DATA
1330 Initial Claims
posted by Admin on Dec 15
The dollar strengthened against the Euro and the Japanese Yen ahead of tomorrow’s Interest Rate decision, albeit it has fallen back in early trade. Relief that the Dubai and Greek debt situations have been clarified has in part added to confidence levels.
Market News
The Dubai loan has tempered fears over further sovereign debt defaults
Commenting on sovereign debt, Moody’s stated this morning that they feel that AAA rated countries should look to reduce debt as opposed to waiting for the economies to improve
Fitch commented this morning that China avoided recession, but risks remain in place
Major Economic News
TIME MARKET DATA
1330 Core PPI
