As we approach the end of the week the political rhetoric that has been impacting volatility in recent weeks has started to calm down. Rather than lurch from political comment to political comment, traders are able to sit back and take a broader view of the markets. This, dare I say it, noise-free day in
All eyes will be on British PM Theresa May as she makes her way to Salzburg today to address EU leaders over dinner this evening. This informal summit is considered a turning point for Brexit: will the UK be able to pull the ultimate deal (single market access and frictionless trade, minus free movement of
Bond, stock and FX markets have all experienced some big moves today on the back of a deluge of central bank meetings and some weak US economic data, which weighed heavily on the dollar. The question now is whether today’s events will prove to be a watershed moment for markets with the pound making its
The deluge of central bank decisions has begun, with the BOE and CBRT in Turkey both releasing their decisions. Looking at Turkey first, the CBRT has delivered a mega rate hike to 24% from 17.75%; the market had expected 21%. This has triggered an immediate 8% jump in the TRY vs. the USD as the
European markets are basking in the glow of a fresh Chinese liquidity injection this morning, with markets a sea of green as we head into London lunchtime. Today’s move by the PBOC has also given some respite to the struggling Aussie dollar, which has managed to find some temporary support at 0.7120, which is just
As we move into the autumn months, it’s worth looking more closely at the US stock market, which appears to have disconnected from other risk markets. For example, Amazon made a fresh record high on Tuesday and became another trillion-dollar company. In contrast, the South African rand is close to a record low and
Emerging markets are in focus for another day. The South African rand made a fresh 2-year intraday low versus the USD and is now more than 4% lower since Monday. Contagion has taken hold, and emerging market FX is a sea of red today, this has also spread to the emerging market equity space,
Markets across the board are struggling with uncertainty on Thursday, and US equity futures are all pointing lower at the time of writing. Events weighing on investors include, the continuing trade dispute between the US and China, which has flared its head once again, and the as yet unsigned Nafta deal is also leaving
US stock index futures have turned lower even though the second reading of Q2 GDP was revised higher to 4.2% from 4% initially. Personal consumption slipped a little, to 3.8% from 4%, however private investment and trade helped to boost the overall GDP report. Trump’s trade tariffs pay dividends already The impact of
What do you do if you want a currency to move 100 pips in 24 hours in mid-August? The answer is simple; wait for a President to talk down his currency and criticize his central bank. No, this is not Turkey, this is the US, where President Trump pulled a ‘President Erdogan’ and told
