Sterling sinks on month-end flows, easing trade tensions
The US Dollar rebounded from its lowest level in five weeks against its major peers on Tuesday, clawing back ground on a continued easing in trade concerns. End of month flows also dominated trading with this, as is traditional, which provided good support for the greenback. Sterling was particularly hard hit. The Pound fell off a cliff during morning trading, slipping by well over a percent in a little over five hours before retracing just under a half of its losses before t
Sterling, Canadian Dollar rise on positive Brexit and NAFTA news
Once again, currency markets largely sat out the market turmoil brought about by rising fears of a trade war. While stock markets worldwide slumped in their worst week since 2016 on concerns that China could retaliate to Trump’s tariff plans, most G10 currencies remained fairly range bound with each other. The exceptions were Sterling, supported by the news of an agreement on the Brexit transition deal, and the Canadian Dollar, up sharply on strong inflation data and positive
Major currencies trade in tight ranges as markets await Federal Reserve meeting
The US Dollar, Pound and Euro all traded within in a very tight range last week amid a dearth of major news. The key March meeting of the Federal Reserve looms just ahead. Policymakers in the US are almost certain to raise interest rates on Wednesday and will also be releasing an updated ‘dot plot’, which will give us an indication as to the likely pace of additional interest rate hikes this year and next.
We did see some weakness in the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand
What to expect from next week’s Federal Reserve meeting
The US Dollar firmed against its major peers on Thursday, with a lack of any significant news flow causing investors to turn their attention to next week’s Federal Reserve meeting. The Federal Reserve is overwhelmingly expected to increase the target range for its federal funds rate again in the US on Wednesday, in what could be the first of as many as four 25 basis point rate hikes in the country in 2018. With financial markets currently fully pricing in another rate increas
Currency markets calm ahead of US inflation release today
Foreign exchange traders were in a fairly cautious mood on Monday as they awaited a potentially crucial inflation release in the US this afternoon. With Friday’s labour report showing that wage growth in the US was perhaps not quite as strong as expected, Dollar bulls will be hoping for a strong inflation release today that could keep alive the possibility of four interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve in 2018. Analysts are eying a modest increase in the headline rate o
Easing North Korea tensions boost risky currencies
The Euro and Sterling both jumped by over half a percent against the US Dollar on Tuesday after news of talks between North and South Korea led to an improvement in sentiment towards riskier currencies. According to a report out of Seoul yesterday morning, the North and South are set to hold their first summit in more than a decade at the end of next month, with the North reportedly expressing a willingness to talk to the US regarding denuclearisation. A tweet from Donald Tru