The U.S. economy has almost stopped in the first quarter of this year, posting just a 0.1% expansion. Second quarter is likely to show a brighter picture, as a thaw is spreading into all sectors of the economy, including the labour market.
Pull the trigger or stay pat? These two questions will be torturing Mario Draghi's mind until this Thursday, when policymakers will gather to assess the current state of the 18-nation's bloc's economy.
The previous week was very important for investors, even despite the fact the elevated market volatility was observed only in 27% of the time.
New Zealand has become a first developed country to start raising interest rates, and despite two consecutive rate hikes, analysts still believe the central bank will adjust its monetary policy twice over the next three months.
During this week's meeting, the Bank of Japan maintained the course of the monetary policy and laid out projections underscoring its conviction that the economy is on the right track.
The U.K. economy has lost some of the steam during the first three months of 2014, however, the slowdown was projected to be short-lived and only a result of bad weather conditions.
The number of Americans filing applications for jobless benefits unexpectedly climbed higher last week, however the underlying trend is pointing to the improving conditions.
The recent economic reports from Europe confirmed that economies are hit by Ukrainian crisis and sanctions imposed by Russia.
The EUR/CHF pair is one of the least volatile currency crosses in the financial market. Nevertheless, there is a rather high possibility we will see a major spike in volatility soon, as symmetrical triangle on the 4H chart is moving to its apex. On May 8 both trend lines will converge, and a spike in trading volume will be a
The Australian Dollar was one of the top gainers over the last several weeks. The rally, however, is running out of steam, as AUD/USD has been trading around lower trend line since April 28. There has been several attempts to penetrate the support line, however, technical indicators on 4H and weekly charts are sending ‘buy' signals, suggesting the price will
Kiwi economy is on the mend, with strong exports and domestic demand, as well as with elevated levels of confidence. Companies feel more confident, with expectations for higher employment, investment and profit.
With no surprises for markets, Japanese central bank remained pat on its monetary policy on Wednesday, signalling its confidence that inflation is on the track to hit Kuroda's inflation target.
Several months ago Mark Carney decided to abandon his unemployment threshold and focus on eliminating the remaining slack in the economy.
Surprise surprise. The world's largest economy appeared to be not so resilient to harsh winter conditions, as first quarter's growth missed forecasts dramatically.
Over the last several weeks analysts were hoping April's inflation will pick up and Draghi will postpone the decision to launch the U.S.-style quantitative easing programme.
Another set of upbeat statistics was published this week, as Statistics New Zealand showed trade surplus widened further in March, as strong dairy volumes pushed exports receipts to its highest level ever.
Japan's trade deficit quadrupled over the last month, while a significant drop in the Yen does not help to boost exporters' profits, but is weighing on the import costs, as the world's third largest economy is highly dependent on the energy.
The cable has been moving in a strong uptrend for the last several months. As long as the pair holds above the 1.68-mark, the outlook will remain bullish.
All meetings under Janet Yellen's leadership were dragging investors into the drowsy state. This week's meeting is also unlikely to offer any surprises, however, there are four major things you should keep in mind during the meeting.
Interesting how sentiment can change over the day. First, Mario Draghi claimed that the ECB is still far from engaging in the U.S.-style bond purchases in order to bolster bloc's economic recovery and inflation.
Despite hawkish RBNZ, it was a very quiet end of the week for the kiwi. The NZD/USD pair closed at 0.8580, while over the period the pair was trading in a fairly tight range, fluctuating between 0.8550 and 0.8640.
Japan's central bank and government will be constantly monitoring each set of fundamental data and every piece of puzzle will have a strong impact on markets as officials are assessing the potential impact of the tax hike on the economy.
The Sterling has a great chance to extend this year's rally this week, as GDP, manufacturing and construction PMI as well as consumer confidence can add more pressure on Mark Carney to consider making a rate hike earlier than it was pledged.
Housing and labour markets are considered by the Fed as key indicators of economic health. At least Ben. S. Bernanke was constantly citing them as main drivers of economic growth.