The US Dollar rose to a high from last September against the Euro as more traders believe that the Fed will hike interest rates in the coming year. With Janet Yellen speaking tomorrow at the meeting in Jackson Hole the Greenback has climbed to a six-month high against other majors. The currency gained 0.1% and was trading at 1.3249 against the Euro.
The Asian MSCI Index was lower on Wednesday, which was its first fall in nine days. The Index lost 0.7% and was trading at 509.25. This was mainly attributed to the dreary outlook for the Chinese manufacturing sector as HSBC's PMI fell to 50.3 in August from 51.7 in July. Nevertheless, the gauge did still close above its six-year high.
The Australian Dollar retreated against the Greenback, after HSBC reported Chinese manufacturing levels to hit a 3-month low. As China remains the biggest import market of Aussies goods, any potential shock can cloud the outlook for the Oz. Chinese Purchasing Manager's Index was reported to slide to 50.3 in August, from 51.7 in July, the 18-month peak. The pair contracted
The Texas light sweet was volatile as it gained and lost during the day due to forecast of falling fuel inventories. The most active West Texas Intermediate contract for October lost 8 cents and was trading at $92.78 a barrel on the NYMEX. In contrast the today expiring September contract was up 96 cents at $95.44 a barrel. At the same time Brent was
The New Zealand Dollar continues to slip after the economy met its deadlock and is being held under pressure by positive growth numbers in the USA. The New Zealand economy is experiencing a period of stagnation, after the most recent data showed decline in commodity prices, revision of the official growth rate from 4% down to 3.8% and a contraction in
Japan's imports grew a lot more than forecast at 2.3% as it negatively affected the Japanese trade. Nevertheless, the exports also showed a slightly larger than predicted growth at 3.9%. However, this was not enough as the trade balance was at -964.0 billion yen compared to the -823.2 billion the month prior. In addition, the lower Japanese Yen seems not to have helped the economy that
The German Producer Price Index was negative year-on-year for the twelfth straight month as the monthly change was also worse than expected at -0.1% in July. Furthermore, the annual change for producer prices was also lower than previously thought at -0.8%. The consensus numbers for the data were around -0.7% and 0.0% for the year and month, respectively.
The Canadian Dollar is facing a serious threat after the U.S data revealed positive growth numbers against the slow economic growth in Canada. As major Canadian government bond holders are U.S investors, experts predict a contraction of as high as 5 cents for the Loonie and reaching its 5-year low, in case the Fed decides to increase interest rate.
The US Dollar gained against most of the other currencies awaiting the release of Fed Minutes. The Dollar added 0.2% against the Yen and at least 0.3% against currencies such as South Korea's, Turkey's and New Zealand's. Meanwhile, the HSI was volatile after it closed at a six year high and the MSCI Asia Pacific index reached its highest since February but fell 0.2%.
The Yen declined to its two week low against the Greenback, after the U.S data revealed positive inflation and housing numbers. The U.S Consumer Price index surged by 2.0%, following 2.1% growth in a period before, resulting in overall rate of 1.9%. U.S housing starts jumped by 15.7% to over million units in July, from previous month numbers of 893,000.
The New Zealand Dollar contracted against the Greenback, after government changed output growth forecast. The revised forecast predicts output growth rate at 3.8%, instead of 4% as estimated before. The Kiwi is experiencing continuous decline after it's peak in July, led by a drop in producer prices and uncertainty over dairy export demand. Nevertheless, New Zealand grow rate is still
The Australian Dollar surged against the US Dollar as it continued rising for the sixth straight day. With the Reserve Bank of Australia Minutes not surprising the Aussie gained 0.19% and was trading at 0.9338 against the USD. There still remains concern that the Australian Dollar exchange rate is too high given the fallen commodity prices.
The Greenback stabilized after the increase on Monday, which was due to positive US housing market sentiment. After the gain of 0.2% the DXY index remained still at 81.612, thus being unable to reach the 11-month high it already tested this month. The further movement of the index most likely will be decided by the Fed Minutes release this Wednesday.
The Pound Sterling opened this week at a higher level against the US Dollar as Mark Carney revealed that wages are not a pre condition for a rate increase. With Carney expressing that he also has confidence in a sustainable real wage growth the Cable added 0.24% and was trading at 1.6727. This rebound has come after it reached its lowest in four months on Thursday.
London asking prices were cut the largest amount in six years by the home sellers for August. With prices falling 5.9% in London, the largest fall since 2007, nationwide the prices fell 2.9%, which was an August record. Even though demand for homes usually weakens in the summer, this huge fall was mainly influenced by the new mortgage rules and expected higher interest rates.
Chinese prices for new homes were lower in 64 out of 70 cities in July as stricter lending had a negative effect on demand. The property market is now a serious risk to the world's second largest economy as there is no sign of improvement. Furthermore, home sales have fallen 28% this month with it being the biggest fall for a month this year.
Gold spot price declined for the second day as the demand for the safe haven due to geopolitical risks was lower. At the same time Palladium withdrew from a 13-year high. Gold fell 0.6% and reached $1,297.46 an ounce but ended up trading at $1,301.78 in Singapore. In addition the Palladium spot rate was at its highest since 2001 by trading at $895.55 an ounce during
The Sterling fell to a one-and-a-half-month low versus the common currency, driven by yesterday's disappointing BoE's inflation report. As Britain's the release of the second estimate for economic growth approaches, scheduled for Friday, traders remain cautious. The forecast expects the GDP to remain unchanged at 0.8% quarterly and 3.1% yearly. The Pound dropped by 0.19% to trade at 0.8019 versus
Demand for gold keeps getting stronger as geopolitical tensions continue. Traders are focused especially on the impact of sanctions to Russia, executed by the US and the European Union. The impact of such sanctions is prejudicing both sides. Additionally, yesterday's US retail sales were substandard. Altogether, this caused gold futures for delivery in December to rise by 0.21%, trading at
Data revealed that German GDP contracted during the second quarter and also that French GDP stagnated. This triggered worries over the possibility of a decrease in crude oil demand. Last year, the Euro zone was responsible for close to 16% of global consumption. The Brent for October dropped by 0.33%, trading at 104.71. Meanwhile on the NYME, crude for September
The Yen was lower for the fourth straight day as geopolitical tensions eased and haven demand fell. As Ukraine has compromised and allowed Russian aid to the war-torn regions the Japanese currency fell 0.1% against both the Dollar and the Euro and was trading at 102.56 and 136.97, respectively. Meanwhile, the Won has Jumped 0.8% against the Dollar after its central bank lowered the interest rate.
During the Asian session the Greenback climbed against the Yen due to higher risk sentiment, contradicting expectations for a peaceful Japanese holiday. The Dollar was trading at 102.58 against the Yen from the previous day's 102.45. Although reasons for the move are unclear, some traders suspect that it is due to the better performance of the US economy when compared
After the German and French economy reports came out worse than forecast Europe's stock-index futures lost 0.3%. As these Euro Stoxx 50 futures for September reached 3,049 the FTSE 100 also lost 0.1%. The German economy contracted 0.2% compared to the 0.7% rise in the first quarter with the French GDP failing to grow. Now the focus shifts to the overall Euro zone's GDP.
Although the common currency was steady against the US Dollar, it managed to slightly correct its price before Euro zone's GDP and CPI were revealed. Inflation in the Euro zone is forecast at 0.4% while the GDP is expected to inch up by 0.1%. The Euro was steady at 1.3364 against the Greenback, experiencing a small correction from yesterday, when