US-China trade talks have restarted in Beijing as U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday that he had a "productive working dinner" the previous night. Investors are hopeful that progress will be made to resolve the bitter trade dispute between the two largest global economies, amid growing concern of a slowing economy as the bond market signals a possible incoming recession.
Theresa May is set to make a third attempt to pass a Brexit deal today, as the MPs are asked to vot
Relief-on? It’s a trifle difficult to describe last night’s trade simply. On the surface, risk assets are being reasonably well supported, and there are a few signals suggesting market participants are in a slightly more bullish state of mind. Rather than “risk-on” however, one might describe the last 12 hours in markets as “relief-on”. This is mostly due to the fact that, at least for now, the global bond market rally has stalled. Markets had worked themselves into a frenzy this week, fretting
As per the Bloomberg article, the market for Turkish Lira is in dislocation. Volatility in the Lira has posted the biggest four-day surge since 2004 as officials adopt measures to create a scarcity of the currency to prevent a slump in its value days before local elections this weekend.
The cost of borrowing Lira overnight on the swap market exceeded 1000% because local banks are under pressure to not provide liquidity to foreign investors who want to bet against the currency.
Conseque
Gold prices edged higher after falling on Wednesday. Globally declining treasury yields could increase demand for the yellow-metal if a stock rout were to take place. Spot contracts hit $1311.54 at 6:00am GMT on the IG Web Trading Platform.
Palladium slumped 6% on Wednesday on concerns of slowing demand from the automotive and electronic appliances sectors. Slowing global growth could drown the metal, which hit a record $1620.52 last week.
Oil slumped on Wednesday on reports that
The see-sawing market: The one-day-up, one-day-down pattern of trade on Wall Street continues. It’s playing-out so elegantly, it’s almost absurd. Yesterday was a “down” day, as market participants evacuated equity markets to seek shelter in safe-haven government bonds. In contrast to the day prior, breadth has been universally low, with practically every sector in the S&P500 trading lower. The same simple binary that’s driven market activity for weeks is behind this dynamic: a competition be
A three-year legal battle has concluded with the EU enforcing stricter copyright laws that could affect the business models of tech giants like Google and Facebook. The new reform plans to protect artists and publishers whose work has been widely spread on the internet, by making the tech firms responsible for detecting and removing content that infringes copyright law. Google will has been very critical about the new reform saying that it will restrict freedom of expression, as its video-sharin
Broad-based based bounce in stocks: It was a buy the dip day yesterday, judging by price action in global risk-assets. As has been the theme this week, there wasn’t any meaningful macro-news to change market participants behavior. So: an explanation for the (almost) universally solid day for global equities ought to be chalked-up to internal market mechanics. What this may imply for the longer run is a touch obscure. This market is trading much in the way a plane rights-itself after some brief,
In the latest round of voting in the House of Commons, MP’s voted to set up a series of votes on Wednesday to see which approach to Brexit has the most support. Later, am amendment on whether another extension could be requested if no progress is made on a deal by the 5th of April.
European indices finished the main session down with the FTSE losing 0.42% and the DAX losing 0.15%, 17 points down from the previous day. Meanwhile, US indices traded relatively flat with less that 0.1% change
In the Aftermath of the Fed
The baton has been dropped. The Federal Reserve was by far the most aggressive major central bank through this past financial epoch (the last decade) to embrace ‘normalization’ of its monetary policy following its extraordinary infusion of support through rate cuts and quantitative easing (QE). Over the past three years, the central bank has raised its benchmark rate range 225 basis points and slowly began to reverse the tide of its enormous balance sheet. As of
Markets trade-off Friday overhang: Markets traded in something of a vacuum Monday. The themes driving price action were more-or-less those that had determined activity to end last week. The effects of this were pronounced in the Asian session, but much less so in Europe and North America. It stands to reason: Asian markets were still to digest Friday night’s abysmal European PMI figures. That data’s impact is still rippling through the market. Anxieties about global growth and the likelihood for
Shares in Asia fell more than 2% amid growing fears that a recession is on the horizon, Japan's Topix was impacted the most as the index dropped 2.5% at the close. The Hang Seng, ASX 200 and the Shanghai Composite followed and all fell by at least 1%.
Numerous reports over the weekend suggested that senior ministers were plotting to oust Theresa May as doing so could enhance support of her Brexit deal, although this has been denied. Mrs May is set to meet cabinet ministers today to update
Expected index adjustments
Please see the expected dividend adjustment figures for a number of our major indices for the week commencing 25 Mar 2019. If you have any queries or questions on this please let us know in the comments section below. For further information regarding dividend adjustments, and how they affect your positions, please take a look at the video.
NB: All dividend adjustments are forecasts and therefore speculative. A dividend adjustment is a cash neutral ad
Global growth the primary issue right now: The monumental tug-of war between improving financial conditions and deteriorating economic conditions continues. On Friday, it was the latter that took home the points, if only this time around. Both variables truly sit diametrically opposed, and as far as market participants are concerned, which force will prevail remains speculative. It’s written into the mixed-messages markets have been signalling in the last several weeks. It must be said, with the
EU agrees to postpone Brexit until 22 May if MPs approve a deal next week, otherwise the UK will leave by 12 April, a much shorter deadline
Levi Strauss shares rocket, with initial public offering above expectations at $17, and closing at $22.5
China to potentially miss out on $5.5trillion growth opportunity in digital trade if they do not build effort on data privacy and intellectual property protection issues
Uber to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is predicte
The EU has indicated that Theresa May needs to get backing from parliament on her Brexit deal before they agree to delay the UK's withdrawal from the EU. The Prime Minister is heading to Brussels today for the European Council meeting to try to force an extension in order to avoid a no-deal scenario.
US bank stocks traded lower yesterday after the Fed's announcement that there will be no rate hikes in 2019, Goldman was down 3.4% whilst BoA, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley
Market action proves it again: this market hinges on the Fed: The US Fed has proven itself as the most important game in town for traders. The FOMC met this morning, and lo-and-behold: the dovish Fed has proven more dovish than previously thought; the patient Fed has proven more patient that previously thought. Interest rates have remained on hold, but everyone knew that was to be the case today. It was about the dot-plots, the neutral-rate, the economic projections, and the balance sheet run-of
Gold prices edged lower as the yellow metal’s rally might be over. Spot contracts hit $1306 at 6:00am GMT on the IG Web Trading Platform. The safe-haven appeal of the gold bullion seems to fade as investors get more bullish on a possibly incumbent US-China trade deal. However, according to Goldman Sachs the combination of a pause in interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and more robust growth in emerging markets could weaken the US dollar and support the gold price.
As palladium hit
Another trade-war headline downs sentiment: There’s some news floating through the wires that sentiment has taken a hit overnight courtesy of some unfavourable trade-war headlines. It’s been reported that Chinese officials aren’t co-operating with their US counterparts, as it applies to certain sensitive elements of trade-negotiations. The S&P500, which had been developing some intraday momentum prior to the release, has retraced throughout trade, consequent to the news. It’s closed flat for
Lyft, the ride-hailing company and one of Uber's main competitors, has begun its investor roadshow to pitch its Nasdaq listing as it looks to raise $2bn at a valuation of around $23bn. The company suggested a price range between $62 and $68 per share in its filing to the SEC on Monday, and will use the ticker symbol LYFT when it begins trading. This is a first indication of what ride sharing companies could be worth in public markets as we await Uber's IPO in the coming months.
Theresa M
Markets trade thin ahead of central bank risks: It’s said that money makes the world go around. And given central bankers control the money of the world, it is they who decide when the turning starts and stops. Described this way, central bankers role in the economy sounds Bond-villain-esque. That’s entirely unfair of course – only fringe-dwellers would suggest they are so malevolent. But recent history, based on experiential evidence, suggests that when it comes to financial markets, the action
Fed Sets the Tone for Global Monetary Policy Expectations
Global monetary policy trends have shifted towards a more accommodative stance as forecasts for economic activity have stuttered and worries of ‘external risks’ have gained traction. This has sharpened the relative value of currencies as market dig into the grey areas trying to determine which groups are taking greater strides to loosen than their peers. However, it is crucial that all investors – no matter your preferred market nor
Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have announced formal merger talks which could result in the combined bank holding one fifth of Germany's High Street banking business.
Asian shares rose despite reported potential push back of agreement to end trade war. The Hang Seng gained 1%, the Shanghai Composite surged 2.3% and Japan's Nikkei climbed 0.6%.
Trump's weekend tweets ramped up the pressure on General Motors to reopen Ohio manufacturing plant which recent's closure cut 1,700 jobs.
Expected index adjustments
Please see the expected dividend adjustment figures for a number of our major indices for the week commencing 18 Mar 2019. If you have any queries or questions on this please let us know in the comments section below. For further information regarding dividend adjustments, and how they affect your positions, please take a look at the video.
NB: All dividend adjustments are forecasts and therefore speculative. A dividend adjustment is a cash neutral ad
