Last week: At the end of a week that may have been best described as nervous and jittery, markets closed trade in a relatively subdued fashion. The news that the United States and China may re-enter trade negotiations provided the basis for the stability, but the reactions to that news were hardly ecstatic. This is justifiably so, considering investors have become very accustomed to overreacting to news that turns-out to be little more than fluff. The crisis in Turkey has temporarily settled, th
The pound ticked higher after dropping on Tuesday after Theresa May’s amended Brexit deal rejection. Today’s vote in the UK parliament whether to leave the EU without a deal is unlikely to provide excessive pressure on the sterling in case the proposal is rejected, however downside risk exists. Cable was almost flat as of 7:30am GMT trading at 1.31069.
The US dollar floated and yields fell on Tuesday after softer inflation data increased the possibility of more dovish policies from the Fe
The control of the market: The bulls and bears are circling one another, with neither to take control in a meaningful way this week. There is a vacillating in sentiment, maybe as each side recognizes that not enough information has emerged this week to tip favour towards one camp or another. Moments like these can be opportunities whereby markets build to a breaking point. It becomes a matter now of waiting for the necessary evidence to buy-in or sell-out. Headlines are determining intra-day mov
Fresh trade war chat causes Asian equity markets to see red as investors remain spooked.
PBoC helps support Chinese assets by raising the reserve requirements on some forward FX positions, effectively making it more expensive to bet against the the Chinese currency.
US dollar remains steady on the US jobs data on Friday, with currency markets focusing on the yuan.
Saudi crude production printed a surprising dip in July, and with American shale production seemingly plateauing
Politics and Markets
There are numerous, open political fissures around the world – including the approaching Brexit deadline; the ongoing flux of Euro-area stability and Chinese social pressure arising from economic concerns. Each of these represents significant headline fodder both within their respective country as well as in the international press. Yet, as many newspaper column inches or top headlines in online news aggregators these issues may represent, they don’t naturally adapt to
Sentiment: Global risk appetite diminished once again overnight, sparking sell-offs across equity markets. The concerns about the fragile state of the Turkish financial system and what that might mean for markets was behind the fall, as traders sought out safe havens to park their money. The US Dollar held its advance consequently, but it was the JPY that saw the most activity, with the USD/JPY falling as low as 110.43. Following Tuesday’s relief rally, it would appear investors aren’t quite pre
Sentiment boost: The unpredictable ebbs and flows of volatile global markets delivered a positive outcome overnight, as equity markets recovered lost ground courtesy of a healthy boost of positive sentiment. The increased investor optimism came following news that US and Chinese officials are in talks to renew trade negotiations. This comes only days from the next round of tariffs due for imposition on Chinese imports into the US from the White House, which will rise to the value of $US50b worth
“A tale of two cities”: As far as Australian markets go, they’ll be defined, broadly-speaking, by the unfolding “tale of two cities” story in global markets. That is: the renewed optimism about the US growth outlook, versus the deterioration in global economic prospects, led by the slowdown in China’s economy. The Australian economy is heavily geared to the latter, so the hunch is our fortunes will be more greatly impacted by that variable. But it won’t be clear cut, and that’s where the uncerta
Risk Trends Trembles, Is it the ‘Crazy’ Fed’s Fault
Market’s suffered a painful correction this past week. From peak-to-trough, the benchmark I like to refer to as a measure of hold-out enthusiasm, the S&P 500, dropped nearly 8 percent. That is still a ways from the technical ‘bear market’ designation which is a 20 percent correction from peak highs, but that scale of loss from a seemingly indefatigable climber rattles confidence. To be clear, the slump in sentiment was not isolated to
Traders see “goldilocks” conditions in US: Both European and US shares rallied overnight. For the latter, the term “goldilocks” has been bandied around. That is: growth in the US, though not as strong as it has been in the recent past, is still solid, while inflation risk is presently low, meaning the US Fed will likely remain in a neutral position. A reminder of this dynamic came in the second of two major inflation releases out of the US this week. PPI data showed a weaker than expected print,
A bearish day: It was a hectic day on the dealing floor, yesterday. Several surprises smacked markets during early Asian trade, and the subsequent 24-hours has since belonged to the bears. The “slower global growth” narrative is gaining momentum, driving traders from riskier assets into safe-havens, as fear snowballs. The VIX is well off its highs from last week, but it did lift overnight, nevertheless, with price action indicating the markets are bracing for further pain. Overall, it was mostly
Asian equities diverge, as Chinese shares fall and Japanese shares climb.
The Euro jumped on Monday after Mario Draghi of the ECB signalled that policymakers are on track to reduce stimulus measures. He stated that the bank was confident it could maintain inflation targets over the next few years.
In the EM space, India's Nifty Fifty stock market is seeing a sell off after reports that a major lender is struggling to service $12.6bn of debt. The index is down 7% since highs seen in
Up, down, turnaround: It’s been a bipolar market of late. Global stocks are moving in unison, and have swung from broad-based losses on Friday, to broad-based gains overnight. US equities are naturally the exemplar and are a responsible for driving overall risk appetite. With an hour left in trade (and as a quick aside, Wall Street closes at 7am AEDT for the next few weeks) the S&P500 is up well over 1 per cent. It’s been a day of relatively low activity. However, breadth is expansive: over
Wall Street ended in the negative on Monday as investors digested mixed results from the latest batch of bank earnings. Goldman Sachs reported better than expected earnings, however its shares fell 3.8% due to first quarter numbers showing net profits fell by 21% YoY. Citigroup earnings also beat expectations, although saw a 2% fall in overall revenue.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% to 2,905.58 after having three consecutive weeks of gains. The Dow Jones ended the day down 27 points at 26,
MSCI Asia-Pacific index down more than 1%
Turkey has doubled tariffs on some U.S. imports, notably alcohol and tobacco, as a response on what is allegedly deliberate US attacks on the Turkish economy.
Trade war squabbles continue with China saying that US solar tariffs violate trade rules and lodge a WTO complaint.
Dollar rises to a 13 month high which pressures commodities, forcing gold to hit an 18 month low.
Asian overnight: Asian markets traded in the red overnight
Are things not so bad after all? It appears there’s emerged a self-reinforcing belief that economic fundamentals aren’t as bad as once thought. There’s not a simple binary that can be reduce out of this – a clear “risk-off” or “risk-on” signal. It’s clear there remains a general sense that the global economy is entering a soft-patch. But in that, is the key: slower growth is taken as granted, however the extent of such a slowdown is ostensibly being revised. There isn’t quite (just for the momen
A game of chicken: Did Powell just blink? That’s how last night’s speech from the Fed chair is being interpreted. Debate has raged whether in the face of financial market turmoil, the Fed will be forced to cool its rate-hike rhetoric. Powell’s speech – and this is speculative – may have represented this. Gone was the talk of rates being “a long way” from neutral, and that rates may need to move “past (the) neutral” rate. Instead, it was replaced with the key comment interest rates are “just belo
Elevated volatility and choppy trade: Volatility is still elevated. It's one moment up and one moment down. Price action and sentiment is shifting all in the space of a single session. The extreme vacillations in price and sentiment are wrung by the twisting fortunes of the global economy's two major forces: the Chinese and US economies. Day-to-day, markets are playing out like a game of pong, with one side rising only to strike the ball in the opposite direction to send the other diving lower.
Stock markets continue to recover: Global stocks have maintained their bounce. It’s looking more like a market that is searching for it’s next high now, as price action, from a technical perspective, suggests the recent wave-lower is over. Hence, from here, considering trade-war risks, and therefore anxiety in the market, remains high, the matter becomes whether stock indices are preparing to pop in a new higher-high, or whether what we will see is a new lower-high. The result of that simple bin
ASX yesterday: SPI futures have the ASX200 edging slightly higher this morning, following a day in which the Australian market challenged the significant 6300-handle once more. The strong activity perhaps came as somewhat of a shock to traders, given the humdrum session on Wall Street the night before, combined with the floating of several geopolitical risks. Some solid earnings reports set the foundations for the yesterday’s run, namely from financials stocks Suncorp and Magellan; but the real
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
Panic stations, still: The behaviour in financial markets is resembling cats trapped in a burning room: the air is unclear, it’s unbearably hot, and people are scrambling to find an exit – or at least, somewhere appropriate to hide. The chaos is one thing, but the true issue – as is always the case, when these situations become particularly fraught – is no one can really describe why this is going on exactly. Now, we all know the stories: the Fed has equ
Global equities: Global share-markets experienced a lift overnight as European and US investors jumped online to begin the week. The overall mentality now can be characterized as one of cautious optimism ahead of low-level US-China trade talks, mixed with a touch of relief that crises in Turkey and other emerging markets are currently quarantined. Chinese markets picked up steam in late trade because of this point of view, while the Dow Jones represented this broad attitude during the North Amer
The pound rallied to a new high after British MP reject leaving the EU with a no-deal. As the rejection passed by 312 votes to 278, the pound gained 2% against the dollar, reaching new highs for the year of 1.3339, as investor's received the no-deal rejection as good news for the future of the British economy.
Us stocks rose on Wednesday as strong economic data boosted tech shares. The S&P 500 saw gains for a third day in a row, closing 0.69% higher at 2,810.92. The Dow Jones and the
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
Fleeting relief: The Chinese and Americans are talking again; and the UK and European Union are nearing a deal. Those are the two stories that have turned the dour sentiment that characterized the first trading day of the week into something resembling optimism. Perhaps it’s another relief rally – every time the world doesn’t end we get one of those. Like when US mid-terms passed with few surprises, things going as they ought to engender nice feelings in
A Return to Extreme Volatility and Realization It Won’t Stay This Quiet for Long
Any way you cut it, the markets are experiencing extreme levels of inactivity. And, for those that are satisfied with the superficial and textbook interpretations of the mainstream measures, this seems like a cue to leverage exposure and commit to the decade-long bull trend which blossomed under the controlled conditions. Previously, traders would have been readily satisfied by the readings and thrown in with
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