Market reviews

Forex

Sizzling UK CPI “disappoints” at 9%, a 40-year high

We got more headline grabbing UK data this morning. April inflation figures have just been released and the headline came in a tick lower than expected at a red-hot 9%, the highest rate in more than 40 years.

18 May 09:07

This Week: Beaten-up markets look for relief

Risk-off sentiment has dominated global markets in recent weeks. Headlines around some of the more speculative areas of the market like cryptos, have abounded in this environment. Here are the scheduled economic data releases and events that could further sway market sentiment over the coming week:

16 May 11:11

Has US inflation peaked?

We get the key release of the week today with the latest US consumer price figures. This is now probably the single most important data for global markets. The headline annual CPI number is expected to fall to 8.1% from the 40-year high of 8.5% in March. This would be the first time the headline figure has fallen since August last year.

11 May 11:40

This Week: What happens to the dollar if US CPI has peaked?

With inflation all the rage, the incoming US consumer price index is set to grab the market spotlight this week.

9 May 18:04

EURUSD sinks to 5-year low

EURUSD has gone below its pandemic low to trade around levels not seen since 2017. Russia's move to halt gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria has amplified already-heightened concerns over the EU's economic outlook. While a technical rebound may occur in the near-term, the euro requires a substantial improvement in the fundamental outlook to stage a sustained recovery.

27 April 16:51

EURUSD remains locked in downward channel

The EURUSD pair continues to trend lower. The main factor remains unchanged: demand for risk-free assets (in this case, the US dollar) amid military confrontation in Ukraine. Today's the pair’s regular overnight downward surge was due to the shelling of the Zaporozhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe. Last night’s attack caused a fire, which was later extinguished. The threat of a nuclear disaster in the European region exerted heavy pressure on the euro.

4 March 14:28

EURUSD moves in downward channel

The EURUSD currency pair remains under pressure. Investors are piling into the dollar as a safe haven currency amid military conflict in Ukraine, the likes of which has not been seen in Europe since the end of WW II.

3 March 13:04

EURUSD extends losses

The dollar continues to firm against risk currencies amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. In addition, the USD drew support from fairly strong macroeconomic data. The ISM manufacturing PMI for February came out stateside yesterday. It rose to 58.6 from 57.6 in January. Experts were more cautious about their forecasts and expected an increase only to 58.0.

2 March 11:24

EURUSD is consolidating within a triangle

The EURUSD pair remains under pressure from the dollar's status as a safe haven currency amid the war in Ukraine. In addition, markets are confident about a faster pace of monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve compared to the ECB, which also puts pressure on the pair.

1 March 14:35

EURUSD soars to May 2020 high, then retreats

Against the backdrop of military confrontation in Ukraine, the US dollar spiked higher in yesterday's trading on the back of its safe haven currency status vis-à-vis other risk currencies. However, at the beginning of the North American trading session, the greenback showed signs of overbuying as a correction to the downside broke out. This correction was seen across all markets: US equities turned around, whereas oil, gold, and silver pared gains after a knee-jerk increase.

25 February 11:12

EURUSD trends downward from horizontal range

Global markets are still reeling from the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. The reaction to such a Black Swan event is predictable: defensive assets are heading north and risk-sensitive assets are heading south.

24 February 12:08

EURUSD sees rangebound trading

The news flow in Europe was patchy on Monday. On the one hand, Germany’s manufacturing PMI came in slightly worse than expected. On the other hand, the composite PMIs of Germany and the Eurozone exceeded the median consensus.

22 February 12:13

EURUSD sees easing volatility

During the first half of Thursday’s trading session, the EURUSD pair showed heightened market volatility due to the ratcheting up of tensions on the Ukraine-Russia border, but this reaction gradually subsided, and the amplitude of fluctuations started to flatten.

18 February 11:11

Ukraine saga remains in focus

Overall, yesterday's macro data was dollar-friendly. January US retail sales surged 3.8% MoM instead of 2.0% called for by the median consensus. The same gauge, excluding car sales, rose 3.3% MoM vs. 0.8% expected. This robust data halted the recovery in EURUSD at 1.1396 yesterday.

17 February 11:11

Euro continues to firm

The EURUSD currency pair continues to strengthen for the second day in a row. The completion of military exercises in Russia and Belarus, the ratcheting down of geopolitical tensions, a statement by ECB Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau that there is no longer a need for bond buying under the main asset purchase program (APP), and that the ECB may end APP buying in Q3, lent support to the European currency. Meanwhile, the release of GDP for Europe, where actual GDP growth of 4.6%YoY was in line with market expectations and was the same as in the previous reporting period, improvement in Eurozone economic sentiment to 48.6, which was better than the expected 38.4, also provided support.

16 February 11:11