The dollar fell while the pound and Euro rallied in Tuesday FX trading. The prime cause of the Euro rally was the very good showing in the French election debate by candidate Marcron against LePen. Investors are fearful that a victory by LePen would further erode the structure of the EU. U.S. economic news continues to take a back seat …
Currency comment 3/20
The currency market was very quiet on Monday. The largest move was in the British pound as PM May stated that she would trigger Article 50 to begin the process of leaving the EU on March 29th. The news Monday was dominated by Washington politics. The FBI director testifying on the recent election and the Russians, hearings on the new candidate …
Currency comment 3/16
A quiet session Thursday in currencies after the fireworks we saw after the Fed interest rate increase on Wednesday. The dollar a little lower, foreign currencies a little higher. The bond market was soft. Trading volume was moderate. Now that the question of rate increases has been answered for the time being, traders will look to economic reports in the …
Currency comment 3/15
The Fedral Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter percent on Wednesday. This move has been expected for weeks and the Fed did not disappoint. On the news the dollar fell; foreign currencies and gold rallied strongly. Traders are now of the opinion that there will be one or at most two additional interest rate increases for the remainder of …
Currency comment 3/14
The dollar rose moderately on Tuesday. Small lot speculative buying was evident throughout the session. Heavier selling pressure was seen in the Euro FX with lighter pressure in the British pound. All eyes are focused on Washington today and tomorrow as the Fed conducts a two day meeting on policy. It is a forgone conclusion that short term interest rates will be …
Currency comment 3/13
Another very dull trading session in currencies on Monday. Many traders are squaring positions ahead of the Feb announcement on short term interest rates on Wednesday. As was seen on Friday when the employment report was released with higher than expected growth in jobs it was the market reaction rather than the news that was the news. It may be …
Currency comment 3/10
Buy the rumor, sell the fact. This is age old trading wisdom. It was also on display Friday when the unemployment figures were released. The thinking was that a strong employment number would push the Fed into an interest rate increase next week. This in turn would strengthen the U.S. dollar. Well the number in new jobs reported was strong …
Currency comment 3/9
During Thursday’s session we saw the U.S. dollar, U.S. stock indicies and U.S. government debt decline. It appeared traders were clearing the table before Friday’s anticipated fireworks . With the Feb set to increase short term interest rates next week (a move that has been telegraphed to the world for weeks) there is hesitation on the part of traders to …
Currency comment 3/8
The dollar saw a moderate rise on Wednesday on improving volume. The main factor in the rise was a report from ADP that showed new job creation in February was an astounding 298,000. This compares with the average analysts’ guess of 198,000 new jobs for February. There continues to be hesitation in adding to long dollar positions, however, if we …
Currency comment 3/7
A very dull day in the currency markets Tueday. No fresh new to move prices and traders not willing to take big positions into Friday’s unemployment report. We may see more action on pre-positioning ahead of Friday but it did not occur today.