Inflation has been skyrocketing in the US and UK, giving the Fed and BoE plenty of sleepless nights. Inflation levels had been lower in the eurozone, and ECB President Christine Lagarde has not made inflation a priority, arguing that high inflation would ease. Meanwhile, eurozone inflation for March jumped to 7.5% YoY, up from 5.9% in February and above the...
The British economy performed better than expected in the fourth quarter. Final GDP rose by 1.3% in Q4 of 2021, upwardly revised from the first quarterly estimate of a 1.0% gain. Final GDP beat the forecast of 1.0%. On an annualized basis, GDP in 2021 jumped 7.4%, a massive turnaround from -9.3% in 2020.
The economy has almost completely recovered from the...
The rally in USD/JPY has massively accelerated in recent weeks as markets and the Fed have become increasingly hawkish on US interest rates.
This has happened at a time when many central banks are heading in that direction, even the ECB which at one point looked years away from interest rates above 0%. While they haven't yet conceded on the kind of rate hikes...
After a strong week, the Australian dollar has reversed directions and dropped below the 0.75 line on Monday. Investors will be keeping an eye on Australian retail sales, which will be released on Tuesday. The markets are expecting a gain of 1.0%, down from 1.8% in January.
The month of March has been kind to the Australian dollar, with sharp gains of 3.47%....
In the latest twist in the crypto space, Russian lawmaker Pavel Zavalny, claimed the country may consider accepting payment for oil and gas in bitcoin from friendly countries.
I mean, this should seriously be taken with a pinch of salt for a number of reasons. Not least Russia's widely known opposition to cryptos. Add to that the fact that one major friendly...
After a period of consolidation, gold prices have been rising again in recent days, hitting a 10-day high in the process.
This comes even as central banks signal an aggressive tightening cycle this year to combat soaring inflation and risk appetite remains healthy as Ukraine and Russia continue to engage in negotiations.
Clearly, there is still plenty of...
Oil prices have been rising once again over the last week as the EU has considered banning Russian imports and an outage on a pipeline that runs through the country reduced output by around one million barrels per day.
Sanctions imposed by the West have already caused significant disruption to Russian oil exports which could total around three million barrels per...
GBP/USD has resumed its upswing after a quiet start to the week. GBP/USD is trading at 1.3261 in the North American session, up 0.75% on the day.
It was just one week ago that the pound was in the dumps, falling to the symbolic 1.30 line. Since then, the currency has gone on a tear, gaining around 2%. With plenty of turbulence and uncertainty, from the Ukraine...
The euro has rebounded well against the dollar over the last week as risk appetite has modestly improved but it's already running into some trouble.
The pair has been in a long-term downtrend and we could soon see if that is set to continue. It has run into resistance around 1.1150 where prior support and resistance coincides with the 50 fib level - February...
The euro has been performing relatively well against the pound recently after a prolonged downward spiral going back to late 2020, but can it keep it up?
The pair was given another boost by the Bank of England on Thursday, despite the MPC agreeing on a third consecutive rate hike taking the base rate to 0.75%. What weighed on the pound - and therefore lifted this...
The New Zealand dollar has extended its gains for a second straight day. NZD/USD is trading just above the 0.68 line in the North American session.
As expected, the Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time since 2018. Fed Chair Powell said he expects inflation to start to ease and that the Fed had a plan to raise rates during the course of the year....
It's been a highly volatile period in the markets, with equities coming under severe pressure as a result of high inflation, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the sanctions against it that followed.
The UK100 has shown more resilience than its European peers during that time, in part as a result of the UK having fewer trade ties - particularly oil and gas -...
The pound has been trending lower against the dollar since the Russian invasion of Ukraine as traders have sought the safety of the greenback in times of stress.
But what's interesting in recent days is that while market sentiment has improved, the pair has continued to slide. And with it now approaching 1.30 - a major historical psychological barrier - ahead of...
The US dollar continues to pummel the Japanese yen. USD/JPY pushed above the 117 line earlier today for the first time since January 2017. USD/JPY is up 0.61% on the day and has recorded a massive gain of 1.76% this week.
We continue to see sharp volatility in the currency markets and the Japanese yen has not been immune to the turbulence. Risk apprehension has...
GBP/USD has reversed directions on Thursday, giving up most of the gains from a day earlier. In the North American, session, GBP/USD is trading at 1.3132, down 0.41% on the day.
In the US, headline CPI continued to accelerate, with a gain of 7.9% for February YoY. This matched the forecast and was up from 7.5% beforehand. With inflation running close to 8%, a...
Gold came within a whisker of record highs on Tuesday and it may not be done there.
The yellow metal is a traditional safe haven and inflation hedge, which makes it perfect in highly uncertain times like this. Not only is the world already desperately trying to get to grips with high inflation, it's also facing the prospect of an economic slowdown and maybe even...
The New Zealand dollar has started the week in negative territory. NZD/USD is down 0.50%, and is trading at 0.6825 in the North American session. The currency enjoyed its best week since August 2021, with gains of 1.75%. The war in Europe has drained risk appetite, but the kiwi, although sensitive to risk, is also a commodity-based currency, and has moved higher...
The decline in the EURUSD pair has really accelerated over the last week after the West imposed severe sanctions against Russia that will have implications for the global economy, in particular Europe.
Sanctions rarely work one way but they are designed to ensure the maximum and majority pain is imposed on the recipient country. Unfortunately for Europe, the...
