Tiomarkets

Tiomarkets

What a difference a day makes. Tuesday saw a surge in US equity markets as traders chose to focus on the positives. A flattening of the curve of Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations down in the worst affected places such as New York and London. Some small re-openings in Denmark, Austria and Spain. More headlines about countries looking to gradually re-open...

Tiomarkets

A new week begins after a holiday weekend with only a few countries re-opening to get us started. An OPEC+ agreement over the weekend would see 9.7 million barrels a day slashed from global oil production. Covid-19 headlines from Europe and the US give conflicting evidence on the spread of the pandemic. While new cases and hospital admissions begin to plateau...

Tiomarkets

Wednesday finally saw a move in equity markets that wasn’t related to Coronavirus. Bernie Sanders decision to ‘suspend’ his Presidential campaign gave US stock markets some reason for cheer. FX would be somewhat sidelined as various rumors of OPEC oil production cuts made the rounds as well as the daily analysis of global coronavirus cases, new infections and...

Tiomarkets

Monday saw quite the spectacular rally in global equities, led by US stocks. The DJ closed up more than 7% as the market reacted favorably to the apparent slowdown in new virus cases both in Europe as well as New York. This would be tempered by the news that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson would not only be admitted to hospital, but would later be moved to...

Tiomarkets

The first Friday of a new month is usually once that garners much attention. The release of US Non-farm payroll data is probably the most watched release of the month, acting as a barometer for the health of the US economy. For many months now we have seen a strong and progressive growth in the number of new jobs created, taking the unemployment rate to record...

Tiomarkets

A new month is upon us. March 2020 will for most of us be one that saw the world change almost overnight. Our behaviors, our social interactions and our daily lives changed beyond all recognition. A simple trip to the supermarket now becomes fraught with danger and anxiety. And of course financial markets have changed too. Despite the announcement of massive...

Tiomarkets

A new week is upon us but its safe to say the single theme on everyone’s mind is very much still with us. As cases of Coronavirus continue to spread around the world, many of us wonder what the future holds. A global economy brought to a standstill, with much of the world forced into isolation. Short-term economic projections once thought impossible now...

Tiomarkets

Where to begin. Yesterday saw the largest one-day rally for the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1933. Of course everything is relative. Let’s not forget the carnage that got us low enough to induce such a bounce. The promise of a sizable US stimulus plan would be the catalyst. Meanwhile President Trump wants the US economy open for business in 3 weeks, this...

Tiomarkets

Last week I was personally affected by Covid-19. I ask anyone reading my commentaries to take the threat of Coronavirus very seriously and to adhere to whatever your local governments are asking you to do. Trying to write commentaries in this carnage is challenging to say the least. We continue to see pure panic grip the markets with moves dominated by what...

Tiomarkets

2 weeks ago I wrote my last commentary before embarking on a trip to the UK to address some family issues. My last opening comment was ‘today is the day markets got serious about Coronavirus’. In just 2 weeks we now have a global pandemic, borders sealed, economies nose diving, people the world over being isolated. And its now Covid-19. In just 2 weeks! Trying...

Tiomarkets

The start of a new week brings familiar themes. One in particular seems intent on grabbing the headlines, and today more so than ever. The Coronavirus. You could argue that today was the day that financial markets woke up to the real possibility of this turning into an uncontrollable pandemic. That maybe it won’t just ‘blow over’. From Italy to Iran new cases...

Tiomarkets

It’s Friday and the markets continue to focus on every Coronavirus headline. There seems to be little evidence thus far that the number of new cases is peaking and in the case of South Korea, the prime minister has declared an emergency with 2 cities being declared special care zones. However the big unknown is the long-term effect on the global economy. Trying...

Tiomarkets

I summarized Tuesday’s session by noting the USD was the standout performer on the day. I will ultimately do the same for Wednesday. A day that saw strong US PPI data as well as much better than expected Building Permit and Housing Start numbers in the US. A day when the FOMC minutes revealed a Fed now ‘sidelined’ with US interest rates going nowhere fast. A...

Tiomarkets

The US President’s Day holiday got the week off to a slow start. US equity and bond markets would be closed, and FX would grind to a virtual halt once Europe had gone home. Not a lot of point in dedicating an entire commentary to nothing, so here we are in Tuesday already. The day begins with the RBA reminding everyone that rates are historically low in...

Tiomarkets

The last day of what has been an intriguing week. US equities continue to shrug off Coronavirus concerns to make new record highs. Meanwhile EURUSD has broken several key levels to register one of the sharpest moves for the single currency in recent years. AUD has been struggling to hold above 10-year lows in the aftermath of the bush-fire crisis as well as the...

Tiomarkets

Coronavirus developments continue to make the major headlines. Yesterday saw a market willing to shrug off potentially negative connotations for the global economy. S&P warned of the potential effect on the Australian economy, but bar a brief moved lower in AUD (only to be later reversed), there seemed little concern among traders. Even the RBNZ in their prior...

Tiomarkets

Coronavirus developments continue to make the major headlines and none of them are good. They range from the uncertain to the downright scary. At this point it’s a case of hoping we never to get to the point of global panic although one expert suggested that if containment doesn’t work, 60% of the world’s population could become affected. Let’s not go there....

Tiomarkets

A new week begins with a familiar focus. While there are a few interesting economic events this week, most notably Fed Chairman Powell’s testimony to the Joint Economic Committee, it will be Coronavirus developments that take center stage. New cases are still on the rise and the prior 24 hours saw the largest number of deaths in a single day. The fall out from...