All Entries Tagged With: "currencies"
Dollar Outlook Continues Bearish
If there are any remaining dollar bulls out there, they seem lonelier than the Maytag repairman featured years ago in TV ads. Following the US Federal Reserve Bank’s latest decision to maintain its loose monetary policy and to let the QE2 program run to its scheduled June ending, the greenback has dipped again to less [...]
China Cautiously Opening Its Currency
Starting in late 2009, the Chinese government allowed mainland-based companies to issue yuan-denominated debt in Hong Kong. Since then, so-called “dim sum” bonds valued at more than 51 billion yuan (about $7.8 billion) have been issued. Although the bonds are popular, the government has not made it easy to return the proceeds of the bond [...]
Dollar Gets Beaten Up Again
Just one day after the US dollar made some solid gains in the forex market, the greenback took another beating yesterday, following upbeat news from Europe, inflation news from Canada, and a surprise sale of Greek debt. The March European purchasing managers index, PMI, came in higher than expected, at 57.7, up from 57.5 in [...]
Finnish Election Results Could Stall Rising Euro
Voters in Finland went to the polls on Sunday in national elections that could reach a lot further than the country’s borders. The staunchly nationalist True Finns party took 19% of the country’s votes, and gained enough seats to become a force in Finland’s politics. That still may seem like a small percentage, but with [...]
US Fiscal Deficit Starts to Weigh on Dollar
Among the factors weighing on the US dollar, the one that seems to get the most attention is the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy. The near-zero interest rate policy combined with Fed purchases of US debt are designed both to raise employment and to weaken the dollar so that US exports will be more competitive. [...]
Commodity Prices and Foreign Exchange
Rising commodity prices have been pushing up inflation in the developed countries. At the same time, these prices are driving inflation in some developing countries that produce a good deal of certain commodities. Take Chile for instance. The Chilean peso, or CLP, has risen steadily on rising copper prices. Chile is the world’s leading producer [...]
British Rate Hike Gets Boost from PMI Report
Britain’s purchasing managers index (PMI) for services in March rose to its highest level since the summer of 2007, raising hopes for an interest rate hike from the Bank of England on April 7th. The index rose from 52.6 in February to 57.1 in March. A figure above 50 indicates growth. A report in the [...]
The Dollar, G20, and China
The March 31 one-day meeting of finance ministers and central bankers of the G20 in Nanjing, China, is not expected to produce much of immediate interest, but the signs are pointing to an effort from the Chinese to shake up the international monetary system’s attachment to the US dollar. The Chinese want to talk about the [...]
Mixed Signals in the Currency Markets
Comments by the president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank have given the dollar a push higher, while reports on consumer confidence and housing prices have weighed the greenback down. The British pound has weakened against the dollar as prospects for an interest rate hike have dimmed, consumer confidence has fallen, and now the [...]
It’s All About Spain Now
Now that Portugal has rejected an austerity plan that could have led to a rebuilding of its finances without a bailout by the European Central Bank or the IMF, the equities and currency markets have weighed in by essentially ignoring the entire episode. Bond markets boosted rates on Portuguese debt, but that was no surprise. [...]
