All Entries Tagged With: "yen"
US Dollar Hit by Oil Price Spike
Crude oil prices above $103/barrel for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and above $117/barrel for North Sea Brent have sent currency traders to the relatively safer havens of the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen. And while crude prices have moderated somewhat since hitting those peaks, fears of a stalled economic recovery in the US have [...]
Middle East Conflicts Roil Forex, Oil Markets
The relatively peaceful resolution to the popular uprising in Egypt does not appear to be playing out in other countries in North Africa and the Middle East. The disturbances in Libya, Bahrain, and Yemen have so far resulted in more than 200 deaths, and there is no sign that the conflicts will cool off soon. [...]
Egyptian Instability – Not Over Yet?
The announcement that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had resigned sent forex traders heavily into the US dollar as they tried to figure out what would happen next. That’s no easy calculation though. Now that political power in Egypt is invested in the army, the central question becomes to what degree will the army share power [...]
Egyptian Demonstrations Shake Markets
Where the demonstrations in Tunisia sent some shivers into the markets earlier, the rioting in Egypt is causing much more serious tremors now. A country with 80 million people, Egypt’s population is mostly young – the median age is 24. And the overall unemployment rate of about 9.7% is surely much, much higher among citizens [...]
Portuguese Debt Weighs on Euro
Reports that France and Germany have been putting pressure on Portugal to accept a bailout package similar to the one provided to Ireland sent the EURUSD to its lowest point in nearly four months. For its part, Portugal has resisted the pressure, saying that it doesn’t need the help now or ever. Whether or not [...]
Japan Might Intervene on Continued Yen Strength
Yoshihiko Noda, Japan’s finance minister, told a news conference in Japan that the government could intervene in the currency market, promising to take “decisive steps if there is excessive volatility,” according to The Wall Street Journal. Noda’s comments follow several days of trading in which the yen rose to a three-week high against the US [...]
China Hikes Interest Rate Again
The People’s Bank of China raised both deposit and lending interest rates effective December 26, 2010. That the country’s central bank raised the overnight lending rate to 5.81% and the deposit rate to 2.75% was less of a surprise than was the timing of the announcement. As the country struggles with inflation that reached 5.1% [...]
China Could Let Yuan Appreciate to Curb Inflation
It may be foolhardy to try to outguess China’s government, but there could be a hint today that the government may allow more yuan appreciation in an effort to cool rapidly rising inflation. Bloomberg News quotes former People’s Bank of China adviser Fan Gang as saying that currency appreciation “may be used as a policy [...]
Aussie Dollar Rises on Interest Rate Hike
The last surprise interest rate hike came from China, when the People’s Bank of China raised both borrowing and lending rates by 25 basis points. That move pushed the Australian dollar down by 3%. The Australians have now returned the favor. The Reserve Bank of Australia has itself raised interest rates by 25 basis points, [...]
Manufacturing Shows Improvement in October
Manufacturing, as measured by the Purchasing Managers’ Index, PMI, posted solid gains in October in the US, the UK, China, and India. The index is a broad measure of confidence in current business conditions. A number greater than 50 indicates that the economy is expanding, while a number below 50 indicates a contracting economy. The [...]
