Macro Monday 42 Japan Reuters Tankan Index – Business Sentiment (Released this Wednesday 17th April 2024) Firstly lets briefly cover the Japan Consumer Sentiment we covered last week, Japan Consumer Sentiment Last week we covered the Japan Consumer Confidence Index (CCI), which provided a great indication of how the Japanese consumer is feeling. The...
MACRO MONDAY 33 ~ NFIB National Federation of Independent Business Index (NFIB) Released Tuesday 13th Feb 2024 Think of the NFIB small business index as a sentiment index, a sort of mood meter for small businesses. The higher the index, the more optimistic small businesses will be about spending more, expanding and increasing or maintaining employees. The...
The Australian dollar has pushed higher on Monday. In the North American session, AUD/USD is trading at 0.6600, up 0.35%. Australia’s Westpac consumer confidence is expected to rebound in April after a 1.8% decline in March. The market estimate stands at 0.5%. We’ll also get a look at the mood of the business sector, with NAB business confidence expected to fall...
The Australian dollar remains close to the 0.66 line, where it has been for most of the week. In the North American session, AUD/USD is trading at 0.6620, up 0.21%. The business sector is not feeling very confident about the near-term outlook of the Australian economy. The NAB Business Confidence index dipped to zero in February, down from one in January but...
ISM Services PMI Rep: 53.4% ✅ HIGHER THAN EXPECTED ✅ Exp: 51.7% Prev: 50.5% (revised down marginally from 50.6%) The reading for ISM Services PMI came in much higher than expected with services remaining in expansionary territory for Jan 2024 (>50 Level) Whilst ISM Manufacturing PMI came in at 49.1 on the 1st Feb (<50 level) and in contractionary territory,...
Hello Traders! Risk management primarily involves minimizing potential losses without sacrificing upside potential. This is often borne out in the risk/reward ratio, a type of cost-benefit analysis based on the expected returns of an investment compared to the amount of risk taken on to earn those returns.
The Australian dollar lost ground earlier in the day but has pared these losses. In the North American session, AUD/USD is trading at 0.6381, down 0.05%. The markets are braced for a deceleration in consumer and business confidence indicators, which will be released on Tuesday. Westpac consumer confidence change is expected to decline by 0.7% in October,...
The euro has edged lower on Thursday. In the European session, EUR/USD is trading at 1.0851, down 0.11%. On the data calendar, there are no releases from the eurozone. The US releases unemployment claims and durable goods orders and we could see some movement from EUR/USD in the North American session. On Friday, Germany releases Ifo Business Climate. The index...
The New Zealand dollar is showing limited movement on Wednesday, trading at 0.6060 in the European session. Like most major central banks, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has been waging a long and tough battle against inflation by raising interest rates. CPI fell to 6.0% in the second quarter, down from 6.7%. That's certainly good news, but let's remember that...
The NAB Business Confidence Index declined for a second straight quarter, falling by 4 pts. This missed the estimate of 2 and follows a Q4 2022 reading of -1. Business Conditions also dropped by 4 pts. The NAB found that businesses remain most concerned about wage growth and continue to report a shortage of workers. The good news was that supply chains have...
Silver is special as it is both an industrial and precious metal. So, let’s look at Silver from both points of view to identify what seems to be dimming the shine on this metal. As a precious metal, we can compare silver with the dollar and yield as both affect the demand for precious metals. Dollar and silver are generally negatively correlated, with a stronger...
The euro has taken a nasty tumble today. In the North American session, EUR/USD is trading at 1.0144, down 0.76%. The energy crisis surrounding Nord Stream 1, a key channel for Russian gas exports to Europe continues to simmer. Perhaps the pipeline should be referred to as 'Nord Brook 1', after Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, warned it will cut flows through...
The euro is in positive territory at the start of the week. In the North American session, EUR/USD is trading at 1.0245, up 0.30%. The US dollar lost some of its lustre last week and the euro took advantage. EUR/USD posted its first winning week in a month and pulled some distance away from the parity line. The euro has posted gains today but there was some...
The week ended with a disappointing US inflation report. Headline inflation in May rose to 8.6% YoY, up from 8.3% in April. Core inflation eased to 6.0%, down from 6.2%, but that was little comfort for the markets, which are showing signs of panic over entrenched inflation. The result was that risk appetite fell, sending the US dollar surging against the major...
The misery continues for the New Zealand dollar, which is down almost 1% on Thursday. NZD/USD has fallen below the 0.65 level and has plunged 6.54% in the month of April. ANZ Business Confidence was unchanged in April, with a reading of -42.0. That means close to half of New Zealand businesses are pessimistic about the economic outlook over the next 12 months....
The euro has started the week with sharp losses as it struggles to stay above the 1.07 line. In the North American session, EUR/USD is trading at 1.0717, down 0.73% on the day. On Sunday, President Emmanuel Macron won a decisive victory over Marie Le Pen of the extreme right, by a score of 58% to 42%. The markets reacted with relief rather than elation, given...
The New Zealand dollar continues to rally and is up 0.82% this week. Earlier in the day, NZD/USD punched above the symbolic 70 line and rose to 0.7034, its highest level since November 2021, before retreating lower. The US Services PMI for March pointed to continuing expansion, with a reading of 58.3. This was shy of the consensus of 58.9 but an improvement from...
The Australian dollar is showing limited movement on Tuesday, after posting sharp gains at the start of the week. In the North American session, AUD/USD is trading at 0.7133, up 0.10% on the day. There are no tier-1 events out of Australia this week, but the data released this week is pointing upwards. The AIG Performance of Services Index for December and...