Market News

It’s been a quiet start to the week after Friday’s strong U.S. employment data pushed the dollar index back above 90.00 with confusion surrounding proposed U.S. tariffs still keeping the markets on edge.  Turning to events to watch this week we have U.S. inflation data tomorrow along with retail sales figures Wednesday rounded out by

Another volatile day after a cautious BoC, citing trade concerns, left rates unchanged which popped us to the brink of 1.3000 for the second time in as many days.  Within a few hours we dropped to 1.2870 on comments out of Washington suggesting that Canada and Mexico might escape new tariffs on steel and aluminum.

North American equities are slated for a negative open and the NAFTA currencies (CAD,MXN) took it on the chin when White House Chief Economic Advisor Gary Cohn resigned after market close last night.  Just when it looked like the Canadian dollar would get a reprieve it was slammed by this unexpected departure of the “pro

The dollar index has dropped since the NY close yesterday as players that have been long USD are ringing the till with the realization that Congressional approval is required for tariffs to be finalized and a growing number of GOP members voicing concern & outright disapproval of their Administration’s plans.  Adding to this are reports

Italian elections were the main focus over the weekend where no clear winner emerged resulting in choppy trade and the U.S. dollar still under pressure against most currencies.  Trade war rhetoric is beginning to ramp up with Chinese political advisors urging a response to proposed U.S. tariffs while U.S. politicians are piping up calling the

The dollar index has continued to rise albeit marginally as we await further testimony from FED Chair Powell beginning at 10 AM EST.  If Powell beats the drum signaling continued growth in the U.S. economy with steady hikes the market will take that to mean 3 more moves in 2018 and the dollar will rise.

The U.S. dollar is broadly higher hitting a 3 week high after FED Chair Powell presented a bullish outlook on the U.S. economy prompting markets to speculate on four rate hikes in 2018 from the central bank.  A move and daily close above 90.56 on the dollar index will embolden dollar bulls to add long

Focus will be on today’s testimony from new FED Chair Powell on the Semi Annual Policy Report before the House Services Committee in Washington beginning at 8:30 AM EST.  He will read a prepared statement then the committee will hold a question & answer session.   Since nothing is scripted there will be headlines released in

Volatility continues in FX markets with the dollar index deteriorating after failing to sustain gains above the 90.00 level last week (see chart).  As players attempt to disseminate whether the FED will hike 3 or 4 times in 2018 the fate of U.S. Treasuries vacillates until a clearer picture emerges.  U.S. data releases of note