Forex Previews

Oil rally fizzles out as doubts remain on OPEC commitment to deal

Posted on September 29, 2016 at 12:45 pm GMT

OPEC countries announced a surprise agreement on Wednesday to cut oil output for the first time since 2008, sending oil prices sharply higher. The deal calls for OPEC members to limit output to a range of 32.5-33.0 million barrels a day from the current 33.24 million bpd. The unexpected announcement comes after much speculation about whether any agreement was possible at the three-day meeting in the Algerian capital, Algiers. The bloc’s largest member, Saudi Arabia, has been at loggerheads with [..]

UK government confusion over Brexit weighs on pound even as economy holds steady

Posted on September 28, 2016 at 12:37 pm GMT

The British pound has retraced about 80% of its August-September rally when a series of much stronger-than-expected data helped pull sterling away from near 31-year lows. Post-Brexit data out of the UK have surprised even the most optimistic economists of the possible impact on the British economy from the shock vote to leave the EU. However, the rosier outlook has not much changed the view of the Bank of England that the UK economy will likely still need more stimulus, [..]

Clinton debate win boosts risk-on sentiment but dollar reaction limited

Posted on September 27, 2016 at 11:11 am GMT

Viewers in America and across the world watched in anticipation the first debate between US presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump yesterday, as the 2016 race to the White Housing is proving one of the tightest in history. The Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was seen as the winner of the first of three debates taking place before the Presidential election on November 8. The markets clearly have their favourite as indicated by the reaction to Monday’s televised debate. A [..]

Week Ahead – Busy week for Japan and US data; Central bank speeches also in focus

Posted on September 23, 2016 at 12:56 pm GMT

Economic indicators out of the Eurozone, Japan and the United States will dominate next week’s calendar. But it will also be a busy seven days for central bank speeches, with Draghi, Kuroda and Yellen all due to speak. Eurozone business surveys and flash CPI eyed The week will start with the closely watched German Ifo survey on Monday. The Ifo business climate index unexpectedly dipped last month, raising fears of a delayed post-Brexit blow to business confidence in Germany. The [..]

RBNZ holds rates, kiwi holds above $0.73 despite jawboning

Posted on September 22, 2016 at 2:09 pm GMT

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced its decision to keep interest rates steady after a policy meeting on Thursday. The decision to hold the OCR at 2% was widely expected but the central bank signalled that further easing would be needed. One reason was the Bank’s focus on keeping future average inflation near the 2% target midpoint. The Bank’s range is 1 to 3%. The kiwi’s strength has been making it difficult for the RBNZ to meet its inflation objective. [..]

Fed signals one rate hike in 2016 but dollar comes under pressure

Posted on September 21, 2016 at 8:46 pm GMT

The Federal Reserve decided to leave the federal funds rate unchanged in a range of 0.25%-0.50% at the end of its two-day meeting today in what was the most divided vote since December 2014. Three members of the FOMC dissented in the September meeting with Esther George, Loretta Mester and Eric Rosengren all voting to raise rates by 0.25%. This signalled that the Fed is getting closer to raising rates again, having stood pat since last December, when it tightened monetary [..]

Bank of Japan introduces Yield Curve Control but yen reverses losses

Posted on September 21, 2016 at 11:17 am GMT

The Bank of Japan announced an overhaul of monetary policy at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday, surprising market analysts that had conceded expectations of fresh action by the Bank. After promising a “comprehensive” review of its policies back in July, the Bank of Japan today announced several tweaks to its existing policies in an attempt to regain market credibility that it can achieve its objective of 2% inflation. The main change in the BoJ’s policy is the [..]

RBA minutes suggest interest rates set to remain lower for longer

Posted on September 20, 2016 at 1:55 pm GMT

The Reserve Bank of Australia released minutes on Tuesday of the latest policy meeting two weeks ago. Markets watched to see if they provided more clues as to the current outlook of the central bank on the economy. However, there was not much new from the RBA’s decision statement on September 6. At least the minutes were not dovish and indicated that more easing was off the table for now and probably until next year. The RBA was optimistic about [..]

Week Ahead – All eyes on Fed and BoJ rate decisions, PMI data

Posted on September 16, 2016 at 2:04 pm GMT

The big focus next week will be on two critical central bank meetings in the US and Japan. Both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan hold policy meetings and their decisions are due on Wednesday. The first announcement will come from the BoJ late in the Asian session while the FOMC decision comes out late in the US session. All eyes will be on Fed Chair Janet Yellen during the news conference that will take place after the [..]

Bank of England sees no need to cut rates; signals November cut possible

Posted on September 15, 2016 at 2:05 pm GMT

The Bank of England left rates unchanged after its policy meeting today, as it saw no pressing need to cut again after lowering the benchmark rate last month. However, it did signal a possibility for a cut at the next meeting in November if needed. The minutes of the meeting said that there was evidence the initial impact of its August stimulus measures was encouraging. The immediate hit to Britain’s economy after the Brexit vote in June appears to be [..]

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