Forex Previews

Week Ahead – Focus on US jobs and central banks as BoE, RBA and BoJ meet

Posted on July 31, 2015 at 12:36 pm GMT

With the Fed’s July policy meeting out of the way, focus will turn next week on the Bank of England, Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of Australia, which hold their scheduled monetary policy meetings. US employment numbers will also be closely eyed in addition to personal spending data. Starting the week, will be the Markit final manufacturing PMI for China, Japan and the Eurozone for July, as well as the main release for the UK. China’s final PMI [..]

US Q2 GDP disappoints but Fed’s preferred inflation measure beats estimates

Posted on July 30, 2015 at 1:59 pm GMT

The US economy expanded at an annualized rate of 2.3% in the second quarter of the quarter, below estimates that it would grow by 2.6%. Although the shortfall is not significant enough to deter the Fed from raising interest rates, it does highlight the continued modest pace at which the US economy has been expanding at since the end of the financial crisis. Revisions made to previous years’ growth show the US economy expanded at an average rate of 2.1% [..]

Fed upbeat on jobs but September move uncertain due to low inflation

Posted on July 29, 2015 at 8:03 pm GMT

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concluded its two-day meeting on Wednesday by keeping its policy unchanged. Markets were not expecting any changes but were hoping the Fed would provide stronger signals on the possible timing of an interest rate increase. With July being the last meeting before September, which is widely tipped as the most likely date for a rate move, investors were left disappointed on the lack of clear signals by the FOMC. While the Committee sounded more [..]

Greece begins negotiations on terms for third bailout as next ECB deadline looms

Posted on July 29, 2015 at 1:00 pm GMT

Greek officials on Monday started talks on the terms of the third bailout that was agreed on July 13 between Greece and its creditors. The negotiations are currently taking place on technical level between Greek authorities and Troika representatives following a delay from the previous week over finding a suitable hotel location away from protesters’ reach in the centre of Athens. Troika chiefs are not expected to arrive in Athens until Wednesday and it is hoped that the negotiations will [..]

Pound gains on UK GDP rebound in Q2

Posted on July 28, 2015 at 12:55 pm GMT

The UK economy expanded by 0.7% in the second quarter of the year from the first quarter, in-line with estimates. The strong figures show that the UK economy has regained momentum after a mild slowdown in the first quarter of the year when GDP expanded by just 0.4%. Compared to the same quarter in the previous year, GDP was up by 2.6%, also in-line with estimates. Britain’s dominant service sector grew by 0.7% from the previous quarter as business and [..]

Strong Durable Goods Orders signals strengthening recovery in US manufacturing

Posted on July 27, 2015 at 3:03 pm GMT

Durable goods orders for manufactured goods in the US were up by 3.4% in June, the first increase in three months, which follows a downwardly revised 2.1% drop in May. Consensus estimates were for a rise of 3.0%. Durable goods orders, which is defined as items with a life-span of at least three years, is used as an indication for future business investment. The June figures, point to an improving outlook in the manufacturing sector after a mixed picture for [..]

Week Ahead – Fed meeting and US, UK Q2 GDP likely to heighten rate rise expectations

Posted on July 24, 2015 at 1:58 pm GMT

As monetary policy divergence between the US, UK and the Eurozone comes into focus again, all eyes will be on second quarter GDP data for the US and UK in the coming week, as well as the FOMC meeting where the Fed could hint at a September rate rise. The US will start the week with durable goods orders data out on Monday. Durable goods orders numbers have been mixed for much of the year but are expected to rise [..]

Eurozone PMI points to slow start to third quarter

Posted on July 24, 2015 at 10:22 am GMT

The Markit flash PMI for manufacturing and services activity in the Eurozone showed continued expansion in July. However, the strong momentum seen in the second quarter appears to be waning at the start of the third quarter. Eurozone flash manufacturing PMI fell to 52.2 in July from 52.5 in June, against expectations that it would stay unchanged. Services PMI was also lower, dropping from 54.4 to 53.8, versus forecast of 54.2. The figures are still comfortably above 50 though, indicating [..]

Pound tumbles after UK retail sales unexpectedly fall in June

Posted on July 23, 2015 at 11:58 am GMT

Retail sales in the UK fell by 0.2% in June from the previous month as food and household goods sales declined during the month. The unexpected fall confounded estimates that sales would rise by 0.4%. The annual rate fell to 4% from 4.7%, against estimates it would rise to 4.8%. On the positive side, May’s figure was revised upwards, with the month-on-month change revised to 0.3% from 0.2%. Excluding fuel, sales were also down by 0.2%. On a quarterly basis, [..]

RBNZ likely to cut again but no longer sees kiwi as overvalued

Posted on July 23, 2015 at 10:19 am GMT

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) cut its official cash rate on Thursday by 0.25% to 3.00%, as was widely expected by analysts. This is the second cut in two months by the RBNZ and follows June’s quarter point cut. New Zealand’s central bank was one of the first in advanced economies to start raising rates after the financial crisis when it began lifting interest rates in early 2014. However, the outlook for the New Zealand economy worsened dramatically [..]

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