Forex Previews

Bank of England minutes reveal gradual turn towards rate hike- as expected

Posted on July 22, 2015 at 9:35 am GMT

The minutes from the Bank of England meeting of 8 July, showed that Monetary Policy Committee members were unanimous in their decision to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.50%. Although on its own this might have disappointed sterling longs, the other details contained in the minutes were positive for the pound as they were in the direction of higher interest rates in the future. There was some speculation that a 7-2 vote could arise (i.e. 7 members in favor of [..]

RBA minutes point to steady rates but RBNZ likely to cut again

Posted on July 21, 2015 at 11:07 am GMT

The Australian dollar touched a new 6-year low on Monday of 0.7327 against the US dollar as global commodity prices continue to take a battering amid oversupply and weak demand. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has already cut its cash rate twice this year by 0.25% each time to 2%. The Australian dollar has depreciated substantially against the US dollar – by 9.8% in the past year, which has helped cushion the Australian economy from the collapse in commodity [..]

Gold makes partial recovery after slumping to 5.5-year low

Posted on July 20, 2015 at 12:06 pm GMT

Gold prices plummeted by 5.8% on Monday morning to a 5.5-year low of $1071.19 per ounce on renewed selling pressure in China. Prices have since recovered to around $1115 per ounce but still remain at levels last seen in spring 2010. Today’s losses follow a 1% drop on Friday, which was triggered after China revealed that it has bought 604 tonnes of gold since 2009 – when it last revealed the size of its gold reserves. China now holds a [..]

Week Ahead – Kiwi and Aussie in focus on central bank policies; Greece impact on Eurozone PMI seen limited

Posted on July 17, 2015 at 10:56 am GMT

With the Greek bailout deal out of the way for the time being, markets will once again be focusing on data, with PMI numbers likely to dominate at the end of the week. The Eurozone will see the Markit PMI numbers for July released on Friday. Flash manufacturing PMI is expected to stay unchanged at 52.5, while flash services PMI is estimated to have worsened slightly from 54.4 to 54.2. Overall sentiment across the Eurozone appears to be holding despite [..]

ECB keeps monetary policy unchanged but raises ELA to Greece

Posted on July 16, 2015 at 2:51 pm GMT

The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged and its asset purchase program at €60 billion per month as expected. Recent developments and greater uncertainty in financial markets have not altered the ECB’s Governing Council’s assessment that the Eurozone’s economic recovery is broadening and inflation is rising gradually. In the press conference, ECB President Mario Draghi reiterated the full implementation of monetary policy measures to achieve inflation of close but below 2% in the medium term. Draghi sounded confident that [..]

Yellen reiterates expectations of rate hike this year in Congressional testimony

Posted on July 16, 2015 at 11:32 am GMT

Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen, provided an upbeat assessment of the US economy in her semi-annual testimony before the Committee on Financial Services in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday. There were no surprises in the speech as much of the outlook was unchanged from that provided in the Fed’s June meeting minutes. Yellen said that the pace of economic growth should be moderate in the second quarter, mostly due to higher consumer spending and a recovering housing market. [..]

Pound loses momentum after surprise rise in UK unemployment

Posted on July 15, 2015 at 1:20 pm GMT

Unemployment showed an unexpected rise in the UK for the three months to May as the Labor Force Survey measure rose by 15,000 to 1.85 million. The unemployment rate moved up to 5.6% in the three months to May from 5.5% previously, versus expectations it would stay unchanged. This was the first rise in unemployment since December 2013. The claimant count also rose with 7,000 more people claiming unemployment benefit but the small change meant the claimant rate stayed unchanged [..]

Positive China data eases concerns over economy but shares take a dive

Posted on July 15, 2015 at 10:33 am GMT

China’s GDP growth expanded by more than expected in the second quarter, rising by 7% year-on-year, in-line with the government’s own target and above consensus estimates that it would slow to 6.8%. With the recent troubles in China’s property market and slowing exports, some analysts raised doubts on the reliability of the official figures. However, an official from China’s National Bureau of Statistics defended the improved figures saying they were “hard won”. The better-than-expected growth was underlined by improved industrial [..]

Dollar recedes on weak US retail sales data

Posted on July 14, 2015 at 3:00 pm GMT

Retail sales in the US unexpectedly declined in June raising doubts on the strength of consumer spending. The month-on-month change in retail sales was -0.3%, sharply below estimates that it would grow by 0.3%. It’s also down on May’s strong reading of 1.0%, which itself was downwardly revised from 1.2%. The core measure of retail sales was also weaker-than-expected, declining by 0.1% month-on-month, versus forecast of 0.3% and down from May’s figure of 0.7%. Cores sales, which excludes volatile components [..]

Pound surges on Carney comments reversing declines from weak UK inflation

Posted on July 14, 2015 at 11:23 am GMT

Inflation in the UK showed no signs of picking up in June as annual CPI fell to 0% from 0.1% in May. The figure was within forecasts but the month-on-month rate of 0% was below estimates of 0.1%. Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol and tobacco, was also below forecasts at 0.8%, versus expectations it would stay unchanged at 0.9% in June. This was the lowest level since March 2001. The downward pressure came mostly from lower food prices, [..]

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