Forex Previews

European Session – Dollar eases on caution ahead of Yellen

Posted on August 22, 2014 at 1:34 pm GMT

All eyes are on Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s keynote speech later today at the Jackson Hole Symposium of central bankers. European Central Bank Chief Mario Draghi also due to speak at the gathering. Due to such key risk events, market participants preferred to wait on the sidelines and were unwilling to enter new positions. This kept currency markets calm today, with little movement. A lack of other economic data releases also kept flows to the minimum. There were some [..]

Forex News – Dollar rallies as Fed talks of exit-strategy

Posted on August 21, 2014 at 8:57 am GMT

The markets reacted positively to the Federal Reserve’s more hawkish tone regarding interest rates. The July policy meeting minutes released on Wednesday showed that the Federal Open Market Committee came closer to exiting the current monetary policy. The minutes from the central bank’s July 29-30 meeting revealed that many FOMC policy makers were uncomfortable with leaving rates low for an extended period of time and many favoured raising rates sooner than previously anticipated. Their views were based on the fact [..]

Forex News – Change in MPC voting pattern lifts sterling

Posted on August 20, 2014 at 2:07 pm GMT

The Bank of England released its policy meeting minutes from the August 6-7 meeting today, surprising markets by showing a more hawkish inclination than usual. Two of the central bank’s 9-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) were in favour of hiking interest rates in August. This was the first time in three years that not all nine MPC members voted in unison not to raise rates, ever since the benchmakr rate was put to record lows of 0.5%. Martin Weale and [..]

Forex News – Soft UK inflation pressures sterling

Posted on August 19, 2014 at 9:49 am GMT

UK inflation data released today pushed sterling lower as the softer numbers will likely ease pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates soon. The headline inflation number came in well below the BoE’s target 2% rate. According to the Office for National Statistics the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July rose 1.6% year-on-year. The drop was more-than-expected, as analysts had forecast a decline to 1.8% from June’s 1.9%. On a month-to-month basis, consumer process fell 0.3%. The [..]

Forex News – Week Ahead: All eyes on Jackson Hole Symposium

Posted on August 18, 2014 at 9:50 am GMT

The meeting of world central bankers at the Jackson Hole Symposium this week will be the main focus of the markets, particularly on Friday when Fed Chair Janet Yellen gives her keynote speech. Investors will look out for any clues on the timing of interest rate rises by the Fed, which has kept rates at near zero in an effort to help spur recovery in the US economy. Other central bank speakers at Jackson Hole include European Central Bank Chief [..]

Forex News – German economy contracts in Q2, drags Eurozone growth down

Posted on August 14, 2014 at 11:03 am GMT

The Eurozone economy stalled in the second quarter of the year, after a surprise contraction in Germany and weakness in the French economy dragged overall gross domestic product figures. The Eurozone was expected to grow by at least 0.1%, a slightly slower rate than a prior 0.2%. The zero growth rate raised concerns about the state of the economic recovery in the 18-nation region, which is likely to be impacted negatively by the Ukraine crisis and the sanctions against Russia, [..]

Forex News – Flat US retail sales in July places dollar under pressure

Posted on August 13, 2014 at 3:17 pm GMT

The dollar tumbled against the yen and other major counterparts and US Treasuries reversed earlier gains following a soft US retail sales report on Wednesday. According to a report from the US Commerce Department, retail sales missed forecasts in July and fell short of the 0.2% projections to remain flat from June’s 0.2% increase. The catalyst behind the drop was the decline in auto sales for a second straight month. Also lagging were sales of furniture and electronics and appliances. [..]

Forex News – German morale knocked down to 1 ½ year low as Ukraine crisis take its toll

Posted on August 12, 2014 at 12:37 pm GMT

Disappointing data from Germany caused the euro to extend losses today to hit its lowest level versus the US dollar in almost a year as investors were concerned about the strength of economic recovery in Europe’s largest economy. The ZEW survey of investors’ economic expectations fell to 8.6, the lowest since the end of 2012. This was down from a previous 27.10 and below forecast for a decline to 18.2. Meanwhile the index for German investors’ current assessment fell to [..]

Forex News – Canadian job market shows signs of trouble

Posted on August 11, 2014 at 12:33 pm GMT

Canada released its employment report on Friday showing that a mere 200 new jobs were created in July, highlighting the nation’s struggling job market. The drop in job creation was a hug surprise since forecasts were for the Canadian economy to add 20,000 jobs, which would have been an improvement from June’s unexpected decline of 9,400. However, despite the drop in the job creation rate, the unemployment rate fell as well. The main reason behind this was due to a [..]

Forex News – Week ahead: GDP figures from Eurozone, Japan and UK to prove main focus

Posted on August 8, 2014 at 12:31 pm GMT

Next week will feature various interesting economic reports and events, which should, in connection with the ongoing geopolitical events, keep market participants busy despite the summer holiday lull. GDP numbers from some major developed economies, the UK inflation report and US retail sales will be the most important to watch. Starting with the euro, Eurozone GDP flash estimate for the second quarter due out on Thursday, will likely show that the economy of the 18-member area barely grew during the [..]

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