Strong US Jobs Data Revive Fed Hawks

The US economy added 528’000 new nonfarm jobs in July, significantly higher than 250’000 expected by analysts. Last month’s data was revised up to 400’000. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, the lowest level since late 1960s. Wages grew 5.2% vs 4.9% expected by analysts. Strong US jobs data revived the Federal Reserve (Fed) hawks […]

When Good News is Bad News

On Friday, US Non-Farm Payrolls came in over twice what was expected. The unemployment rate dropped as well, if only by a decimal point. Yet US stocks (as measured by the S&P 500 and Nasdaq) dropped. Why would it be a “bad” thing for US businesses that more Americans have jobs, and have more disposable […]

Cautious Post-Jobs Report

A relatively slow start to the week as investors continue to digest Friday’s jobs report and what it means for financial markets just as some optimism was returning. The report itself was strong almost across the board, with participation being the only outlier, but Fed officials will not have been quite so enthused which makes […]

Bitcoin's Bullish Stability

Bitcoin has been down 1.2% over the past seven days, trading at $23,600. These are tiny moves by crypto market standards. Indeed, the first cryptocurrency has been dealing with little amplitude over the past week. Ethereum has added the same amount of 2.6% to $1720 in the last 24 hours and seven days. The top […]

Nasdaq Heads for 14,000, Focusing on Positivity in the Economy Rather than a Rate Hike

Markets were confused by Friday’s US labour market data, not knowing how to react to solid job growth. This is a negative for equities, as it makes us expect a third consecutive 75-point Fed rate hike at the next meeting on 21 September. But job growth and the continued pace of wage increases is a […]

NZ Dollar Rebounds on Inflation Expectations

The New Zealand dollar has started the week with strong gains. In the European session, NZD/USD is trading at 0.6281, up 0.63% on the day. US Nonfarm payrolls send dollar higher The week ended with a bang as US nonfarm payrolls smashed it out of the ballpark. The July release came in at 528 thousand, […]

Australian Dollar Roars Higher

The Australian dollar continues to exhibit sharp volatility. AUD/USD declined by 0.82% on Friday but has bounced back today and soared 1.15%. Currently, the pair is trading at 0.6990. Let’s take a look at the reasons that the Aussie was pummelled on Friday. First, a sparkling US nonfarm payrolls report on Friday sent the US […]

Data from Japan Helped the Yen Break Downtrend

Today is a quiet day regarding data from Europe and the USA, allowing a look at data from Asia. Statistics from Japan indicate that the worst for the Rising Sun country may be over, and the weakness in the yen has provided the necessary impetus for growth. The seasonally adjusted current account closed with a […]

US Ready to Sign Iran Nuclear Deal?

Market movers today US NFIB Small Business Optimism index will be published for July and the focus will naturally be on how inflation and labour market indicators have performed amid the recent recession fears. Chinese July Producer Prices will also be released overnight, consensus is looking for moderating price pressures following the recent signs of […]

Inflation Expectations Soften

Stock markets kicked off the week mixed, the European markets were up yesterday, while Nvidia plummeted the mood in the US, sending Nasdaq slightly lower. Nvidia shares dived 6.30% yesterday on news that the company missed its revenue projection by $1.4 billion due to slower demand for PCs and gaming. Nvidia pulled other US chipmakers […]