Two events changed risk appetite overnight with the closely watched German ZEW survey and Janet Yellen’s testimony in Congress supporting the bullish mood on Wall Street as traders returned from the US long weekend. Oil prices lifted more than 2% while the USD retreated against most of the majors. Bitcoin continued its tepid start to
Asian share markets are no longer unsettled as the realisation that an adult will be in the Oval Office in a few days kicks in the risk spirits with broad gains across most markets and S&P futures looking bright for the return of traders from the US long weekend. Bitcoin is a bit disappointing, not
The US long weekend had a deleterious effect on trading volume and hence volatility overnight with most risk markets remaining in stalled mode as they await there queues from Wall Street. European bourses had slight rises while currency markets were equally sanguine. Bitcoin started the week with lower volatility than usual, hovering around local resistance
Asian share markets remain unsettled after Friday’s fizzer on Wall Street, as the upcoming Biden presidential inaguration later this week is possibly hindering risk taking. Gold and silver had wide trading ranges to start the week while Bitcoin has been falling sharply later this afternoon after it failed to breach the $40,000 level late last
Friday night saw risk markets continue their reversal of confidence as Biden gets closer to taking the presidency and a very large – and taxing (sic) – stimulus package comes forth. The latest consumer confidence numbers doubled down on the weak US economy meme following the initial jobless claims surprise, putting pressure on the Fed
Asian share markets are very unsettled going into the final trading session of the week, with the Biden stimulus plan not landing on the right note for risk takers as higher taxes are definitely on the agenda. Gold and silver remain somewhat depressed but are not pulling back to any new session lows, while Bitcoin
Action on risk markets was muted last night due to the release of the latest jobless claims in the US, followed by the post-close Biden stimulus package announcement, with the former unexpectedly nearly hitting the 1 million mark. This has reassessed chances of a taper by the Fed, with bond markets starting to trickle higher
The iron ore complex settled a little on Thursday, although shorter-term futures pushed higher as restocking demand increased at mills across China. Texture from Reuters on the record levels of imports of iron ore: “(Mills) are currently at pre-holidays restocking period, adding that steel profits are good, there’s a possibility that they will increase purchase
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Trump signs amended China investment ban, requiring complete divestment by Nov. 2021 – Reuters Climate change: US emissions in 2020 in biggest fall since WWII – BBC Moderna CEO says the world will have to live with Covid ‘forever’ – CNBC Bitcoin closes in on $40,000 as bulls flood
Asian share markets are moving higher almost in unison, with Australian shares lagging but finally putting in a decent bid as Japanese stocks head above new decade highs. Gold and silver remain somewhat depressed with both unable to put in new session highs, while Bitcoin continues to hang on above its technical breakout level above
The iron ore complex was still elevated in trading yesterday, but coking coal futures took a dump as spot iron ore remained bid above the $171USD per tonne level: Having run at huge levels through much of last year, Chinese steel inventories have corrected to normal levels: This leaves mills with less scope to manage
It was the return of the king last night – king dollar that is – with yet another reversal in USD due to a very solid US inflation report, with core inflation bang on target while year on year inflation actually ticked higher than expected. This saw a selloff in the majors while the usual
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Oil prices rise to near 1-year highs as vaccines, stimulus and Saudi Arabian production cuts lift the energy outlook – Business Insider Benchmark LNG cargo prices soar 18-fold in less than nine months, outperforming other commodities – Bloomberg COVID herd immunity will not happen in 2021, says WHO –
Asian share markets are quite mixed with a big inversion in direction today as Japanese stocks rallied, Chinese bourses dropped while the ASX200 did 2/5ths of nothing again. Gold and silver remain somewhat depressed but are putting in mild upswings in the short term, while Bitcoin is at a key technical point here, ready to
The PBOC has been strengthening Yuan against USD throughout 2020 and that trend is not stopping in the new year, with the latest onshore fix set at 6.4605, a big drop down from yesterday’s 6.4823 as offshore trading (USDCNH) gets below the 6.45 level. The weekly chart shows the strength of this trend with the
Last night saw a solid reversal in USD, blamed in part on the Fed with several speeches by Federal Reserve officials overnight putting a hawkish bent on their position in 2021. Furthermore, US Treasury yields fell back on some soft auctions with bond markets starting to broadcast further volatility ahead. Oil prices lifted again alongside
Winter restocking in China has disrupted steel prices across the iron ore complex with rebar futures down more than 3% during Tuesday’s session before slightly recovering, as coking coal also dropped. This hasn’t effected the spot iron ore price, or indeed Dalian futures which are treading water: The fallout from the WA government’s cash grab
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Scientists Warn of an ‘Imminent’ Stratospheric Warming Event Around The North Pole – ScienceAlert Norway to increase carbon tax from $95/tonne to $240/tonne – Upstream The next big risk: Three Wall Street leaders reveal what worries them – Bloomberg Chinese start-up leaks 400GB of scraped data exposing over 200
Asian markets are still very hesitant to take on more risk with the return of Japanese markets still not providing any catalyst for more upside, except on mainland China. Gold and silver remain somewhat depressed but are finding some life later this afternoon, while Bitcoin is rallying again after dropping down towards the $30,000 handle,
The iron ore complex had a wobbly start to the trading week as futures dropped alongside spot prices on Monday, as stockpiles increased for a second consecutive week on easing seasonal demand. Rebar futures dropped the most, down nearly 4% while spot iron ore still remains above $170USD per ton: Meanwhile the Samarco mine will
Markets restarted the week with volatility, as hopes and fears over stimulus and 2nd Trump impeachment collided with the USD providing the safe haven of choice. Oil prices came off only slightly as a result while other commodities pulled back, but the real news was in “stable next currency to replace everything” Bitcoin. After breaching
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: U.S. Capitol siege a ‘wake-up call’ for democracies, top EU diplomat says – Reuters (beware the dangers of populism and nationalism) Boeing to pay $2.5 billion to settle U.S. criminal probe into 737 MAX crashes – Reuters Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan will delist some Hong Kong-traded structured
Risk markets are having a mixed start to the week after absorbing the NFP/US Unemployment print on Friday night, with weekend machinations help push down risk spirits somewhat. This is exemplified in the performance of Bitcoin since it seemingly topped out on Friday night just below the $42000 level and lost nearly $9000 or some
The latest Chinese inflation data for December has been released with the consumer price index (CPI) rising more than expected, 0.2% instead of a flat result, mainly due to a reversal in food prices. This arrests the decline seen in November, but the impact of COVID-19 is still being felt, with producer inflation (PPI) still
The iron ore complex rose once again Friday, sending spot prices slightly higher while Dalian futures rose over 3%, dragging rebar and coking coal higher as stainless steel futures also lifted: The WA Government has slogged iron ore ship operators in the Pilbara region, trying to extract yet more funds this time in the form
Markets ended a tumultous week with some firm moves higher on Friday night in response to the latest US unemployment data, with commodities moving around the most as stocks lifted firmly into new record highs across Wall Street. Oil prices went into super overbought mode with both Brent and WTI lifting more than 3% higher
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: The Polar Vortex collapse sequence has now begun, with current forecasts showing a likely increase in colder Winter weather dynamics over the United States and Europe as a response to these large-scale circulation changes. World population likely to shrink after mid-century, forecasting major shifts in global population and economic
Risk markets are having a wonderful end to the week now that Trump has finally conceded he lost the election (from two months ago). Bitcoin is having a few wobbles but looks set to get higher again tonight, currently at just below $39000 as it continues to have 10% plus volatility intrady. Gold has been
Forget Bitcoin – the real bubble is in stocks. According to the latest missive from Jeremy Grantham as he warns how dangerous the rise in equity values around the world but especially on Wall Street, which he equates to as big or even bigger than the 1990’s tech led bubble : The long, long
Bloomberg are out today with a piece about how the short term risk of iron ore topping out and the ongoing trade squabble with China may upset the plans of economists forecasting the Australian dollar to hit the 80 cent level later this year. To wit: Traders have seized on every scrap of good news
