US Sets Precedent for Western World? - February 2, 2011 18:35

US Companies added more workers than previously forecasted in payrolls in January. This shows that labour market conditions are improving with employment up by 187,000 jobs according to the ADP employer services. These kind of gains are needed if the Fed’s policy goal to reduce the unemployment rate in the US is to be achieved. […]

FX Markets Driven By Inflation and Sentiment - February 1, 2011 19:08

Markets at the moment are being heavily dominated by monetary policy expectations on interest rates. This is being driven by mounting inflationary pressures seen both in the UK and in the Euro-Zone. Many economists are arguing that the current high inflation levels are short term and that price pressures will decline over the next 6-12 […]

Recovery Ongoing in US Housing Sector - January 27, 2011 18:16

Pending Sales of Existing homes in the US has risen for the 3rd month in a row for the month of December. This shows yet again that the sector that initially triggered the US recession is now stabilising moving forward into 2011.

BoE Member Weale Joins Sentence in Hawkish Stance - January 26, 2011 18:23

Policy maker Andrew Weale decided today to join Andrew Sentence in calling for a quarter point rise in interest rates as officials start to accept that risks to inflation have moved upwards. The BoE minutes stated that most members accept that recent developments have shown that inflation risks in the medium term have augmented.

Sterling Declines on Shocking Q4 GDP Figures - January 25, 2011 19:03

The UK economy has unexpectedly shrank dramatically in Q4 of 2010 as construction slumped. The December Snow did little to help things yet negative growth in the UK now signals that the UK could be set for a double dip recession. GDP fell 0.5% after rising 0.7% in the previous quarter, the office for National […]

US Dollar Gains on Positive News - January 20, 2011 18:10

News Traders will have benefited this afternoon from better than expected existing home sales in the US. Home sales have reached a 7 month high helped by record low interest rates. House purchases increased 12% to an annualised 5.28 million. The US markets have also benefited from a positive Phily Fed Index result and fairly […]

UK Inflation Problems Mount - January 18, 2011 19:53

Inflation in the UK is now becoming a major concern and the market expectation is that the BoE will need to raise interest rates to combat mounting consumer prices. Consumer prices rose to 3.7% vs an expected 3.4% in the UK and now stand at the highest level since April last year. The forecast is […]

Interest Rate Focus Key to Market Direction - January 17, 2011 10:03

Markets have opened the week consolidating on last week’s fundamentals, trading within and not exceeding recent technical ranges.

Portuguese Bond Auction Success Story - January 12, 2011 18:49

Portugal has managed to successfully survive their bond auctions today as demand for both 3yr and 10yr bonds sold at above the initial offered price. This is a positive sign for the Portuguese economy despite the fact that they will still need to raise €20 billion to refinance their debt for 2011. Looking ahead the […]