Swiss Franc Firmer on Thursday, Remains Fundamentally Bearish

The Swiss franc gained on the extremely weak US dollar today. The currency also halted its decline against the euro after 10 consecutive sessions of losses. Still, the Swissie remains an inherently bearish currency due to the negative fundamentals. State Secretariat for Economic Affairs released its consumer confidence survey today that said “consumers still rather downbeat.” The monetary policy outlook also remains a negative factor to the Swiss currency. With prospects for additional monetary easing from the
European Central Bank, there are strong chances that the Swiss National Bank will follow suit and cut interest rates further into negative territory from the current level of -0.75 percent. USD/CHF

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Bank of Japan Responsible for Weekly Losses of Yen

The past trading week was marked with several policy meetings of major central banks. The most interesting of them turned out to be the Bank of Japan meeting that resulted in a surprise cut of the interest rates into negative territory. As one can expect, this resulted in a slump of the Japanese yen. Not many market participants had expected Japan’s central bank to reduce rates, thinking that it would rather tweak its assets purchase program or implement other form of stimulus if any at all. Yet the BoJ surprised virtually everyone, announcing negative interest rates and

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Yen Edges Up on Demand for Safer Assets

Yen is heading higher as investors and traders turn to more traditional safe haven assets in response to uncertainty and volatility in the stock market. Yesterday, the yen was still relatively week. Thanks to the recent announcement from Bank of Japan policymakers that there would be negative interest rates in an effort to stimulate the economy, yen has been struggling. The BOJ seems determined that Japan will “win” the currency wars underway to make currencies relatively cheaper, and offering a reason to buy goods from particular countries. Today, however, there has been some demand for the yen, and the currency is

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Global Stocks Sink Benefiting Japanese Yen

The Japanese yen rallied today as the drop of crude oil led to a rout of global stocks which in turn resulted in risk aversion and demand for safe haven assets. Crude oil has attempted to rally intraday but failed to keep gains and retreated below the opening level. European stocks dropped more than 2 percent as a result, joined by equities of other regions in a decline. The yen profited from this, getting additional support from the

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BOE Decision Weighs on Pound

The latest interest rate decision from the Bank of England is weighing on the pound right now, sending it lower against many of its counterparts. Although sterling is still higher against the greenback, it’s fading a bit. The latest policy announcement saw the BOE maintaining its record low interest rates. One of the most significant changes in this month’s decision was the voting. Ian McCafferty has been voting for months to raise rates, and has been the only dissenter. This time, though, McCafferty changed his mind and voted along with the other members of the MPC to keep rates low. News that the BOE will continue to keep rates low sent the pound lower against its counterparts immediately following the

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Great Britain Pound Extends Losing Streak

The Great Britain pound dropped today, extending its losing streak against the euro and the Japanese yen for the fourth consecutive day. The sterling remained soft after yesterday’s monetary policy meeting of Britain’s central bank that showed unwillingness of policy makers to embark on monetary tightening. The outlook for tighter policy was the major

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Pound Hurt by Policy Outlook, Manages to End Week Higher vs. Dollar

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Euro Rallies a Bit as Gold Gains Ground

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Euro Down on Factory Data, Except Against the Dollar

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Euro Pulls Back on Profit Taking and Consolidation

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Euro Heads Higher, Even as Global Stocks Tumble

Euro is heading higher today, even though global stocks are falling and there is some risk aversion entering the markets. Gold prices are on the rise, though, and that seems to be providing a bit of a boost to the 19-nation currency. Euro is getting some help today, thanks in large part to higher gold prices. Gold is moving higher, gaining more than $35 an ounce as global stocks plunge lower. There is a lot of uncertainty right now, and normally that would weigh on the euro, but the 19-nation currency seems to be holding its own, except against the yen. Also helping the euro is the fact

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Greenback Trades Mixed as Global Stocks Plummet

Global stocks are once again plummeting. The dollar is trading mixed, however, as many traders await economic data to determine whether or not recent dollar strength remains relevant. Stocks around the world are heading lower and there is a great deal of volatility in the markets. Safe haven demand is helping the greenback to some degree, but the currency is trading mixed. The dollar, while a traditional safe haven, is a little lower against the euro, which is finding strength in the fact that the ECB hasn’t implemented any dramatic measures, and the eurozone economy seems to be doing a little better than expected. Also causing some

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Economic Data Helps US Dollar

US dollar is heading higher today, thanks in large part to the latest data releases. With the economic outlook for the United States continuing to improve, some analysts are still predicting another rate hike in March, while other think that the Fed will rate a little longer. Rate hike hopes are still alive for some analysts. The latest data out of the United States shows that the unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 per cent, the lowest it’s been in eight years. The labor market news is a little mixed, though. Even with the drop in the

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Dollar Struggles as Fed Monetary Tightening in Question

The US dollar gained on the Great Britain pound but retreated versus the euro and the Japanese yen on Monday as traders continue to question the ability of the Federal Reserve to continue its interest rate hike cycle this year. The Fed has raised interest rates in December for the first time in nearly a decade. Some economists were arguing that was not a good decision as the

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Australian Dollar Remains Below Opening Level After Trimming Losses

The Australian dollar trimmed today’s losses against its major rivals, almost erasing them against the US currency, but remained below the opening level as the market sentiment was unfavorable to currencies related to commodities and growth. Futures for oil fell almost 3 percent during the current session, and US crude dropped below the $30 per barrel level. This intensified

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