Author: FX
Gold (XAU/USD) Gold (XAU/USD) regains ground on Friday, edging modestly higher after earlier weakness, even as a resilient US Dollar (USD) caps upside momentum. At the time of writing, XAU/USD trades around $4,345, recovering from a daily low near $4,309.The precious metal briefly surged toward record highs on Thursday after US inflation data undershot expectations. However, gains quickly faded as softer inflation lifted risk appetite across equity markets and pushed Gold back within the range established earlier this week.That said, the downside appears limited, as a dovish Federal Reserve (Fed) outlook and persistent geopolitical risks continue to provide a steady…
The Canadian Dollar (CAD) trades little changed against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, as a rebound in the Greenback keeps USD/CAD confined within its week-old range. At the time of writing, the pair is trading around 1.3784, recovering slightly after dipping to an intraday low near 1.3755.The US Dollar holds firm despite a mixed batch of US economic data released earlier in the day. Existing Home Sales rose by 0.5% MoM in November, slowing from October’s 1.5% increase.Meanwhile, the University of Michigan’s final December survey showed a modest easing in sentiment. The Consumer Expectations Index was revised down to…
The GBP/USD pair hovers around familiar levels, yet it has dropped below the 1.3400 mark on Friday after Retail Sales in the UK missed estimates and Federal Reserve (Fed) speakers crossed the wires. At the time of writing, the pair trades at around 1.3370, virtually unchanged.Sterling eases after disappointing UK consumption data, while cautious BoE and Fed rhetoric keep downside risks aliveSales in the UK rose by 0.6% YoY in November, unchanged from the previous print but missed estimates of 0.9% expansion. On a monthly basis, figures fell 0.1%, beneath forecasts of a 0.4% expansion, reported the Office for National…
After months of easing, the Governing Council decided that 2.00% is the magic number—the “neutral” rate where they can sit back and let the economy hum. But if you listened to Philip Lane today, the humming sounds more like a sputter.Lane’s presentation at the CBI workshop was a masterclass in saying “we are done cutting” while simultaneously showing us a dozen charts explaining why the economy is barely keeping its head above water.Lane is pinning the hold on sticky domestic costs. The data shows services inflation is proving to be a problem, refusing to break below 3% in the near…
Prior was 4.10mHome sales change +0.5% vs +1.2% priorShares of home builders have been beaten up this week on poor earnings and even-weaker forecasts for the months ahead. This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com. Source link
Prelim was 53.3Prior was 51.0Conditions 50.4 vs 50.7 prelimExpectations 54.6 vs 55.0 prelim10year inflation 4.2% vs 4.1% prelim (prior was 4.5%)5-year inflation 3.2% vs 3.2% prelim (prior was 3.4%)In the preliminary report, the big surprise was the drop in inflation expectations. Now that tends to correlate with gasoline prices so I’d take it with a grain of salt but the Fed will see it as validation for cutting rates, particularly when combined with the softer CPI report this week. All that said, the market is seeing just a 20% chance of a January rate cut and just over 50% for…
It is Quadruple Witching Friday—that rare quarterly alignment where contracts on four different types of securities expire simultaneously:Index optionsSingle stock optionsIndex futuresIndex futures optionsAccording to data from Goldman Sachs, a staggering $7.1 trillion in notional options exposure is set to expire today. To give you an idea of the sheer scale here, that represents notional exposure equal to roughly 10.2% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 3000.Broken down, that includes about $5 trillion tied to the S&P 500 and another $880 billion linked to single stocks.So, why is today so heavy? December expirations are typically the biggest of…
SPDR S&P 500 ETF declares quarterly distribution of $1.9934 Source link
Sector OverviewThe US stock market today is witnessing notable trends in the technology and semiconductor sectors. Based on today’s heatmap, tech giants are on the rise, with Oracle (ORCL) leading the charge with a stunning increase of 5.47%. Meanwhile, the semiconductor industry is experiencing a substantial uptrend, prominently driven by Nvidia (NVDA) rising 1.73% and AMD climbing 2.29%.Conversely, the consumer cyclicals show a mixed scenario; while Tesla (TSLA) is up 0.89%, other key players like Amazon (AMZN) have dipped slightly by 0.25%. Additionally, consumer electronics giant Apple (AAPL) is down by 0.15%, suggesting mild investor caution or profit-taking in this…
USD/JPY is quickly lower on this.Desirable for FX to move in stable manner reflecting fundamentalsWill take appropriate actionClearly seeing one-sided, rapid movesThis is the strongest language yet and it comes after the yen sold off hard despite today’s Bank of Japan rate hike. The BOJ hiked short-term rates today to 0.75%, which is (amazingly) the highest in three decades.The move was not a surprise to markets and it initially strengthened but it appears as though sellers were waiting in the weeds and have been dumping since, boosting USD/JPY by more than 150 pips.Zooming out, USD/JPY is challenging the November highs…