Author: FX

The major assets bounced back on Tuesday with U.S. stocks rising as Trump delayed tariffs on Mexico and Canada, though trade tensions with China kept investors cautious. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar weakened on softer JOLTS data fueling rate cut expectations, while gold hit a record high amid safe-haven demand. Here’s how your favorite assets traded in the last trading sessions: Headlines: China announced retaliatory tariffs on select American imports and an antitrust investigation into Google France government budget deficit shrank from €172.5B to €156.3B in December U.S. job openings and labor turnover for December: 7.60M (8.01M forecast, 8.16M previous) U.S.…

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New Zealand reported a 0.1% quarter-on-quarter dip in employment for Q4 2024, smaller than the projected reduction of 0.2%, but the unemployment rate still rose from 4.8% to 5.1% as expected. The previous quarter suffered a downgrade to show a 0.6% quarterly reduction in hiring versus the initially reported 0.5% decline. Key Takeaways: Unemployment rate increased to 5.1% in Q4 2024, up from 4.8% in Q3 Employment rate fell to 67.4% from 67.7% in the previous quarter Annual wage growth rose 3.3% year-over-year, outpacing inflation at 2.2% Underutilization rate climbed to 12.1% from 11.6%, indicating growing labor market slack Total…

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EUR/USD gained 0.8% on Tuesday as trade wars turn hypothetical. President Trump’s tariff bluffs have been called by the markets after several delays. European economic data remains thin this week. EUR/USD lurched higher by eight-tenths of one percent on Tuesday, regaining lost ground but failing to recapture the 1.0400 handle. Fiber has snapped a six-day losing streak, but overall bullish momentum remains thin with the Euro at the mercy of overall market flows and looming US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) figures. EUR/USD’s early-week plunge toward 1.0200 sparked by impending tariffs from US President Donald Trump has firmly recovered ground after the…

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Markets:Gold up $29 to fresh record at $2842S&P 500 up 0.7%WTI crude down 62-cents to $72.52US 10-year yields down 2.8 bps to 4.51%CAD leads, USD lagsThe news flow on Tuesday was much slower than a day earlier but the market direction picked up from where we left off as stocks started flat and steadily gained. That was helped out by an intraday reversal in yields with 10s falling to 4.51% from 4.59%. Naturally, that put downward pressure on the US dollar. It was steady selling as the mood improved, particularly in the latter half of European trading. The moves began…

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The Dow Jones is hitting a comfortable midrange around 44,450 on Tuesday. Threats of nearly-global tariffs have evaporated over 24 hours. Trade tensions remain an issue with China, but tariff breaks are priced in. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is testing the 44,450 region on Tuesday, with equities slowing their recent pace of volatility as United States (US) President Donald Trump walks back nearly all of his recent trade war blustering and kicks his self-imposed tariff can down the road for a third time. US import tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada have been delayed for up to…

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USD/JPY monthly chartThe JPY has outperformed most G10 currencies amid tariff-driven FX volatility, benefiting from safe-haven demand. Historically, JPY weakness under Trump was more tied to Fed rate hikes than tariffs. However, JPY’s immunity to Trump tariffs may not be absolute.Key Points:JPY Remains Resilient to Trump’s Tariffs, But Risks Exist:Past JPY weakness (Trump’s first term) was Fed-driven, not tariff-driven.Japan’s trade surplus with the US is smaller than Canada & Switzerland’s, but still exists.A direct tariff threat on Japanese exports would challenge JPY’s immunity.Japan’s Diplomatic Efforts to Preempt Tariff Risks:Japan is actively engaging with the Trump administration to avoid trade tensions.Masayoshi…

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