Day: March 9, 2019

Trade deal to face hurdles close to the finish line, but deal is still coming NPC lowers growth target to 6-6½% and announces large-scale tax cuts Chinese stocks take a beating after sharp rally and Citic sell recommendation We are back to the Friday release of the China Weekly Letter. Early next week we will …

China Weekly Letter: Trade Deal to Face Hurdles Close to the Finish LineRead More

U.S. Review Labor Market Slowing but Still Strong Nonfarm payrolls came in well below expectations, as employers added 20K new jobs in February after adding 311K in January. The three-month average gain of 186K is still rather strong, but marks a moderation in the pace of job growth. The ISM non-manufacturing survey continues to point …

Weekly Economic and Financial Commentary: Labor Market Slowing but Still StrongRead More

U.S. Highlights This week started off on an upbeat note. An uptick in the ISM non-manufacturing index got the ball rolling, with the headline rising by 3.0 points to 59.7 in February. In a nice twist to the recent doom and gloom, housing data was also encouraging. Sales of new homes rose 3.6% in December, …

The Weekly Bottom Line: It’s a Hard Knock Life for Central BankersRead More

Renewed demand concerns weighed heavily on equities and, to a lesser degree, crude oil prices, while the euro and Canadian dollars nosedived in what has been a very volatile week, as investors responded to generally disappointing macro data and dovish assessments of the global economy by major central banks. The Dollar Index touched its 2018 …

Week Ahead: Meaningful Brexit Vote 2.0Read More

Just hours ago, my colleague Fawad Razaqzada noted that “it was not clear whether any real progress was made by Britain and the European Union in reaching an accord.” While there haven’t been any official statements, much less votes, the EU’s latest offer has reportedly been called a “non-starter” by the DUP and not enough …

GBP/USD Dips to 1.30 as UK Reportedly Rejects the EU’s Latest Brexit OfferRead More

The US dollar is lower against most majors pairs on Friday after a massive miss in the U.S. non farm payrolls (NFP) report. The US economy only added 20,000 jobs when the forecast was calling for 180,000. Weather factors and for the most part the government shutdown had a lot to do with the disappointing …

GBP/USD Pound Fails to Capitalize on Dollar Stumble Ahead of Brexit VotesRead More