Consolidation Underway
The US indices gained on Wednesday, but the gains were more contained compared to the prior sessions, as the European indices posted losses. The S&P500 added 0.30% and the Dow was up 0.10%. Nasdaq led gains thanks to the rally...
ECB: Eurozone Monetary Policy to Remain Relatively Accommodative, For Now
Summary The European Central Bank’s (ECB) December 16 monetary policy announcement looms as a key event for market participants, as the central bank considers whether to bring its emergency asset purchase program to an end. Economic trends are mixed heading...
Oil Jumps, Gold Steady On Omicron
Oil surges on lower omicron concerns Oil prices rose overnight as omicron concerns continued to fade, and US API Crude Inventories showed a surprise draw of 3.1 million barrels. Assuming momentum remains positive in global markets, a fall in official...
Nonfarm Productivity and Unit Labor Costs Surprise Markets!
Usually regulated to second tier data, the final look at Nonfarm Productivity and Until Labor Costs for Q3 came in worse than markets had expected. Nonfarm Productivity was -5.2% vs the -4.9% preliminary print. Note that this was the largest...
Australian Dollar Rises after RBA Meet
The Australian dollar has extended its rally and is trading at 0.7100. AUD/USD has had an impressive week so far, up 1.44%. RBA optimistic but cautious The RBA policy meeting did not contain any surprises and could be summarized as...
Bank of Canada Meets as Omicron Hits Loonie
Not much is expected from the Bank of Canada when it concludes its meeting at 15:00 GMT Wednesday. The domestic economy is absolutely booming, setting the stage for several rate increases next year. However, most of that is already priced...
Bank of Canada Meeting Preview: BOC Inching Closer to Rate Hikes
Friday’s big miss in the US jobs report set off plenty of speculation about what it might mean for next week’s FOMC meeting, but the more immediate “jobs report impacting a central bank decision” situation comes from North of the...
Weekly Economic & Financial Commentary: Powell Hints at Earlier Taper, but Payroll Miss & Omicron Variant Loom Large
Summary United States: Powell Hints at Earlier Taper, but Payroll Miss & Omicron Variant Loom Large This week was bustling with economic news as tensions mounted surrounding the breakout of the Omicron variant. The changes in tone in Powell’s comments...
The Weekly Bottom Line: Supply Issues Easing, But Omicron Looms
U.S. Highlights The ISM manufacturing index showed signs of easing supply chain conditions. Supplier delivery times shortened while production, employment and new orders indexes all increased. This week’s payrolls report left something to be desired, but a pop in household...
Forward Guidance: Bank of Canada and Omicron Risks in the Spotlight Next Week
Virus concerns and inflation will loom over the final scheduled Bank of Canada policy decision of 2021. So far, economic data has been tracking close to the central bank’s expectations. The 5.4% (annualized) increase in Q3 GDP was almost bang-on...