Difficult to believe that until recently the US dollar (UUP, quote) was being written off by all and sundry, with some even suggesting that its days as the currency of first reserve were numbered. Many were calling for the Yuan to replace it, and even the euro in its current iteration. Others suggested a basket of currencies. How times have changed.
Brent crude oil (BNO, quote) dipped below $70 on to start the week as the commodity continued to free-fall following OPEC’s decision not to implement a cut. The commodity traded at $68.60 at 8:30 GMT on Monday morning as investors looked to economic data for any indication that the global economy could pick up.
Sina Weibo has banned users from promoting the country’s most popular messaging app WeChat on its platform as the two Internet giants battle for users.
Overnight China’s Central Bank surprised markets with a 25 basis point rate cut for 1 year deposits as well as the 1 year lending rate cut of 40 basis points.
An historical day in China and Hong Kong as trading link program was initiated today between the two countries that allow investors to trade on both exchanges.
For oil traders and speculators hitting the sell button has become almost automatic, as the heavily bearish tone for the commodity shows no signs of abating just yet, with another solid move lower yesterday offering low risk trading opportunities once again.
HSBC China (FXI, quote) manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) post no surprises from its earlier flash report of 50.4 for the month of October, a slight improvement over September’s 50.2 results.
The last few days have been interesting ones for crude oil (USO, quote) traders, with the commodity mirroring the volatile price action and associated volume profiles of related markets, and suggesting in turn, that we may be approaching a pause, and possible bottom to the current bearish trend.
September’s been an interesting month of price action for oil traders, as the WTI contract (USO, quote) continues to bounce around, driven back and forth by a variety of forces as it continues to consolidate in a narrow range.
Oil traders hoping for a slow down in the bearish trend, to enjoy a relaxing weekend away from the screens, may have been tripped up by the Chinese (FXI, quote) data which slipped out on Saturday, with industrial production coming in at 6.9% against a forecast of 8.8%, missing the forecast by some distance, and whipping up the perfect storm.
