The British Pound tumbled near year-to-date lows and took the dubious honor of worst-performing major currency on the week, falling almost four percent against the surging Japanese Yen. Disappointing UK PMI Manufacturing survey numbers capped a difficult week for the British Pound, and indeed the stage is set for further declines into an important week ahead.
This stock market has problems. Problems indeed! With what appeared to be an oversold bounce this morning was shattered on more negative news from the ECB cutting funding to certain Greece’s banks not to mention the FOMC statement about highlighting several members saw the need for additional stimulus causing the bulls packing once again.
Most of the major currency pairs continue to show significant correlations with the MSCI World Stock Index, suggesting that broad-based risk appetite trends remain dominant as drivers of price action. This puts thematic macro-level concerns – specifically, the durability of the US recovery and its ability to offset headwinds from Europe and China facing global growth – squarely at the forefront. The US economic calendar is relatively quiet, with headline event risk clustered at the end of the week as PPI and UofM Consumer Confidence readings cross the wires on Friday. This puts the onus on evaluating the extent of downward pressure.
The ongoing political turmoil in Europe continues to shake the markets, with the inability for Greece to form a government now fueling speculation that the country might soon exit the Eurozone. Although an exit by Greece would have only a minimal impact on the broader economy, given the country’s size, fears of contagion seem to be the bigger problem right now, as investors start to price in the impact this will have on larger economies like Spain and Italy.
Euro: French, Greek Elections Raises Risk For Breakup – 1.3000 Crucial British Pound: Correction In Focus, BoE To Discuss Exit Strategy Euro: French, Greek Elections Raises Risk For Breakup – 1.3000 Crucial The Euro tumbled to a fresh monthly low of 1.2954 as French President Francois Hollande overtook Nicolas Sarkozy as the president of France, while the two main parties in Greece failed to obtain a joint majority, and the
THE TAKEAWAY: PPI numbers come in lower than expected -> high energy prices continue to affect producers -> Euro trades within tight range Producer price inflation in the 17-nation Eurozone increased less than expected in March, representing the sixth consecutive monthly drop in the gauge. The month-on-month number came in at 0.6% vs. the 0.5% predicted by economists, while the yearly number was 3.3% versus the expected 3.4%. The numbers
The NZDUSD (Kiwi Dollar) currency pair is one riddled with uncertainty. It has spent the better part of 2012 heading higher from its January low at .7708. After moving as much as 677 pips to our standing high at .8385, the pair has faltered failing to advance further to challenge the pairs all time high at .8841.
Daily Winners and Losers The Japanese yen is the top performer against a stronger dollar at the close of European trade with loss of just 0.11% on the session. The greenback has continued to outperform all its major counterparts as markets remain on the defensive after a weaker than expected ADP employment report showed the addition of just 119K private sector jobs in April, missing consensus estimates for a print
THE TAKEAWAY: Manufacturing PMIs much weaker than expected -> Core countries hit by slowing demand from the European south -> Euro falls against US Dollar Weak readings from the European manufacturing sector sparked a bout of Euro weakness today. The weighty German manufacturing purchasing managers’ index came in at 46.2 versus the expected 46.3. Beleaguered Italy was hit hardest, with the gauge coming in at 43.8 versus the expected 47.1.
THE TAKEAWAY: German unemployment rises by 19K, despite expectations for 10K fall -> positive labor market trend was said to have been outweighed by slowdown of economic momentum -> Euro drops as weak PMI manufacturing also comes in
