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Political turmoil plays havoc with currency markets, boosts dollar

The dollar is again winning the cleanest-dirty-shirt contest this morning as mounting political turmoil in Japan and the euro area casts a pall over currency markets. The yen is down almost 2 percent and Japanese equity markets are soaring after Sanae Takaichi unexpectedly triumphed in the Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership race, defying polls that had put her rival, Shinjiro Koizumi, ahead among party grandees. Investors believe Takaichi—an advocate of looser fiscal and monetary policy in the mould of Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics”—could seek to unleash fresh government stimulus while pressing the Bank of Japan to pause its tightening. Options markets have...

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Currency trading ranges shrink as markets continue to ignore shutdown risks

Rumours of the dollar’s shutdown-inflicted death have been greatly exaggerated. The greenback is holding firm against its major rivals this morning despite confirmation that the US government will remain crippled into a second week, indicating that traders don’t expect the political impasse to result in any meaningful diminishment in the global appetite for American financial assets. On a week-to-date basis, the pound and euro are up 0.3 percent against the dollar, the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso are down 0.2 percent, and the Australian dollar is sitting on a nice circa-1-percent gain after the Reserve Bank signalled a more cautious...

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US shutdown vacuum

• Holding on. Markets take the latest US shutdown in stride. US equities edged up while bond yields slipped back. USD & AUD tread water.• US shutdown. No real sense of urgency to strike a deal quickly. US shutdown could drag out. This might be a negative for US growth & the USD.• Data void. US government shutdown also means US economic data, such as Friday’s non-farm payrolls report, may be put on hold. Global Trends The latest US Government Shutdown kicked off yesterday and financial markets have so far taken it in stride. European equities registered solid gains (EuroStoxx600...

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Another US government shutdown

• Holding firm. US equities ticked up overnight, while bond yields consolidated & USD weakened. AUD rose with AUD also outperforming on the crosses.• RBA holds. No change by RBA. Comments leant more ‘hawkish’. Sticky inflation & improving growth means another rate cut isn’t guaranteed.• US shutdown. Without a last minute deal another US government shutdown will kick off today (~2pm AEST). We think this may be a drag on the USD. Global Trends Modest moves across markets overnight with another US government shutdown looking likely to kick off today (see below). US and European equities ticked up with the...

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RBA: any more easing left?

As widely anticipated, particularly after last week’s hotter monthly Australian CPI figures, the RBA kept the cash rate at 3.6% at today’s meeting. The Board’s decision was unanimous, and there was little firm guidance suggesting any degree of urgency to lower interest rates again in the near-term, in our view. From our perspective key comments within the post meeting statement leant relatively more “hawkish”. More specifically the RBA noted that based on the recent data Q3 inflation might be “higher than expected” and that the decline in core inflation has slowed. This is the signal coming from our pipeline inflation...

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