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Trade War to Currency War?

A mixed session on Wall Street saw the Dow book its first win in three sessions, although gains were capped by rising interest rate fears; the S&P closed flat, and the Nasdaq dropped a further 0.6%. The Nasdaq experienced heavy losses for a third straight session as a combination of growing global growth fears and a potential Google data exposure saw investors jump ship.

IMF Cuts Global Growth Forecasts

After a mixed session on Wall Street, Asian markets were also mixed. The IMF cutting its global growth forecast for 2018 and 2019 is not that much of a surprise given current conditions. The first downgrade to growth in two years comes amid capital outflows from emerging markets and increased trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The US economy is firing on all cylinders right now. This makes the IMF prediction that US economic growth will decline feel like a distant problem, but the reality is that once the boost from the tax cut works its way out of the system, the impact of trade tensions with China will be laid bare.

US Concerns Over China’s Devaluing Yuan

Chinese stocks firmed in early trade on Tuesday after shedding over 4.3% at the start of the week. With the Chinese market no longer in free fall, attention turned to the yuan, which China allowed to slip past a key level versus the dollar. With the Chinese economy under pressure and trade tensions still riding high a devaluation from the Chinese towards the 7 level wouldn’t be that surprising. Obviously, this will provoke further currency manipulation accusations from the US, but so far that has done little to deter China.  Overnight’s souring risk sentiment saw flows into the safe haven yen increase pulling it off an 11-month low of 114.55 versus the dollar last week.

Pound Steady Despite Consumer Spending Slowing

The pound was showing signs of resilience despite the British consumer turning more cautious in September. After an extended summer spending spree, the UK consumer is once again reining in their spending. This means that the UK economy will not be able to rely as much on the UK consumer to soften the Brexit drag. Shops reported that spending increased 0.7% year on year last month, its slowest rise since October last year. After the summer heatwave and World Cup pulled consumers onto the high street a slowdown in spending was to be expected as consumers balance their budgets.

The information and comments provided herein under no circumstances are to be considered an offer or solicitation to invest and nothing herein should be construed as investment advice. The information provided is believed to be accurate at the date the information is produced. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Please note that 79 % of our retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing money.

The information and comments provided herein under no circumstances are to be considered an offer or solicitation to invest and nothing herein should be construed as investment advice. The information provided is believed to be accurate at the date the information is produced. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Please note that 71% of our retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing money.

14-12-2020

GBP jumps on Brexit talks extension
The British pound has jumped in early trading this week after the UK Prime Minister and EU Commission President agreed to extend Brexit talks beyond Sunday. MARKETSThe S&P 500 fell on Friday, wrapping up a losing week, as the outlook for additional fiscal… Read more

10-12-2020

AirBnB IPO today
At its IPO price of $6 per share, Airbnb ABNB, is expected to raise at least $3.5 billion with an initial market capitalization topping $40 billion. MARKETSStocks fell on Wednesday, retreating from the record highs set earlier in the day, as tech shares strug… Read more

9-12-2020

S&P 500 closes over 3,700
MARKETSThe S&P 500 closed above 3,700 for the first time ever on Tuesday as Pfizer started to roll out its coronavirus vaccine in the U.K., lifting hope of the economy recovering in the near future. The Dow Jones gained 0.4% while the Nasdaq Composite clim… Read more

8-12-2020

Global stock market cap reaches $100 trillion for 1st time
The value of all the stocks in the world put together has reached a giant $100 trillion for the first time. MARKETSThe Dow fell 0.69% Monday, led by Intel and broad-based weakness in value stocks as rising Covid-19 restrictions offset optimism over an imminen… Read more

4-12-2020

Pfizer vaccine supply chain problems
MARKETS The S&P 500 fell slightly from record high. Major U.S stocks indices cut gains quickly in the final hour of trading after Dow Jones reported Pfizer now expects to ship half of the doses it had previously planned this year after finding raw materia… Read more

2-12-2020

Dollar Purge Continues
The US dollar dropped to fresh two-and-a-half year lows on Tuesday, with EUR/USD rising above the widely-watched 1.20 handle. MARKETSNews• Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Wednesday morning trade after major indexes on Wall Street surged to record highs o… Read more

1-12-2020

Bitcoin hits record high
The price of Bitcoin climbed 8.7% on Monday to reach a fresh record high of $19,857.03 - overtaking its previous peak made in 2017. MARKETSNews• Asia stocks rise as the Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for November came in at 54.9 — its… Read more

30-11-2020

OPEC meeting starts
Today OPEC+ begin a 2-day meeting to decide whether to begin producing an extra 2 million barrels per day of oil, or delay for another 3-6 months. MARKETSNews• Asia-Pacific markets are mixed this morning while S&P 500 futures are down half a per cent. Ind… Read more