Category: Daily blog

Mayhem in markets

“Manic Monday” is an apt description of yesterday’s trading in markets. US equities oscillated between steep losses and modest gains  – the latter triggered by a social media post saying Trump would pause his “reciprocal” tariffs for 90 days, which was quickly denied – before ending flat to marginally lower on the day. US bond […]

Equity markets head further south

The fall-out from Trump’s tariffs is continuing in markets. Asian equities are sharply lower overnight following China’s announcement of retaliatory tariffs on the US on Friday, while US bond yields are heading south again after bouncing off their lows on Friday. In FX, the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen  – the so-called ‘safe-haven’ currencies […]

Euro on the front foot

US equity markets fell sharply and the dollar weakened considerably yesterday, indicating investors believe Trump’s trade policy will have a large negative impact on the US economy. The Fed is now seen cutting interest rates quite aggressively over the coming months with about 100bps of easing priced in by the end of this year. The […]

Stocks lower, dollar weaker

Equity markets have reacted badly to Donald Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs, which looks set to kick off a ‘trade war’ that will have a negative impact on the global economy. Government bonds are rallying as investors eschew risk and expectations for central bank rate cuts harden, while the dollar has lost further ground after  […]

Main currency pairs treading water

The main currency pairs were not much changed yesterday with the euro and sterling trading in narrow ranges against the dollar either side of $1.08 and $1.29 respectively and EURGBP hovering in and around £0.8350. They are likely to continue treading water today ahead of Trump’s tariffs announcement due at 9pm Irish time tonight. Reports […]

Dollar firmer as stocks steady

Equity markets were under pressure again yesterday though US stocks managed to rally into the close of business. Bond yields headed further south as stocks fell but they finished off their lows of the day. The dollar lost ground initially before recovering later in the session, albeit operating within narrow ranges. The euro are sterling […]

Stocks slide ahead of ‘Liberation Day’

Bonds rallied strongly on Friday as equity markets sold off sharply ahead of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs announcement this week (with the rout in stocks continuing in Asian trading overnight). In this context, it was relatively calm in FX with the main currency pairs not much changed on Friday, nor indeed on the week as a […]

Dollar a touch weaker

The euro and sterling are both a touch firmer against the dollar this morning, trading at around $1.0780 and $1.2940 respectively, while EURGBP is not much changed at £0.8330. The pound has performed relatively well this week – it’s ahead against both the euro and the dollar – helped by a paring back of UK […]

Motoring ahead with tariffs

The expectation that Donald Trump would announce a 25% tariff on auto imports, which he duly delivered, weighed on equity markets yesterday, while the dollar rose to highs of circa $1.0730 and $1.2870  against the euro and sterling respectively though it has since eased back to around $1.0760 and $1.29. The euro continues to drift […]

Sterling a touch softer

The main currency pairs are not much changed from yesterday morning. The euro continues to hover just below the $1.08 level against the dollar and is trading at around £0.8370 against sterling, while the latter has dipped below $1.29 against the US currency. UK inflation data released a short while ago were weaker than the […]