Author: Robert Jessi

Tame US PCE knocks US dollar lower – Oil prices retreat despite Iran attack on Taiwan ship – US dollar opens lower against the majors. USDCAD open: 1.4185, overnight range 1.4181-1.4210, close 1.4203, …

The Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at 2.25%, with the Bank Rate at 2.5% and the deposit rate at 2.20%. The war in the Middle East has increased volatility in global energy prices and financial markets, and heightened the risks to the global economy. The breadth and duration of the conflict, and hence its economic impacts, are highly uncertain. Prior to the war, the global economy was on pace to grow at around 3%, as expected in the January Monetary Policy Report (MPR). Economic growth in the United States has moderated but remains solid,…

Mark McCormick, chief FX strategist at BMO Capital Markets, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss how a hawkish U.S. Fed affects the macro backdrop. The Canadian dollar remains under pressure as a stronger U.S. economy and shifting Federal Reserve expectations lift the U.S. dollar. With central banks providing less forward guidance, investors are relying more heavily on economic data to gauge the path for interest rates and currencies.BNN Bloomberg spoke with Mark McCormick, Chief FX Strategist at BMO Capital Markets, about the outlook for the loonie, why the U.S. dollar continues to strengthen, and how a more data-dependent approach from central…

Musk says Grok 4.5 enters private beta at SpaceX and Tesla

If not for the threat of intervention, there’s a strong argument would already be trading significantly higher. We examine what’s holding it back, and what traders should be watching in H2 2026.Fundamentals continue to favour USD/JPY upside BOJ intervention threat continues to suppress volatility US economic exceptionalism remains a powerful tailwind Speculators continue backing further yen weakness Technicals continue to favour the bulls The Battle Beneath the SurfaceIf not for the threat of intervention from Japanese authorities, there’s a strong argument USD/JPY would be trading significantly higher than where it does today. Markets have gone from pricing aggressive Federal Reserve…

DBS Group Research’s Ma Tieying expects South Korea’s June exports to remain very strong, with year-on-year growth around 50–60% and the trade surplus widening above USD30bn. AI-related semiconductor demand and higher memory prices are seen offsetting energy imports. Headline and core CPI are forecast to rise further, and the Bank of Korea is projected to deliver two 25bps rate hikes by 4Q.Exports strength and CPI upside”June trade and inflation data will be the key focus ahead.””Exports are expected to maintain strong growth of 50-60% yoy for the fourth consecutive month, based on the preliminary data for the first 20 days…

Tame US PCE knocks US dollar lower – Oil prices retreat despite Iran attack on Taiwan ship – US dollar opens lower against the majors. USDCAD open: 1.4185, overnight range 1.4181-1.4210, close 1.4203, …

The Bank of Canada announced today the departure of Deputy Governor Rhys Mendes on April 10, and the retirement of Deputy Governor Sharon Kozicki on July 15. Mr. Mendes will be leaving his post to relocate to Toronto with his family. He was appointed Deputy Governor in 2023, with responsibility for overseeing the Bank’s analysis of international economic developments and serving as the Bank’s G7 and G20 Deputy. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Governor, Mr. Mendes served as Assistant Deputy Minister for Economic Policy at the Department of Finance. He previously held senior positions leading the Bank’s analysis of global economic conditions and…

The Bank of Canada appears content to sit on its hands while the Canadian dollar takes a beating. Bank of America sees the central bank holding its policy rate steady through 2027, even as the US Federal Reserve keeps its own rates elevated, a divergence that would let the loonie drift lower against the greenback. The BoC held its benchmark rate at 2.25% on June 10, marking the fifth consecutive meeting without a meaningful change. The case for doing nothing The BoC is caught between competing pressures that make action in either direction risky. Domestic growth remains weak, while energy-driven…

What I did not know until I read about it later is that squirrels forget. They bury far more than they ever dig back up, and many of those acorns are never recovered at all. Some of them quietly become the trees that will one day feed a squirrel that has not been born yet. The diligence I had been admiring was real, but so was the forgetting, and the two turned out to be inseparable. I have thought about that small act of forgetting more than I would like to admit, because there is something uncomfortably human in it.…