Author: Robert Jessi

A week of revamped Middle East tensions has left the dollar broadly unchanged. Oil prices have come back lower, allowing risk sentiment and high-yielding EM FX to rebound. The risk is clearly that markets are too sanguine, but fading has been the successful strategy so far, and markets understandably remain laser-focused on front-end rate differentials USD: Stuck as Markets Fade Geopolitical Risk Markets are taking a decisively optimistic stance on fresh US-Iran tensions. Multiple reports indicate traffic in Hormuz has dropped to almost zero in the past couple of days, and we have seen effectively no intent of de-escalation from…

DBS economists Radhika Rao and Mo Ji project China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to slow from 5.0% year-on-year in Q1 to 4.8% in Q2. They note resilient industrial production and strong export growth driven by AI-related electronics, but highlight weak retail sales, subdued household sentiment, and continued drag from declining property prices and falling fixed asset investment.AI exports offset weak consumption”Economic growth is expected to decelerate from 5.0% yoy in Q1 to 4.8% in Q2, amid uneven domestic momentum.””Industrial production is expected to improve from 4.5% in April to 4.6% in June, amid resilient external demand.””Exports growth should have…

From vtmarkets.com | 21 hr ago USD/JPY edged lower on Thursday, with a softer US Dollar supporting the Japanese Yen. The pair traded around 162.45, staying close to 40-year highs, as the market remained sensitive to the risk of Tokyo acting in the foreign exchange market. Prior episodes of suspected support were short-lived, with the currency still weighed down by structural pressures …

By Glen Hallick, Reporter The Canadian dollar was little changed on Thursday, as crude oil pulled back from yesterday’s hikes. The loonie finished at US$0.7058 or US$1=C$1.4169 compared to Wednesday’s close of US$0.7055 or US$1=C$1.4174. On the U.S. Dollar Index, the greenback shed 0.034 of a point at 100.725. Benchmark crude oil prices stepped back on Thursday afternoon, as reports indicated the military exchanges between the U.S. and Iran will be short-lived. West Texas Intermediate gave up US$1.68 at US$71.84 per barrel, and Brent crude retreated US$1.94 at US$76.08. The TSX Composite Index improved 264.65 points on Thursday, to close…

Oil heads for weekly gain as Middle East supply risks persist

The AUD/USD pair attracts some buyers to near 0.6950 during the Asian trading hours on Friday. The Australian Dollar (AUD) strengthens against the US Dollar (USD) on hawkish rhetoric from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).RBA Assistant Governor Sarah Hunter said on Wednesday that the board will act as needed to return inflation to its target, warning some tightening may be required if the oil shock lifts inflation expectations, per Reuters.The Australian central bank has implemented three interest rate increases of 25 basis points (bps) so far this year, lifting the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to 4.35%. Current ASX 30-day…

GBP/USD is trading above 1.3400 on Thursday, changing hands near 1.3415 in early European hours and holding a constructive tone as it builds on Wednesday’s gains. That level matters more than any other on the chart: 1.3400 is where the 200-day moving average sits, the exact ceiling that has capped every sterling rally in 2026, and cable is pressing against it now on the back of a genuine two-week recovery off its June low of 1.3165. The pound has climbed roughly 1.7% off that bottom and hit a fresh one-year high against the euro, but against the dollar it faces…

From vtmarkets.com | 9 hr ago USD/JPY edged lower on Thursday, with a softer US Dollar supporting the Japanese Yen. The pair traded around 162.45, staying close to 40-year highs, as the market remained sensitive to the risk of Tokyo acting in the foreign exchange market. Prior episodes of suspected support were short-lived, with the currency still weighed down by structural pressures …

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…

The trend has become so widespread that it’s earned its own name: the “analog economy.” And it’s not just hype. In Canada, sales of vinyl and other physical music formats climbed 34.5% between 2021 and 2023, reaching nearly $85 million, even as CD and digital download sales continued to decline. While it’s easy to mistake the movement for nostalgia, that explanation falls apart when you consider who’s driving much of the demand. Gen Z never experienced the pre-digital world they’re supposedly nostalgic for. The real reason analog endures So what’s really at play with the analog economy? According to values…