Market News

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he would delay his planned tariff increase on Chinese goods in light of the advances in the trade negotiations that have taken place in recent weeks.

This week is likely to see relatively low market activity, with central bank input due from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, as well a few items of crucial economic data for these currencies plus the Canadian Dollar.

Investor optimism about a trade deal between the United States and China has been propelling markets forward all week, but weak data out of the U.S. on Thursday tempered the excitement by showing a slowdown in the country’s economy.

The Pound Sterling is moving off earlier higher movements against the US Dollar which occurred after Philip Hammond, the UK Finance Minister, spoke of constructive discussions with European Union officials.

The U.S. dollar was stronger on Thursday and Asian stock markets were broadly higher after a release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January meeting yesterday

The Pound Sterling edged off the recently struck 1-week peak while the Prime Minister holds out all hope that her amendment proposals to the European Commission will have been approved.

The dollar index was modestly higher on Wednesday afternoon in Asia, propelled by the greenback’s gains against the yen, even as the currency struggled against most of its other trading partners.

The latest labor data from the UK helped to push the Pound Sterling above the $1.29 level during London trade on Tuesday.

Optimism about a trade deal between the U.S. and China remained high on Tuesday, though Asian markets failed to reflect the sentiment, trading mostly lower in the early afternoon in Asia.

Oil prices started the week by trading at their highest prices since November 2018, boosted by supply concerns due to sanctions from the U.S. against Iran and Venezuela, as well as OPEC’s production cuts which began in January.

This week is likely to see an increase in market activity, with central bank input due from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Reserve Bank of Australia, as well a few items of crucial economic data for various currencies.

The US Dollar moved lower versus the Japanese Yen during Asian trade on Friday after some disappointing data cemented beliefs that the US central bank will hold interest rates unchanged for the remainder of the year.

The Pound Sterling earlier hit a 4-week trough as FX traders await the outcome of the Parliamentary debate.

According to reports from Bloomberg and Reuters, U.S. President Donald Trump is weighting the possibility of extending the March 1st deadline.

The Pound Sterling remained below the $1.29 threshold during London trade on Wednesday after the news that consumer inflation fell 1.8% in January, below expectations, to a 2-year trough.