Market News

The dollar continued its decline on Wednesday morning, heading towards 4 1/2 month lows as relations with North Korea show no signs of warming.

The Australian Dollar got a boost against its US counterpart after the speech by Philip Lowe, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

China banned the popular practice of raising funds by launching token-based digital currencies, a move which directly targeted initial coin offerings (ICOs), which have become increasingly popular in the past year.

The US Dollar edged lower against safe haven currencies, specifically the Swiss Franc and the Japanese yen, after the latest nuclear test from North Korea prompted investors toward safe havens.

South Korea announced on Monday that it was planning new military drills in conjunction with the United States and increasing its ballistic missile defenses after North Korea executed its sixth nuclear test on Sunday.

This week will have a slightly heavier news agenda than last week, but there is little key U.S. data due so the overall effect may be the same.

The Canadian Dollar rose more than 1% versus the US Dollar yesterday after the release of Canadian GDP data showed an unexpected jump in the second quarter to 4.6% against forecasts that productivity would be flat over the period.

According to one governing board member of the Swiss National Bank, the recent weakening by the Swiss Franc against the common currency Euro is good news.

Asian indexes were mixed in early Thursday trade after Chinese manufacturing and services PMIs showed positive signs.

With only brief positive incursions, the Pound Sterling continued its slide versus the Euro as the ongoing negotiations for a Brexit agreement sideline potential investors.

The dollar reversed from 2 ½ year lows as Asian stocks headed higher on Wednesday morning and European markets looked for a positive open as well.

The Japanese Yen is just easing off earlier peaks versus the US Dollar; the Yen earlier hit a 4-month peak after a missile fired from North Korea passed over Japan, only the latest provocation by North Korea which has increased regional tensions

At the Jackson Hole symposium for central bankers which was held this past weekend in Wyoming, markets anxiously watch for any signs that Mario Draghi was prepared to let loose ammunition which would bring the Euro lower.

Hurricane Harvey has been battering the areas surrounding Houston and Galveston, Texas, all weekend, and civilians are not the only ones being hurt by the flooding.

This week will have a considerably heavier news agenda than last week. The agenda will be dominated by quite a lot of U.S. high-impact economic data centered on the end of this week, with the Non-Farm Payrolls data due Friday being key.