Market News

In a candid public statement last Friday, U.S. president Barack Obama urged Britain to vote in favor of retaining its membership in the European Union rather than abandoning ship

Concerns for the possibility of a hawkish decision by the Federal Reserve Bank next week were reflected in Thursday’s trading as the euro reversed course to trade lower against the dollar.

The Euro continues to be steady ahead of the latest policy decision from the European Central Bank. Markets are waiting to hear from the ECB chief, Mario Draghi, to get a hint as to whether or not the current loose policy is seen as appropriate and likely to remain unchanged in the near term.

Crude oil prices steadied in early Asia trade Thursday after jumping overnight on a U.S. report that suggested the global oil glut is dwindling.

The Aussie and Canadian Dollars had retreated from the session’s earlier highs as the rise in the price of crude oil halted.

Asian markets reversed course Wednesday afternoon, giving back their early gains as Chinese mainland markets dropped sharply.

A surprisingly upbeat outlook among German business managers as evidenced by the ZEW surveys helped to lift the common currency Euro.

Minutes of the April Monetary Policy Meeting of the Reserve Bank Board were released Monday and despite its dovish bias, the AUD/USD pair seemed to regain momentum and even hit fresh 2016 highs.

Commodity-linked currencies, especially those linked to the price of oil, recovered after an earlier fall in the session.

Crisis talks in Doha stretched late into the evening yet OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers failed to agree on a deal that would help raise up oil prices which have been crashing over the past year.

This week can be expected to be fairly light, with Central Bank inputs due concerning only the Euro and Australian Dollar. There will also be only a moderate amount of U.S. economic data releases due, so overall it is quite likely to be a relatively quiet week.

In what would be the first global oil deal in 15 years, energy officials in Doha on Sunday agreed to freeze output at January levels until October 2016 when ministers would meet again in Russia to assess the success of their efforts.

China posted its slowest economic growth since 2009 on Friday.

The US Dollar firmed broadly today, posting the largest single day’s gains in over a month as an improved outlook globally convinced investors that a bullish dollar sentiment was the way to go.

The Bank of Japan is ready to expand monetary stimulus again if recent weaknesses in inflation expectations continue.