Market News

Though the US Dollar remains in high focus for the world’s traders, commodity-linked currencies are also taking center stage.

Last week was fairly active but this week coming up is the week everyone has been waiting for: this is the week when the Federal Reserve is widely expected to make the first rate hike in about nine years. Get the economic and political calendar for the popular currencies for the week of December 14, 2015 here.

The stock market ended the week with a dreary performance as the S&P 500 fell below its 100-day moving average, dropping 1.9 percent to 2,012.37 at 4 p.m. in New York and posting its worst performance since August.

Asian markets traded mixed on Friday, despite Wall Street's positive finish Thursday with record low oil prices weighing resources down and China shares trading in negative territory on news of yet another top executive gone missing.

Earlier today, the Swiss National Bank maintained its benchmark interest rates at the current low (-0.75%).

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut the official cash rate (OCR) to 2.5 per cent and hinted that the cost of borrowing could fall even further.

The Euro took a breather from its latest string of falls during Wednesday’s trading and edged toward the recently struck 1-month peak.

The U.S. dollar rose sharply against the Canadian loonie Tuesday hitting 1.3600 and establishing a new 11-year high.

The ongoing fall in oil prices as well as the stock market decline in emerging markets helped to extend the losing streak for commodity-linked currencies.

Myanmar (formerly Burma), is the latest country to open its own stock exchange. The new exchange will be launched on Wednesday and is a further step in the pariah state’s recovery.

OPEC continues to pump near record oil causing prices to remain near 7-year lows in early Asian trading on Tuesday, and worsening a glut that has already seen hundreds of thousands of excess barrels produced on a daily basis.

The New Zealand Dollar, known familiarly as the Kiwi, fell 1% in today’s trading session as investors wait to learn of the central bank’s decision on additional easing.

Asian share markets were mixed on Monday as caution grew ahead of Chinese data, although sentiment for a Fed interest rate hike continued to be strong.

This will probably be a quieter and less dramatic week ahead, but there are still some significant events scheduled that may have a big impact upon financial markets. Get the economic and political calendar for the popular currencies for the week of December 7, 2015 here.

Asian equities dropped to three-week lows Friday, following a global sell-off as comments from the Fed and the European Central Bank (ECB) had investors still worrying about a Fed rate increase.