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The dollar was mixed in N.Y. trade on Thursday, with most of the action coming from EUR-USD losses. The ECB left policy alone at its meeting, as was widely expected, though he opened the door widely for a June move, saying the council is comfortable acting at the next meeting. Read more
On Tuesday, I looked at the broad macro-level statistics for Portugal, a country that implemented austerity policies. Today, I want to continue that analysis by looking at Spain, another EU country that has implemented austerity. Let's begin by noting that Spain has indeed cut government spending over the last 2-3 years. Read more
The dollar traded softer versus the EUR and AUD, but held steady against most of the other main currencies. The euro held firm into the ECB announcement and press conference with the market discounting a no-change outcome. EUR-USD rose to a peak of 1.3949 after earlier testing 1.3905, which is a former intraday high and now support level. Read more
The AUD rallied following stronger than expected Australian employment data, which rose 14.2k in April, and above-forecast trade numbers out of China, which helped feed a risk positive session in Asia Pacific markets. AUD-USD rose above 0.9390 for the first time since Apr-15. Read more
The dollar largely meandered inside narrow trading bands in N.Y. on Wednesday, though overall, retained a slightly firmer bias. EUR-USD and cable jockeyed near the bottom of their recent ranges ahead of Thursday's BoE and ECB meetings, where no policy changes are expected. Read more
Unit labor costs are a measure of productivity: how much does business pay a worker in order to get one unit of production? Read more
No big moves today were seen during the Asian and European AM sessions. USD-JPY clocked a three-week low of 101.43 during Tokyo trade before settling back above 101.50. Hefty Nikkei losses amid a general risk-off environment along with the minutes to the Apr 7-8 BoJ meeting supported the yen. Read more
USD-JPY fell below 101.50 for the first time in three weeks, while EUR-JPY clocked a one-week low. Hefty Nikkei losses amid a general risk-off environment along with the minutes to the Apr 7-8 BoJ supported the yen. The minutes signalled that the central bank doesn't see that an expansion in its already aggressive policy would be necessary. Read more
Last week, Portugal announced that it was emerging from its bailout without a safety net. This was greeted as a somewhat vindication of the austerity policies the Portuguese government utilized in order to qualify for the bail-out package. But a deeper look at the relevant statistics shows the policies implemented as a result of austerity did more harm than good. Let's begin with a working definition of austerity. Read more
The dollar lost ground again in N.Y. on Tuesday, sliding toward 101.50 versus the yen, and maintaining altitude near 1.3950 against the euro. With the odds of further BoJ and ECB easing slipping, the dollar could remain under pressure for now. Cable traded to near 1.7000, with only reported barrier option defense keeping the pairing on the 1.69 handle. Read more
