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The phrase ‘no news is good news’ would be an accurate way of describing the last two weeks. Yesterday, the news that Silvio Berlusconi was to resign as Prime Minister of Italy was meant to lift market sentiment – instead Italian bond yields rose to 7.5%, the Euro weakened and…
Yields on 10 year Italian bonds rose yesterday to 6.68%, a Euro era high for the country, and precariously close to the 7% which would mean that Italy needs to seek a bail out. This is despite the ECB ramping up its bond buying to €9.52 billion, during the first…
The good news is that Greek politics might now drop out of the limelight as a cross-party coalition Government is being formed in order to ensure payment of the latest tranche of EU/IMF aid. The bad news is that it is being rapidly replaced centre-stage by Italian politics, with Prime…
This week is another busy one as far as economic releases are concerned, with the pick of the bunch being Wednesday’s release of the BOE’s MPC minutes. The mere rumour that a third person had joined the call for a rate hike had Sterling appreciating against a basket of global…
Well who would want to be an MPC member right now? This morning, Ed Balls is cited in the press criticising King’s effective endorsement of the coalition’s austerity measures, they have critics claiming inflation is out of control and even a member of the MPC committee, Andrew Sentence, effectively saying…
Having subtly hinted in his letter to the chancellor on Tuesday that rate increases this year are very much on the horizon as the market expects, Mervin King spent yesterday’s Quarterly Inflation Report news conference largely unwinding this expectation, again reverting to the more dovish line he has toed consistently…
Yesterday marked a day of highs, lows and turnarounds in various currency pairs amidst what was a fairly volatile day in the financial markets. The Euro weakened markedly after yesterday’s ECB rate meeting. After the inevitable ‘no change’ verdict, it was President Trichet’s comments that destabilised the single currency. Last…
The Euro pulled back from its recent highs yesterday as the crisis in Egypt continued giving sterling a chance to climb firmly back above the 1.17 mark. The Euro has been boosted recently due to expectations that a rate rise may soon be on the cards although these views may…
Preliminary retail sales in Germany released this morning show a surprise fall of 0.3% in retail sales for December. The EU’s largest economy had been expected to post a 1.9% increase compared to the previous month. EU CPI estimates are also released this morning which will provide a clearer picture…
Are the markets really comparing the chances of an interest rate rise in the Euro zone with the chances of a rise in the UK or US? So what is Germany’s inflation is growing – there are 21 other states to consider (Inc the principalities). Spain has 20% unemployment! …