The US annual inflation rate has slowed down for the ninth month in a row, hitting 5% in March of 2023. While this is the lowest it's been since May of 2021, it's still well above the Fed's target of 2%. Investors are trying to figure out when the central bank will put the brakes on its hiking campaign to slow inflation.
The March FOMC minutes (released this...
Investors are facing a busy week of economic data that includes the release of consumer price and producer price index data for March on Wednesday and Thursday (US time), respectively. The results of these reports will help determine whether or not the Fed will pause or end its rate-hiking campaign. While investors are leaning towards a continuation of the Fed's...
Gold has managed to surge its way to US$2,020/oz, taking full advantage of the renewed weakness in the dollar price and treasury yields.
Recent data from the US showed a slowdown in the services sector growth, fewer private company job additions than expected in March, and a fall in factory orders for the second consecutive month. This suggests that the economy...
The US dollar's position as the primary global reserve currency is being challenged as countries become eager to insulate themselves from Washington’s influence.
For decades, the dollar has dominated the global monetary system. Currently, about 60 percent of foreign exchange reserves held by central banks are in US dollars, and nearly 90 percent of all currency...
The price of gold hit a high of $1,971/oz before retreating and finding support above $1,960. Upbeat equities and higher Treasury yields make it difficult for XAU/USD to continue its recent rally. Fears of a wider banking contagion have also abated, hurting demand for safer assets. The market cheered First Citizens Bank’s agreement to buy all deposits and loans of...
Which way will Bitcoin break out of last week’s range? On screen I have highlighted the price range between $29,000 and $26,700, representing the high and low of the week-long ranging period. The price has flirted with a break to the downside, touching as low as $26,500, but a confident close below $27,000 is still to occur.
Bitcoin surged in March as confidence...
Two significant events have occurred within the past 12 hours, causing both GBPUSD and gold prices to surge.
The first event was the unexpected rise in UK inflation, which jumped from 10.1% in January to 10.4% in February 2023, marking the first increase in four months. The primary factor behind this increase was the soaring food and drink prices, which surged...
The US Federal Reserve is about to begin its two-day policy meeting and will announce its latest interest rate decision 48 hours later. During the meeting, officials will weigh the possibility of raising interest rates due to inflation, which is still considered high, or whether the current turmoil in financial markets should be given more weight. Unfortunately,...
As a trader, choosing the right leverage level can have a significant impact on your trading results. Two of the most common leverage options are 1:30 and 1:500. But how do you decide which one is right for you?
To understand the difference between 1:30 and 1:500 leverage, let's take the example of trading 1 lot of EUR/USD. With 1:30 leverage, a trader would...
After a brief period of calm following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Credit Suisse disclosed "material weaknesses" in their financial reporting controls and ongoing customer outflows, setting off another bout of instability across global assets. Credit Suisse's biggest investor, Saudi National Bank, also noted that it could not offer more financial support...
Over the past few days, we have seen the second and third largest bank failures in US history. A question remains whether we have seen the last of these failures and what other ripple effects could occur.
In the currency markets, the dollar index dropped below 104, reaching a three-week low for the third consecutive session. Signature and Silicon Valley Bank's...
The USD/CAD might be a popular pair to trade this week with the Bank of Canada (BoC) releasing its latest interest rate decision at the exact same time that US Federal Reserve Chairman begins the second day of his Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress. These events coincide at 10am Wednesday (EST).
The Bank of Canada is expected to maintain its interest...
Forex Alert: Fed Officials' Six-Hour Speech Marathon
Will the numerous appearances of US Federal Reserve officials rock the market during the closing hours of this trading week?
Over the course of six hours leading up to the market's closing this week, we will hear from Lorie K. Logan (Dallas Fed), Raphael Bostic (Atlanta), Michelle W. Bowman (Board of...
The new governor of the Bank of Japan, Kazuo Ueda, is currently in the spotlight as traders attempt to determine how closely he will adhere to his predecessor's ultra-loose monetary policies. Despite inflation in Japan reaching a 40-year high, Japanese interest rates have remained unchanged, causing the yen to weaken considerably over the past year. In his...
The gold-silver ratio is a key metric that traders use to assess the relative value of gold and silver. The ratio is calculated by dividing the price of gold by the price of silver and is used to determine whether one of these precious metals is under or overvalued. Effectively, the ratio tells you how many pieces of silver you could purchase for one piece of...
We have learned that almost all US Federal Reserve officials backed a 25-basis-points rate hike at the last FOMC meeting held on January 31 to February 1.
Only a few officials favored a larger 50-basis-points hike at the meeting or said they "could have supported" it. Even so, many more dovish sentences were spoken in the latest meeting than compared to the...
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will deliver its second interest rate decision of 2023. The decision is release on Wednesday 2pm NZDT (Tuesday 8pm EST) What makes this interesting is that the country has just been hit by Cyclone Gabrielle which has reportedly caused more than NZ$12 billion worth of damage to infrastructure and private property. As such, some...
A beautiful amount of volatility entered the market after the release of the US inflation data a few hours ago. Some large wicks presented in the GBP/USD which eventually tested and rejected at 1.2121 to the downside. Although, the more interesting wicks occurred exactly at the time of the release, with the market feeling out a high of 1.2270 and a low of 1.2150....
