Our FX 101 series provides a strong foundation of knowledge and terminology to better understand the more in-depth discussions and analysis covered in our regular episodes of FX Talk. By offering a range of topics and insights, FX 101 helps you build a solid understanding of FX and its complexities, and ultimately serves as a starting point in doing business without borders.  This episode will cover: - Definition and explanation of inflation - Measurement of inflation - Types of inflation -...

We dive into the main reasons behind the recent strength of the US dollar in the global markets. The USD has been trading higher against most other G10 and emerging market currencies, except for a few exceptions such as Latin American ones. We explore what's been driving this rally, with a focus on market concerns surrounding the US debt ceiling and how they have contributed to the safe-haven flows into the greenback. We also discuss the ongoing negotiations in Washington around the debt...

Amidst important data releases, the US NFP beat expectations, but the US CPI reported a decline in inflationary pressures. G10 currencies have seen the USD as the worst-performing currency for the past two months (except for JPY), largely due to an increasingly confident market that the Fed is finished hiking rates after May meeting. In contrast, the ECB and BoE have more room to go. The ECB is still data-dependent, whereas the BoE voted to raise rates by 25bps at its May meeting. Despite...

Our FX 101 series provides a strong foundation of knowledge and terminology to better understand the more in-depth discussions and analysis covered in our regular episodes of FX Talk. By offering a range of topics and insights, FX 101 helps you build a solid understanding of FX and its complexities, and ultimately serves as a starting point in doing business without borders.  This episode will cover: - What are central banks? - What is the purpose of central banks? - How do central banks...

Welcome to the latest episode of FX Talk, where we bring you all the latest news, headlines, and developments in the foreign exchange market. In this fortnightly dose, we cover the most important events that have occurred since our last episode. Despite a quieter period in the markets, banking uncertainty has been a key focus, which has now significantly abated. On the positive side, risk sentiment is high, with most currencies performing well against safe havens, and there has been a broad...

In this episode, we discuss the recent banking turmoil, specifically the failure of SVB and its impact on the market. SVB's sensitivity to interest rate risk and its investment in long-duration bonds led to a significant mark-to-market hole in its balance sheet, causing depositors and investors to withdraw their funds en masse. This panic has contributed to the troubles faced by Credit Suisse, but we believe these failures are one-offs rather than systemic issues. While the market has...

Today's focus is on the major data that has reshaped expectations for central bank interest rates. Generally, we're observing two things: the activity data is holding up better than expected, and inflation is proving more persistent than hoped. As a consequence, markets are bracing for higher rates for a longer period. Let's start with the US. We have seen a string of positive surprises in recent macroeconomic data. The latest reports on GDP, retail sales, non-farm payrolls, and inflation...

Since the last episode, the markets have experienced a relatively quiet period, with most major currencies trading within narrow ranges. There were, however, some exceptions in Scandinavia, where certain currencies rallied sharply. For instance, the Swedish krona jumped following a hawkish announcement from Riksbank. On the other end of the scale, the euro underperformed and was the only G10 currency that failed to rally against the US dollar. That being said, there has been a noticeable...

The current trading environment is marked by volatility and choppiness, with most currencies trading within tight ranges throughout January. This can be attributed to a combination of the absence of major news events and anticipation surrounding announcements from central banks such as the Fed, ECB, and BoE. Starting with the Fed, their latest move was in line with expectations - a smaller 25bp hike was announced on Wednesday, following a 50bp hike in December. This move was heavily...

At the moment, the key theme in currencies is an improvement in risk sentiment and an appreciation in high-risk currencies, at the expense of lower-risk ones, such as the US dollar. The USD index has hit a June 2022 low and has fallen more than 10% since October, as the Federal Reserve slows its hiking cycle and global recession fears abate. Among the better performers, currencies closely linked to China have been doing well. In the G10, the Australian dollar has been doing particularly well....

What can we expect this year? The narrative in 2022 was much about central bank responses to rising inflation rates. Will that remain the case this year? Or will these central banks begin calling time on their tightening cycles. And what about the global economy? Are recession indeed on the way? Or will we just see modest downturns in growth?  In summary: what are the main themes to look out for in currencies in 2023? Our Market Analysts will tell you everything about it.  We’d like to hear...

China finally signs of an easing in its zero-Covid policy. It boosted the CNY and risk currencies against the USD. We see an improvement in risk sentiment and also signs of a downtrend of US inflation. We also are noticing growing expectation among investors for a dovish pivot during the Fed meeting next week.  We’d like to hear from you! Provide us with feedback so we can improve the podcast: https://linktr.ee/fxtalk   Liked this show? Please leave us a review here – even one sentence helps! 

If you’re following financial markets at the moment, there really is very little chance to catch your breath. Since our last episode, the market sentiment has improved and investors dialed back expectations for US rate hikes, weighed significantly on the dollar.  Meanwhile, the October US inflation report is much softer than expected. The big question is: What does that mean for the US dollar? We’d like to hear from you! Provide us with feedback so we can improve the podcast:...

According to the BoE, further increases in interest rates may be required to bring inflation back down to target, but the bank stated that the peak in rates would be '‘lower than priced into financial markets''. On the UK economy, the BoE once again struck a sombre note. In its statement, the MPC spoke of a ‘very challenging’ outlook for the UK economy, mentioning the tightening in financial conditions since August. The committee also warned that the economy may already be in recession, and...

Last time we spoke about the reaction in the pound to the budget and the potential impact of the tax cuts on the economy. Since then, we have seen one of the most dramatic U-turns in British political history. Most of the tax cuts (around 80%) that were announced have now been reversed.  How have markets reacted? Sterling posted decent gains and UK bond yields have stabilized. Big question for us: What’s next for the pound? Is this U-turn a green light to a sterling rally, or do downside...

What are the economic consequences of the mini-budget? Since the initial sell-off, the GBP has recovered in the past few sessions. What are the reasons for the recovery in the pound?  We’d like to hear from you! Provide us with feedback so we can improve the podcast: https://linktr.ee/fxtalk   Liked this show? Please leave us a review here – even one sentence helps! 

We'd like to hear from you! Provide us with feedback so we can improve the podcast: https://linktr.ee/fxtalk   Since our last episode, the US dollar has rallied against almost every other G10 currency, with the sole exception of the Swiss franc, which has benefitted from the hawkish turn from the Swiss National Bank. The main theme in markets has been one of risk aversion, as investors and economists pencil in weaker global growth during the remainder of 2022 and into next year.  Liked...

The main talking point has been the move below parity in EUR/USD for the first time since December 2002. The pair teetered on the brink of parity for a couple of sessions, before falling fairly comfortably below it on Thursday. A divergence in natural gas prices across the Atlantic was largely to blame for the move, with last week’s hotter-than-expected US inflation report enough to drive the pair through the key psychological level.  We have, however, seen a recovery in the euro since then,...

Time flies when you’re having fun. So, this is a good chance for us to look back on the first six months of the year, and talk about our main highlights in the FX market so far this year. We then look ahead, and talk about what we expect during the remainder of 2022.

The Swiss franc was the best performing currency in the G10 last week after the SNB shocked markets by announcing a 50 basis point interest rate hike - the consensus was for no change. The bank also changed its wording on the franc, no longer calling it ‘highly valued’ and saying that it would be prepared to intervene in the market on both sides.

Markets will have one eye on next Wednesday's FOMC meeting. The Fed is set to raise rates by another 50 basis points next week and signal more hikes are coming at upcoming meetings. This will be followed by the Bank of England’s latest policy decision on Thursday.  But we’re going to focus first on Thursday’s ECB announcement, which delivered a long awaited hawkish pivot. In the bank’s statement, it explicitly said that it would raise interest rates by 25 basis points at its July meeting, and...

On the whole, most economies rebounded well from the COVID induced slowdowns in 2021, as an easing in restrictions allowed for an unleashing in pent-up demand. While the strict covid restrictions are a thing of the past for most of us, a number of other downside risks to growth have materialized of late, causing markets and central bankers to fret that a slowdown could be on the cards during the remainder of the year.

We spoke on our last episode about the sharp sell-off witnessed in risk assets in late-April, which sent most higher risk currencies lower against the safe-havens, notably the US dollar. The US dollar index, which measures the currency against a weighted basket of its peers, rose to its strongest position in almost 20 years earlier in the week, as heightened global growth concerns triggered a ‘risk off’ mode in markets.  The dollar has also continued to be well supported by expectations for...

In FX, we’ve seen a classic period of ‘risk off’ trading. The US dollar has been by far and away the best performing currency, rallying sharply against pretty much everything else. Most emerging market currencies are down, with the exception of the Russian ruble, some more than 4 or 5% in the past week alone. The major currencies have also suffered rather extraordinary sell-offs, in most cases to multi-month or multi-year lows. Two of the most notable examples, and the two currencies that...

For the most part in the last month, we’ve seen an improvement in risk sentiment - the safe-havens have generally underperformed, notably the Japanese yen, which has slumped to around its lowest level at any time since I started working in the FX industry, and at the release of this recording may well have fallen to its lowest level since 2002.  The higher risk currencies have generally rebounded, notably the Australian dollar and Norwegian krone in the G10, while among emerging markets: the...