Blogs

WTI falls back towards $16 from a high close to $18 earlier See here for global coronavirus case data If anything, this shows any outright recovery in oil will still encounter selling pressures along the way. The fundamentals in the oil market hasn't changed since the start of the week, but after the rollover to […]

Comments by Ifo economist, Klaus Wohlrabe – German economy is in its toughest time since the reunification – There will be signs of economic recovery from mid-year at the earliest See here for global coronavirus case data

Latest data released by Ifo – 24 April 2020 – 86.1 – Expectations 69.4 vs 75.0 expected – Prior 79.7 – Current assessment 79.5 vs 80.5 expected – Prior 93.0 See here for global coronavirus case data

UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, gives assurances about prime minister Boris Johnson's condition See here for global coronavirus case data

Stocks are down to kick start the session – Eurostoxx -1.4% – Germany DAX -1.9% – France CAC 40 -1.5% – UK FTSE -1.3% – Spain IBEX -1.6% As mentioned earlier, the softer tones here largely reflects the lack of urgency by European leaders to firmly get things done while the Gilead drug setback also […]

Look to pair the strong currency against the weak one Earlier this year I wrote an article on what I consider to be the number one thing to grasp in fx trading. . Today's post will be a reminder of the key concept of pairing a weak against a strong currency.

Comments by UK health minister, Matt Hancock – Says shops that are reopening were never required to close in the first place – Says that prime minister Johnson is in good shape See here for global coronavirus case data

Softer tones observed in early trades – German DAX futures -2.3% – France CAC 40 futures -2.0% – UK FTSE futures -1.5% In part, this reflects the softer tone from US futures – which are down by about 0.5% – but more so when it matters most.

Asian equities softer to wrap up the week The Hang Seng is down by 0.5% while the Shanghai Composite is down around 1% so far today. On the week, the Nikkei finds itself down by just over 3%.

Latest data released by ONS – 24 April 2020 – -0.3% – Retail sales -5.8% vs -5.0% y/y expected – Prior 0.0% See here for global coronavirus case data Slight delay in the release by the source. Those are really poor figures and ONS notes that the drop in retail sales activity in March is […]