Market Update

Total assets on the Fed’s weekly balance sheet as of April 20, released this afternoon, declined to $8.955 trillion, roughly the same as on March 16 and below the levels of March 23 and April 13. Beyond the week-to-week ups and downs, caused by the peculiarities of Mortgage Backed Securities …

Cleveland Fed President and FOMC member Lorreta Mester, speaking in an interview on CNBC, said on Friday that the Fed wants to see tighter financial conditions, though not all at once. “We are in a recalibration phase for monetary policy,” she said, adding that the Fed’s goal is to bring …

French voters head to the polls on Sunday to cast their ballots in the final round of a close presidential race between incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and rival Marine Le Pen.Centrist Macron was seen taking the lead against his far-right opponent in the final day of campaigning, taking a 57.5% …

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday that it is worth considering steps to lower US tariffs on Chinese goods in order to ease inflation, and that there would be some “desirable effects” of lowering tariffs. Speaking in a CNBC interview earlier in the day, Yellen stated on Friday …

Data released in Canada on Friday showed a better-than-expected reading on February retail sales. Analysts point out that retail sales volumes held their own in February and March, despite the headwinds to goods spending of mounting inflationary pressure and reopening service industries. The 0.1% gain in February was a little …

The UK economy is heading for a slowdown, or possibly even a recession, as consumers and businesses are hit by the leap in inflation, higher taxes, rising interest rates and uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine.Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Thursday the BoE was walking a …

WTI trades a few dollars lower on Friday but is within recent intra-day ranges in the low $100s. Amid a lack of fresh developments, oil traders are mulling various oil market-relevant themes.Crude oil prices continue to trade in uneventful fashion, with front-month WTI futures stuck within their intra-day ranges of …

Manufacturing PMI was a little stronger than expected, but Services PMI was much weaker than expected. The Dollar Index (DXY) did not react to the latest PMI data release. IHS Markit’s headline Manufacturing PMI rose to 59.7 in April from 58.8 in March, above expectations for a slight decline to …

Headline Retail Sales in Canada rose by 0.1% MoM in March, according to the latest figures released by Statistic Canada on Friday, above expectations for a 0.4% MoM decline. March’s 0.1% growth rate marked a substantial slowdown from February’s strong 3.3% MoM growth rate, which was revised a tad higher …

European shares fell as traders intensified their bets on raising the interest rate after statements tending to tighten from central bank officials, while shares of the German software giant SABB and French luxury goods Kering fell after the two companies announced the results of the first quarter of the year. …