The pandemic remained a major force influencing growth in the US economy in 2021. But as vaccinations picked up and stay-at-home orders began to be lifted, the economy took considerable steps to recove throughout the year.Despite being behind pre-pandemic levels on many major metrics, on other metrics, and notably on …
Read More »October Canada’s Retail Sales Stronger Than Expected
Data released on Tuesday showed Retail Sales rose in Canada 1.6% in October, above expectations. According to analysts at the National Bank of Canada, the rebound at car dealers helps lift retail sales further above pre-crisis level. Analysts also see October’s retail sales report heralding a strong end of the …
Read More »European Shares Surge On Vaccine-Related Hopes
European stocks tracked a global market rebound Tuesday, boosted by hopes that vaccines will work to stem the tide of surging omicron cases. However, a brewing energy crisis appeared to loom with a key Russian pipeline reversing course and raising questions about whether politics were behind the reversal.The Stoxx Europe …
Read More »Europe Alarmed By Looming Fifth Wave, Lockdowns
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to make an announcement on whether or not England will go into a circuit breaker lockdown or not within the next 48 hours, according to The Sun newspaper. The UK government has so far resisted imposing new restrictions ahead of the holidays even …
Read More »Eurozone Consumer Confidence Falls In December
The Euro seemed to take a hit in wake of the day and EUR/USD fell to session lows. The Eurozone Consumer Confidence index fell to -8.3 in December from -6.8 in November according to the flash estimate released by the European Commission on Tuesday. That was below expectations for a …
Read More »Oil Prices Rise Sharply
Oil prices rose today, Tuesday, despite the continued concern of investors about the rapid spread of the Omicron virus globally, which prompted countries to consider more restrictions that are likely to affect the demand for fuel. Brent crude futures rose by $1, or 1.45%, to record in contracts for February …
Read More »Canada: Retail Sales Rose in October
According to a report released by the Statistics Canada on Tuesday, Canadian Retail Sales rose 1.6% MoM in October, more than the expected 1.0% rise and a sharp acceleration from September’s 0.6% MoM decline. To be updated…
Read More »The Turkish Lira Rises 25% Against The Dollar, But Then Fell Slightly
The Turkish lira jumped from very low levels, which it started trading yesterday, but quickly rebounded after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan introduced measures to protect savings in the local currency from such fluctuations. Under Erdogan’s plan, his government promised to guarantee deposits in lira, sending the currency up by …
Read More »Gold is Trapped in a Narrow Range
Gold prices remained in a narrow range during trading today, Tuesday, as the weak dollar faced a slight improvement in risk sentiment, while the high incidence of infection due to the Coronavirus “Omicron” remains a source of concern for investors. Spot gold rose 0.1% to $1,791.73 an ounce, while US …
Read More »Market Drivers – Asian Session 21-12-2021
This morning, the People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s exchange rate against the US dollar at 6.3729 yuan per dollar. At the same time, expectations were for the Chinese yuan to stabilize against the dollar at 6.3711 yuan per dollar, and it closed yesterday at 6.3933. Gold fell in …
Read More »