Banks in South Africa have provided loan reliefs worth ZAR 537 billion ($31 billion) since the beginning of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, according to the South African Ministry of Finance, Reuters reported. An increase in bad loans and impairment charges is negatively impacting the South African banking sector and the …
Read More »Weekly Recap: Dollar Roars Back on Jobs Data Testing Euro’s Rally and Gold’s Resilience
Labour Market Powers Dollar Surge Robust U.S. jobs data for May 2025, with 139,000 jobs added, under…
USD Faces Downside Risks as NFP Data Looms
The US dollar teeters near multi-month lows, trading around 98.5, as markets await the Nonfarm Payro…
EUR/USD Retreats as ECB Signals Policy Pause
The EUR/USD pair recently pulled back from a multi-week high near 1.1500, trading at 1.143 with a mo…
Oil Prices Slip as U.S. Fuel Stockpiles Rise, Saudi Price Cuts Add Pressure
Oil prices fell in Asian trade on Thursday, extending losses from the previous session as rising U.S…
The Euro’s Moment? Weak US Data and ECB Action Set the Stage
The euro strengthened against the US dollar, with the EUR/USD pair climbing above 1.14. This shift c…
Post ADP Data: USD/JPY Decline Highlights Yen’s Strength, Economic Shifts
The Japanese Yen is gaining momentum against a faltering US Dollar, with the USD/JPY pair dropping b…
Uncertainty Fuels Gold’s Surge as US Data Signals Slowdown
Rising amidst economic headwinds, gold has once again demonstrated its traditional role as a safe-ha…
Explainer: What Implications China’s Economic Slowdown Could Have On World Markets
China’s economy, the world’s second-largest, is faltering, sending ripples of concern through global…
Bulgaria and Ukraine: Eurozone Ambitions and Economic Alignment
Bulgaria’s path to euro adoption, scheduled for January 2026, and Ukraine’s pursuit of EU integratio…
Will the ECB Cut Rates Again? More About Opportunities, Challenges for the Eurozone
The European Central Bank (ECB) is poised to reduce its deposit rate by 0.25 percentage points to 2%…
Market Analysis
August, 2020
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20 August 2020 10:53 pm
GBP/USD Above 1.32
The British Pound (GBP) is rising against the US Dollar (USD), on the back of the latter’s decline. A surge in inflation in the UK and anticipation for a trade deal between London and the European Union (EU) are providing support for the GBP, while an increase in jobless claims …
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20 August 2020 10:45 pm
Court Dismisses Lawsuit by Trump to Protect Tax Returns
A lawsuit by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to block the enforcement of the release of tax records has been dismissed by a court ruling on Thursday. The verdict was built on the logic that the case could provide undue expansion of presidential immunity, Reuters reported. Trump …
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20 August 2020 8:19 pm
U.S. Treasury Yields Down Following Unemployment Data
The U.S. Treasury yields declined on Thursday, following the release of unemployment data. The number of people applying for jobless claims in the United States rose above one million once more, reaching 1.1 million last week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury …
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20 August 2020 8:11 pm
European Stocks Close Lower on Negative Expectations
European stocks closed lower on Thursday, following expectations by the US Federal Reserve that the COVID-19 will weigh heavily on economic activity on the short-term. The pan-continental STOXX Europe 600 settled lower by 1%. The UK’s FTSE100 also declined by 1.61%, while the French index CAC40 finished lower by 1.33%. …
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20 August 2020 7:54 pm
Kudlow: US Still Engaged with China on Trade Deal
White House economic adviser and the Director of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, said on Thursday that the Trump administration is still engaged in the first phase of the trade deal between the United States and China, Reuters reported. The Trump administration is also pleased with the agreement’s progress …
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20 August 2020 7:47 pm
Airbnb Files for IPO on NYSE
Airbnb, the short-term home and room rental company, has confidentially filed on Wednesday for an initial public offering (IPO), Reuters reported. A recent report by the Wall Street Journal suggested that the company could go public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as early as before the end of …
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20 August 2020 7:42 pm
US Natural Gas Storage Rises in Week
Natural gas storage inventories in the United States increased last week, data showed on Thursday. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), natural gas stockpiles rose during the week ended on August 14 by 43 billion cubic feet, in line with market expectations. Natural gas futures did not change …
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20 August 2020 6:18 pm
OPEC + Needs to Contend With a Daily Surplus of More Than 2M Barrels
An internal OPEC + report seen by Reuters showed that some members of the group of oil-producing countries will need to reduce production by an additional amount of 2.31 million barrels per day to compensate for the recent excess supplies. The report said that the surplus recorded in the period …
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20 August 2020 5:48 pm
Philly Fed Manufacturing Index Declines to 17.2
The headline Diffusion Index of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey dropped to 17.2 in July from 24.1 in June. This print came in worse than the market expectation of 21.
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20 August 2020 5:45 pm
1.1 million Americans Applied For Unemployment Benefits
There were 1,106,000 Initial Claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending August 15th, the data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) revealed on Thursday. This reading followed last week’s print of 971,000 (revised from 963,000) and came in worse than the market expectation of …
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20 August 2020 5:44 pm
Canada: ADP Employment Change Arrives at +1.15 million
Employment in Canada increased by 1,149,800 from June to July, the monthly data published by the ADP Research Institue revealed on Thursday. Meanwhile, June’s reading of +1,042,900 got revised down to -1,764,600. “The job market posted employment growth in July as businesses started to reopen,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and …
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20 August 2020 5:06 pm
CBRT Leaves One-Week Repo Rate Unchanged
The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) announced on Thursday that it left its policy (one-week repo) rate unchanged at 8.25%. With the initial market reaction, the USD/TRY pair fluctuated wildly. After dropping below 7.2700, USD/TRY rose sharply and was last seen gaining 0.55% on the day at …
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