SGM-FX insights

U.S. Employment   Good news that the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims dropped to a 4 month low last week of 712,000. While this is part of the still colossal 20.1 million US citizens claiming unemployment benefit at the end of February, together with the new reported Covid infections also falling, this paints […]

Gold versus Silver   Silver stood at $27 on January 3 2021 and is now $27 ie unchanged. Gold on the other hand was $1,941 on January 3 2021 and is now $1,726 down 11%. In these days of pundits recommending buying gold as a hedge or more racily, buying bitcoin as a surrogate for […]

St David’s Day   A very happy St David’s Day to all of our Welsh readers. Canonised in 1120AD by Pope Callactus ll, St David died this day in 589AD. St David’s Day is marked by wearing either a daffodil or a leek (or both) and eating Welsh rarebit or cawl which is a broth […]

US Dollar   Despite showing a gain to above JPY 106, USD was at a 3 year low yesterday as the commodity currencies such as the AUD and CAD benefited, as did the EUR posting $1.2230. Copper traded at $9,500 a ton its highest in 10 years and 10 year USTreasuries yielded 1.46%.   Asian […]

14 Days   Bond yields and commodities continue to climb higher at a rapid pace. Commodity indices have now surpassed pre-pandemic levels amidst expectations of inflation around the corner. Commodities in particular are benefitting from analysts’ predictions that the restoration of pre-pandemic demand will outpace supply normalisation in the short-run. The ECB President moved yesterday […]

Inflation   A survey recently undertaken in the USA found that both market professionals and also retail investors when polled, by a significant majority responded that they were not concerned about inflation. Without wishing to rain on that particular parade, we should all remember that only approximately half of the population have any experience of […]

US Employment   Keenly watched as a barometer of not only the US but also the global economy, initial claims for unemployment benefits was higher than expected this week and compounded by a revision upwards by 55,000 in the claims for the preceding week meant that the market did not like it with USD weakening […]

US Dollar   With US consumer sentiment falling in the last two weeks and indications of slower job growth, hopes for a fast snap back for the US economy have been dented but not badly damaged-see below. What this adds up to is a drop of 1.5% in the USD over the past fortnight. All […]

The Euro   Following Mario Draghi’s selection as Italy’s next Prime Minister, markets were upbeat on Italy’s prospects with the all important spread of 10 year Italian Bonds to German Bunds being at 100 basis points for the first time for a year having blown out to 240 basis points last April when Italy was […]

US Employment   Cheering news for the global economy from the US with initial jobless claims falling to a weekly 779,000 which suggests that US unemployment is beginning to reduce . Mid January there were 17.8 million Americans claiming unemployment benefits. Equities rallied on the news yesterday and the USD strengthened against most currencies; US […]

Oil   With OPEC agreeing to keep supply just below demand, Saudi Arabia voluntarily cutting their production by 1 million barrels per day, inventories therefore falling and cautious optimism on economic growth, WTI oil duly rose to $54.88 in yesterday’s session. Forecasts vary but at present point towards a rise from current levels by as […]

Oil With OPEC agreeing to keep supply just below demand, Saudi Arabia voluntarily cutting their production by 1 million barrels per day, inventories therefore falling and cautious optimism on economic growth, WTI oil duly rose to $54.88 in yesterday’s session. Forecasts vary but at present point towards a rise from current levels by as much […]