SGM-FX insights

As the President’s cabinet comes to look more and more modelled upon a revolving door policy, market volatility has increased somewhat. Rex Tillerson became a household name as a symbolic and quintessential original appointment within the Trump administration’s cabinet. The former CEO of ExxonMobil of ten years forfeited much of his participation in the private […]

Discussion and Analysis by Grace Gliksten:   The interest rate is a monetary policy tool used by central banks to manipulate the macroeconomy. Representing both the reward for saving and the cost of borrowing, interest rates can manipulate the attractiveness of prospective domestic currency exposures.   Unsurprisingly, the Bank of England decided not to raise […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter: Yesterday evening, at 19:00BST, the minutes from November’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting were released. A December rate hike in the US is already heavily priced in by the market and widely taken for granted. Yesterday’s release affirmed this sentiment, confirming the members’ commitment to raising the target […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter: Political and geopolitical risk has been amplified immensely this weekend. The threat to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is significant, particularly given the nation’s exposure to crude oil. The threat escalated when a ballistic missile was reportedly fired from Saudi Arabia’s southern neighbour, Yemen, towards the kingdom’s capital. The […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   Yesterday evening, at 18:00 BST, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve System published its latest monetary policy decision. The minutes released alongside the decision detail that there will be no November rate hike within the US, however, the economic outlook remains positive. Whilst the […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   This afternoon, at 13:30BST, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a subset of the U.S Department of Commerce, released economic growth data. Estimating the Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the third quarter of 2017, the data release attested to an annualised rate of growth of 3.0%. Beating consensus […]

Safe Haven Currencies are an imperative, yet complicated, business. Rising in value and price in the face of Geopolitical and general uncertainty and risk, their trend often defies not only other asset trends but also logic. In this article, we analyse known havens and the possible causes for their existence.    US Dollar   The […]

Discussion and Analysis By Charles Porter: Last week’s inflation data within the United States was strong, yet underwhelming. It has led to significant speculation on the US Dollar given the significance of the rate of inflation to currency markets. When the data was released, the US Dollar spooked significantly, losing 0.4% of its value against […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   The Federal Reserve Board’s Chair, Janet Yellen, has serviced in her present office since 2014. Her four-year term ends in February 2018 and her reappointment looks uncertain at best. Regardless of whom the White House appoints as the next Fed Chair and Chairman of the Federal Open Market […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   Whilst the headline above may be many people’s aggregate impression of financial markets and politicians regardless of the short-term conditions, it is certainly the general impression of this week. With only minor data released within the UK on Tuesday and significant US data waiting until Friday, once again, […]

Discussion and analysis by Grace Gliksten:   A month of souring relations with the EU has ended with Turkey in a stalemate with the US following a mutual suspension of visas. The Turkish Lira has unsurprisingly been hit harder by the event than the US Dollar which, surprisingly, still showed a perceptible weakening.     […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter: Labour market performance within the United States offered a short-lived boost to the US Dollar. However, the rest of the US trading session eroded the underwhelming gains made on the back of convoluted, contradictory employment data. The erosion of the value of the US dollar, for example within the […]