SGM-FX insights

Inauguration   Passed down from Latin, to French and an English sounding ‘al’ stuck on some time in the late 17th century, inaugural is a word that had carried a similar meaning for a long time. The Roman and Greek picture of an inauguration involved an augur (appropriately named) watching out for natural signs like […]

UK   UK Consumer Price Index up by 0.6% v expected 0.5%. GBP unmoved by that but inflation watchers monitoring closer for any signs of price moves outstripping forecasts.   U.S.Treasury Secretary Nominee: Janet Yellen   Yesterday’s address by Janet Yellen to the Senate Finance Committee was closely watched by markets yesterday and she did […]

Two hands on the wheel   Either the result of a calendar mixup or just a series of unavoidable events, the week ahead is packed with risks that will dominate foreign exchange flows. President elect Joe Biden’s inauguration will take place in Washington on Wednesday. This week members of the European Council, the EU’s executive […]

US Federal Reserve   Next meeting for the Board of the Fed is on 26/27 January and following comments from members including the Boston Fed President, there is little expectation of any tightening in rates nor the reduction or removal of the bond buying program designed to inject stimulus into the US economy. Despite both […]

US Dollar   Still on an upward path at 1.2130 versus EUR, USD is strong on the effects of the expected $1.5 trillion Biden stimulus package. The yield on the US 10 year Treasury Bond has increased by 0.20% in the past month and now stands at 1.17%. US Equity markets on their highs.   […]

Governor   GBP has been on a winning streak this week, re-testing 32-month highs versus the US Dollar yesterday. The price level, around the 1.37 mark versus the US Dollar was ultimately rejected once again by markets and GBP sent backing. However, momentum behind the UK pound has not been stalled so much yet as […]

Commodities: the next frontier   Traditionally associated with oil production, Norway is not the location that immediately springs to mind when it comes to the announcement of the discovery and 2023 mining of substantial new reserves of cobalt, copper, zinc, gold and silver. Challengingly, these minerals are not only under the sea and 700kms offshore, […]

2.3M   In the UK, 2.3 million people have received at least one dose of an approved coronavirus vaccine. Compared with a population of 66M or so, and with 3.12M people already having had the virus, that number may seem small. However, the speed of vaccination, particularly keeping in mind that it so far meets […]

The Terminator   Yesterday Arnie Schwarzenegger(a Republican) issued a statement: “Mr President you are terminated.” Whether indeed the Democrats follow through with their promise to impeach Trump(again) and garner enough Republican votes to support that motion, political tensions in the USA remain high, but (so far) the world’s markets have remained calm despite that. As […]

EUR-USD   When the market is almost universally in accord and received wisdom on the USD is being spouted by taxi drivers(yes really, it happened to me only yesterday), it is time to question it. The 5 year high for EUR-USD was 1.2460 on February 3 2018 and on January 6 2021 it briefly went […]

Democracy in question   Following the runoff votes in the state of Georgia yesterday, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the buildings of the U.S Capitol. The invasion of political institutions in Washington forced the suspension of the debate on Biden’s Electoral College victory. A woman lost her life during the violence and was fatally […]

Global Currencies   It was all about the USD again yesterday and once again on the downside: led by the People’s Bank of China which set a new high by setting the official fix for the onshore Renminbi Yuan of a midpoint of 6.4760, the offshore market reached 6.4419-a big move and the biggest for […]