SGM-FX insights

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 morning, at 09:30 BST, IHS Markit released its Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index. The data approximates managerial sentiment within the manufacturing industry and is thereby used as a proxy to understand the domestic macroeconomy. The latest release of this fast-moving index demonstrated a tick up in economic sentiment […]

Brexit Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   Italian Prosecco, German automobiles and French wine. While bargaining chips are poured out only to be raked off the table, Brexit is coming more convoluted. No deal is better than a bad deal; no matter what you make of that statement, we’re all relatively unified behind the […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   Accounting for a little over one fifth of total the European Union’s GDP, the systemic significance of Germany to the single currency is hard to overstate. Of the series of hard economic data that affect currency markets strongly, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation is certainly […]

Discussion and Analysis by Grace Gliksten:   Due to the potentially high returns for investments, individuals are finding themselves veering away from investing in the traditional industrialised economies and towards emerging markets. Understanding emerging market currencies, which have a unique set of advantages and drawbacks for investors, is imperative to getting the most out of […]

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 […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   Bank of England: Stop and Think – Please!   This week was dominated by one event and so too will next week. Whilst monetary policy continues to, by and large, rule exchange rates, the Bank of England monetary policy decision on Thursday  must be watched closely. Despite a […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   There were high hopes for Australian Consumer Price Index inflation statistics released in the early hours of yesterday morning. The data released bucked the trend emanating from Australia this month. Showing under-expectation inflation, year-on-year inflation within the Australian economy fell short of the previous release. With monetary policy […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   A short while ago, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) for the United Kingdom released economic growth data in the form of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Measuring the total value of goods and services within the economy over a given time period, GDP is the favoured statistic to […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:     Data coming out of the Eurozone has been positive and, more often than not, beaten market expectations both when concerning ‘hard’ data from the underlying economy of ‘soft’ data related to sentiment and confidence levels. The Euro, however, has been largely ambivalent throughout these releases. Whilst tax […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   BoE: Stop and Think – Please!   Part Two: To raise rates or not to raise rates:     To analyse the relationship between the two components of inflation, the dual graph below models the effect of food and services inflation respectively against overall price inflation. These graphs […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter:   Bank of England: Stop and Think – Please!   Inflation within the United Kingdom is uncontrolled and rampant, surely, we have to raise interest rates! At least that’s what the first page of an economics textbook might suggest. In reality, a decision to tighten UK monetary policy on […]