SGM-FX insights

Tax   The technical motion presented to the House of Commons yesterday has been passed by 319 votes to 248. The initiative will see the government move to impose a 1.25% hike in national insurance contributions and taxation on dividend incomes. The impact of taxation upon currency valuations is at present difficult to isolate and […]

US Dollar and Oil   The dollar rose 0.1% against the index basket to 92.25 and 10 year Treasury Yields reached 1.36% (the July 14 high was 1.42%). EUR stood at $1.1840. Oil WTI down almost a cent at $68.50 with evidence that consumption remains subdued in the major importing countries.   French Wine   […]

Labor Day   This could have been quite likely the most ironically timed public holiday in history. US markets and much of the US economy alike were closed yesterday for ‘Labor Day’ – a US public holiday celebrating the progress of workers’ rights and workers’ contributions to building today’s United States of America. However, Monday’s […]

Chip Shortage   Ahead of the Munich Car show when all the top brass of the auto industry traditionally gather after the summer holidays, the CEO of Daimler said that not only would the chip shortage extend through 2022 but would last into 2023. That is code for an early warning about Daimler’s production figures […]

Mexico   News that the Mexican market is now open to the UK’s pork industry is more symbolic than significant. Doing this trade deal may bolster the UK’s credentials for joining the trade pact CPTPP or to give it its full name, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership. In case you are […]

A hawk for a hawk makes GBP rise   You may recall that the last Bank of England decision caused some upset within GBP crosses. It was the first decision in quite a while when the Committee was reduced to an eight-strong vote rather than its usual nine members, but it was specifically the absence […]

US Federal Reserve   “Substantial further progress” may sound like an end of term report card for a struggling pupil but that was as far as Fed Chairman Powell went with his prognosis for the US economy but restricted that view to the economy only meeting the criteria for inflation but not for labour. That […]

Emerging Market Shift   In the first half of 2020, lockdowns pervaded in much of the Western World. Despite the cause for economic concern in the world’s most developed economies, there was also cause for optimism with a new vaccine that promised to provide a conclusive end to the pandemic approved by one regulator or […]

Chinese companies listing in the USA   Many if not most US investors who buy Chinese stocks listed on US stock exchanges such as NYSE and Nasdaq believe that they are invested in the parent companies in China. There are two risks to that scenario: firstly they are invested in something called VIE’s or Variable […]

USD Surge   The publication of the Federal Reserve’s latest minutes provided a boost to the US Dollar last week. Whilst risk sentiment had remained fragile and US macroeconomic data had continued to be strong, the greenback had remained on the front foot for much of the preceding week. The market was looking out for […]

Germany   The post WW2 economic power house that is Germany currently looks a bit dented with economic growth for full year 2021 predicted to be 3.7%. So far so good. However what has market analysts scratching their heads is yesterday’s news of ballooning borrowing but much reduced production due to both supply chain and […]

Or Not.   As we wrote about last week, the decision to close the economy of New Zealand due to a suspected case of coronavirus within the community took a heavy toll on NZD. Against the US Dollar, the Kiwi did not find support at its recent lows reached earlier this month and set new […]