SGM-FX insights

Gong Hei Fat Choy!     In case you have asked yourselves what the world’s most populous nation, China get up to over their New Year, there is quite a prescriptive programme!     With Asia celebrating Chinese New Year on the eve of the Year of The Pig, markets have seen GBP weaken by […]

Silly Season arrived early?     In my experience it is August each year when trading bosses are relaxing on the Algarve/ In the South of France/ In the Hamptons when newspapers and wire services desperate for stories and having found nothing of any possible interest to their readers from the seconds/thirds in command of trading […]

Hey presto: Upbeat Monday(for a change!)     So here’s the thing, having had the chance over one of the coldest weekends in recent years to review the markets this weekend, and especially the UK market, it would seem that there is a good chance that the UK stock market is set for a decent […]

Best Excuses?!-The Dog Ate My Homework     Yesterday was the last day for filing 2018 tax returns with the UK’s HMRC and they have shared their own favourite excuses for late or non-filing of returns. Not all of them meet the high standards which we all remember from our school days but here are […]

Europe: Wood and Trees   US: Oil on troubled waters     When the history books are written on the 2016-2019 period of the UK, it is odds on that writers will scratch their heads to explain that while the UK nationally was convulsed on leaving Europe or remaining in Europe, the mystery was why […]

Eyes on the Federal Reserve     Today sees the first-rate setting meeting of 2019 at the Federal Reserve. The market expectation is that they will leave rates unchanged but what is of much more focus is what is said about interest rate changes going forward. Will the Fed water down further expectations of rate […]

No Deal Exit Off The Table?       With UK MPs due to debate a number of amendments to TM’s Brexit Deal this evening at 7pm, markets are pricing in the assumption that a No Deal Brexit is off the table. GBP is set for its best monthly performance for a year so what […]

The calm before the storm……?     So that’s the question that markets face today: will tomorrow’s Brexit Debate in the UK Parliament be a damp squib defined as inconclusive or Parliament deciding to apply for an extension to the 29 March Brexit date? That perversely given that fact alone solves none of the Parliamentary […]

Once; Twice; Four times a winner!     The Pound was rewarded overnight by traders in the New York and Asian sessions, pushing the UK’s currency back towards levels not seen for some 20 months. Today’s session initially drew limited support for the Pound given the fresh resistance levels that the UK currency approached overnight. […]

EURgh.     Yet another dry, somewhat lacklustre and wholly uninspiring monetary policy press conference from the European Central Bank’s President Draghi. Eurgh!     During yet another round of disappointment to the long-term normalisation of European monetary policy, Draghi announced that rate setters acknowledged downside risks are growing, with the outlook for short run […]

Golden Week?     After a horrid close to last week with a loss in Sterling totalling some 0.4% on the day, this week has delivered a far brighter fortune to the Pound… so far. Soaring for the third consecutive day and putting Sterling on track for a record-breaking week. Enjoying a staggering 0.6% appreciation […]

It’s in the fine print:     The universe of possible Brexit outcomes now more than ever resembles an outstretched Chinese hand fan. Spanning a spectrum of some 180 degrees from hard Brexit on 29th March 2019 through to its polar opposite, no Brexit at all, the decisions facing the Prime Minister, and increasingly facing […]