The FOMC Meeting Minutes were released yesterday and stated that they will most likely continue with their current pace of tapering. The minutes were from the Jan. 28-29 policy meeting where the Fed voted to trim its current quantitative easing program to $65 billion from $75 billion. They also stressed that benchmark interest rates will remain at 0-0.25% until the unemployment rate approaches 6.5%, depending on the health of the economy in the context of price stability. Recent weak data from the US was dismissed as winter storms may have disrupted day- to- day commerce. At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 0.56%, the S&P 500 index had lost 0.65%, and the Nasdaq Composite index had lost 0.82%. The Chinese HSBC Manufacturing PMI came out below expectations and fell to a seven-month low of 48.3 in February from a final reading of 49.5 in January. This brought concerns regarding the strength of the economy. Consequently, markets finished broadly lower; The Nikkei 225 lost 2.15% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.19% and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.18%. European stocks are also in negative numbers today after a range of Manufacturing and Services PMI came out below expectations.
WTI reached its highest price since October following increased demand and lower supply of Crude stock. The price then declined when the Chinese data came out worse than expected suggesting that demand could weaken from the second largest oil consumer. Today The U.S. is to release its weekly report on initial jobless claims and data on consumer price inflation so we could see more movement in the price later. After the Meeting Minutes were released yesterday Gold immediately dropped. As the report showed plans to continue the current pace of tapering investors turned away from the safe haven asset. Physical demand has also been low due to the high price. Traders should watch out for US data and focus on the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index at 3pm(GMT).
Today’s Main Events:
13.30 GMT: USD – Core CPI -measures the changes in the price of goods and services, excluding food and energy. The CPI measures price change from the perspective of the consumer. It is a key way to measure changes in purchasing trends and inflation.
13.30 GMT: USD – Initial Jobless Claims – measures the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time during the past week. This is the earliest U.S. economic data, but the market impact varies from week to week.
15.00 GMT: USD – Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index – rates the relative level of general business conditions in Philadelphia. A level above zero on the index indicates improving conditions; below indicates worsening conditions. The data is compiled from a survey of about 250 manufacturers in the Philadelphia Federal Reserve district.
23.50 GMT: JPY – Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes – The Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes are a detailed record of the Bank of Japan’s policy setting meeting, containing in-depth insights into the economic conditions that influenced the decision on where to set interest rates.
February 20, 2014 – Daily Market News
Today’s Hot Assets: USD, JPY, Gold
The FOMC Meeting Minutes were released yesterday and stated that they will most likely continue with their current pace of tapering. The minutes were from the Jan. 28-29 policy meeting where the Fed voted to trim its current quantitative easing program to $65 billion from $75 billion. They also stressed that benchmark interest rates will remain at 0-0.25% until the unemployment rate approaches 6.5%, depending on the health of the economy in the context of price stability. Recent weak data from the US was dismissed as winter storms may have disrupted day- to- day commerce. At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 0.56%, the S&P 500 index had lost 0.65%, and the Nasdaq Composite index had lost 0.82%. The Chinese HSBC Manufacturing PMI came out below expectations and fell to a seven-month low of 48.3 in February from a final reading of 49.5 in January. This brought concerns regarding the strength of the economy. Consequently, markets finished broadly lower; The Nikkei 225 lost 2.15% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.19% and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.18%. European stocks are also in negative numbers today after a range of Manufacturing and Services PMI came out below expectations.
WTI reached its highest price since October following increased demand and lower supply of Crude stock. The price then declined when the Chinese data came out worse than expected suggesting that demand could weaken from the second largest oil consumer. Today The U.S. is to release its weekly report on initial jobless claims and data on consumer price inflation so we could see more movement in the price later. After the Meeting Minutes were released yesterday Gold immediately dropped. As the report showed plans to continue the current pace of tapering investors turned away from the safe haven asset. Physical demand has also been low due to the high price. Traders should watch out for US data and focus on the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index at 3pm(GMT).
Today’s Main Events:
13.30 GMT: USD – Core CPI -measures the changes in the price of goods and services, excluding food and energy. The CPI measures price change from the perspective of the consumer. It is a key way to measure changes in purchasing trends and inflation.
13.30 GMT: USD – Initial Jobless Claims – measures the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time during the past week. This is the earliest U.S. economic data, but the market impact varies from week to week.
15.00 GMT: USD – Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index – rates the relative level of general business conditions in Philadelphia. A level above zero on the index indicates improving conditions; below indicates worsening conditions. The data is compiled from a survey of about 250 manufacturers in the Philadelphia Federal Reserve district.
23.50 GMT: JPY – Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes – The Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes are a detailed record of the Bank of Japan’s policy setting meeting, containing in-depth insights into the economic conditions that influenced the decision on where to set interest rates.
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