SGM-FX insights

Markets   With global equity markets weaker across the board, WTI Oil steady but still weak at $61.51, markets are absorbing latest news from the ongoing Sino-US talks and the imposition of US tariffs on $200billion of goods, the fact that shale oil could be produced at as low a cost as $15 and concerns […]

Trump is like a box of chocolates; you never know which one you’re going to get.     Noel, I’m ready for the question: deal or no deal? Perhaps the bluntness of the presenter of the (in)famous Channel Four television show would be welcomed in Sino-US trade talks. Markets yesterday took badly to the whimsical […]

  Markets   Big news this week has been the fallback in oil prices to WTI at $61. All eyes in the US and globally on the tea leaves following the Fed’s remarks this week and of course the forthcoming employment data. Bank of England upbeat about UK employment and Governor Carney said yesterday that […]

    A rapidly appreciating US Dollar has sent shockwaves through a previously tranquil market. The extenuation of an extant rally within the Dollar has been precipitated by the intensification of a trade war between the US, China and increasingly Russia. Coupled with a sustained and considerable tightening of monetary policy, with increasingly hawkish comments […]

As things look to have cooled off within the Korean Peninsula, the nuclear problem looms its head in another area; this time Iran. The run up to the decision had numerous impacts upon markets, with the brunt of the volatility being felt in oil markets.   Following the lifting of sanctions in line with the […]

The signals of last night’s monetary policy decision by the US Federal reserve appear to have been misread. In fact, the initial reaction across equity, treasury and FX markets appeared to imply that markets expected the FED to raise rates during this meeting, despite their persistent and vocal admonitions that a rate hike is not […]

  Fasten your seat-belt, hold the nearest handrail, dump your equities, your Dollars and grab all of the Swiss Francs, Japanese Yen and Gold you can get your hands on. Ignoring the former two imperatives designed to do little more than compensate for the impotence of the latter requests, the above risk-off strategy could be […]

As the President’s cabinet comes to look more and more modelled upon a revolving door policy, market volatility has increased somewhat. Rex Tillerson became a household name as a symbolic and quintessential original appointment within the Trump administration’s cabinet. The former CEO of ExxonMobil of ten years forfeited much of his participation in the private […]

Discussion and Analysis by Grace Gliksten:   The interest rate is a monetary policy tool used by central banks to manipulate the macroeconomy. Representing both the reward for saving and the cost of borrowing, interest rates can manipulate the attractiveness of prospective domestic currency exposures.   Unsurprisingly, the Bank of England decided not to raise […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter: Yesterday evening, at 19:00BST, the minutes from November’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting were released. A December rate hike in the US is already heavily priced in by the market and widely taken for granted. Yesterday’s release affirmed this sentiment, confirming the members’ commitment to raising the target […]

Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter: Political and geopolitical risk has been amplified immensely this weekend. The threat to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is significant, particularly given the nation’s exposure to crude oil. The threat escalated when a ballistic missile was reportedly fired from Saudi Arabia’s southern neighbour, Yemen, towards the kingdom’s capital. The […]

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 […]