Market News

Speculation is heating up before the 2 p.m. release of the minutes from the last FMOC meeting. Both equity and bond markets reacted strongly Tuesday in anticipation of the hawkish Fed report.

The news out of Japan is positive. Its annualized quarterly growth came in much higher than expected surprising markets and investors alike.

U.S. manufacturing production rose in April for the first time in three months, indicating a respite for the industry after a one-year slump, a Federal Reserve report showed Tuesday.

Earlier today, Eurostat, the statistics office for the European Union, released external trade data for March on the countries which share the common currency.

The dollar slipped slightly in Asian trading on Tuesday, while the Australian dollar soared after RBA minutes lessened expectations of an interest rate cut.

The Japanese government increased its rhetoric regarding the threat to intervene in the Japanese Yen’s appreciation, despite the looming G7 meeting this week.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro extended the economic state of emergency in the South American country on Saturday by 60 days.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday after earnings reports from major retailers and depressed sales projections kept came in way below forecasted numbers. A decline in oil prices added additional pressure to consumer companies.

The Bank of England kept its key interest rate at a record low of 0.5% on Thursday and made no changes to its 375-billion-pound ($540.06 billion) asset purchase program.

The US Dollar edged higher versus the Japanese Yen, finding support after a member of Japan’s academia suggested that the Bank of Japan could expand Quantitative Easing measures by next month.

Crude oil futures rose 3.5 percent in overnight trading on Wednesday, following official data earlier in the day showing a 3.4-million drop in crude inventories and a fall in crude output to 8.8 million barrels per day, the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2014.

The fears of a possible Brexit are growing stronger which pushed the Pound Sterling lower versus the US Dollar and the common currency Euro.

Asia markets fluctuated on Wednesday, as the yen nudged higher against the dollar and oil prices retreated. Regional stocks spent much of the morning in positive territory after Wall Street posted its biggest one-day rise in two months.

The yen tumbled to a two-week low against the dollar on Monday after Japan's finance minister warned that Tokyo was ready to intervene in the currency market if needed.

The US Dollar struck a fresh 10-day peak versus the Japanese Yen on concerns that the Bank of Japan’s intervention in the Yen is imminent.