Market News

European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi dismissed fears of a Greek default at his regular press conference in Frankfurt on Wednesday, after the central bank announced that it was keeping interest rates steady.

London continues to compete with San Francisco's web expertise and New York's financial clout as it pushes to be the foremost financial technology - or fintech - center in the world. Already a center of the $5-trillion-a-day global currency market, it now wants to be home to a controversial upstart –bitcoin.

Early morning earnings reports from major financial companies and a few economic reports, including industrial production, could set the tone for today’s markets.

Recent comments made in Japan by one of the Prime Minister’s economic advisors have pushed the Japanese Yen to a 2-year peak versus the common currency Euro as FX traders consider the likelihood that the Yen’s value has deteriorated beyond the Japanese government’s intentions.

Greece is preparing to declare a debt default unless it can reach a deal with its international creditors by the end of April.

Commodity-linked currencies, notably the New Zealand and Australian Dollars, experienced a sharp decline after China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported earlier today that exports declined to -15% in March, well off the consensus expectations of a decline to only 12% and the worst numbers in 12 months.

A rally in China's stock markets to seven year highs on Monday kept an index of Asian shares near its highest level since September, as weak Chinese trade data hardened expectations for more economic stimulus measures from Beijing.

This week should be quieter than last week, with the focus turning to central bank statements and actions for the EUR and the CAD.

The first big wave of earnings reports is expected in the week ahead, with major banks and financials releasing numbers for the past quarter.

After Janet Yellen’s dovish tones surprised at the last Fed policy decision, yesterday’s release of the Federal Reserve’s policy protocols from the March meeting might have given some hawkish bulls reason to believe that a summer rate hike was still on the table.

Chinese investors, for the first time, used the entire 10.5 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) daily quota in a cross-border program buying Hong Kong stocks, boosting turnover under the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect to a record.

After a rally which pushed the US Dollar close to a 3-week peak versus the Japanese Yen, the US Dollar retreated after the news that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) said it intended to maintain the status quo even in spite of slowing inflation.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Wednesday kept its massive monetary stimulus intact, as widely expected, emphasizing the fact that the world's number three economy is recovering moderately.

Oil surged more than 6 percent Monday, and helped boost the stock market as the S&P energy sector jumped 1.8 percent.

Following the release last Friday of an unexpectedly dismal jobs report from the US Department of Labor, the US Dollar had initially been under heavy pressure.