Even Dove Draghi turns into Hawk Draghi with time

EUR/USD

Mario Draghi started yesterday’s press-conference with quite an unexpected statement pointing to the low possibility of further rate cut or another LTRO. It is a really surprising stance, especially at the time when the European countries one after another slide into recession. Apparently, the atmosphere in the ECB is such that no matter how peace-loving the ECB’s head is he will eventually turn into a hawk. Of course, it wasn’t without the heavy pressure from Germany, all the ruling top of which reacted nervously to the latest actions of the ECB in regard to long money and easing of collateral requirements. more…

Bad news from Europe can be trumped only by bad news from the USA

EUR/USD

Not otherwise than to emphasize the advantageous position of the USA over Europe data on the European manufacturing activity proved to be poor. What is especially unpleasant is that these were final data which generally do not differ much from the preliminary estimate, but this is not the case now. The Italian PMI came in at the lowest level in the history, having lost at once 4.1 points from March to April. The April PMI figure for France was revised from 47.3 down to 46.9. The estimate for Germany was cut down to 46.2, the lowest level since July 2009. Such more…

ISM Manufacturing PMI rekindles hope for further recovery in the USA

EUR/USD

How good should be the news to send Dow Jones to its 4-year maximums? Practically, it shouldn’t be very bad after a chain of poor figures. Standing in contrast with a whole series of disappointing news, yesterday’s Manufacturing PMI from ISM managed to set the markets going. In April the index totaled 54.8 against 53.4 a month earlier. Among the components of the index, those, reflecting dynamics of exports and new orders, showed the strongest growth. It is really impressive. The high levels of the commodity price and manufacture sub-indexes are also worth mentioning (61.0 for both). This speaks about the more…

Is it the weather which stands behind the good start of the year in the States? If true, the affairs are in a bad shape.

EUR/USD

The single currency is still in the upward trend despite a certain decline to its lower boundary during slack trading on Monday. Today the most part of the day promises to be even more sluggish due to holidays in Europe, however it doesn’t deprive us of the opportunity to see the volatile end of trading today. Among yesterday’s statistics we should single out data on the consumer spending of Americans in March, which came in rather bearish despite the better-than-expected personal income growth. In March Americans spent by 0.3% more than in February while earned by 0.4% more. Thus, the conspicuously more…

The inflation slowdown in the USA gives the Fed room for maneuvering

EUR/USD

Though we cannot talk about the absolutely smooth run of events in the USA yet, one factor definitely speaks in its favour. This is the slowdown of inflation. Such disposition leaves space for the Fed to maneuver in regard to the further QE. Frankly speaking, inflation has never held back from taking decisive measures, yet the pressure on the part of economists has always been high. Let’s turn to the facts. According to the preliminary estimates, in the first quarter the US economy was developing with the annual rate of 2.2%. It is a bit weaker than the expected 2.6%, but more…