Market News

The Canadian dollar clawed back most of its losses against the greenback on Monday, as oil rose and investors braced for top-tier domestic data and a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate decision later in the week. The loonie has fallen nearly 6 percent since notching a two-year high at C$1.2063 in September, pressured by a more dovish tone from the Bank …

Gold rose on Monday ahead of a series of central bank meetings and U.S. President Donald Trump’s expected announcement of the next Federal Reserve chair, and amid a slightly weaker U.S. dollar.

The U.S. dollar fell on Monday after posting its biggest weekly rise this year last week as investors took profits and grew cautious amid news that President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager faces charges of conspiracy against the United States.

U.S. consumer spending recorded its biggest increase in more than eight years in September, likely as households in Texas and Florida replaced flood-damaged motor vehicles, but underlying inflation remained muted.

The Bank of England looks set to step into the unknown on Thursday, when it is expected to raise interest rates for the first time since 2007 at a time when growth appears weaker than before any other rate rise of the past 20 years.

Themes from the earlier Asian session continued to play out, so EUR and GBP extended their gains while USD suffered some more. However, not all themes continued to play out since NZD was able to stage a recovery.

A strong rally in the technology sector helped drive global stocks to a record high on Monday, while a recovery in Spanish markets helped to lift European shares after an opinion poll smoothed investors’ concerns over Catalan secession.

Britain’s pound strengthened against the dollar on Monday, as traders geared up for a Bank of England policy meeting later in the week that they expect will produce the first increase in interest rates in more than a decade.

Spanish and Italian government borrowing costs fell on Monday after an opinion poll suggested separatists in Spain’s Catalonia region may lose a December election, and Rome received its first rating upgrade from Standard & Poor’s in at least three decades.

Oil markets rose on Monday, with Brent remaining above $60 per barrel on expectations that an OPEC-led production cut due to expire next March would be extended, although rising exports from Iraq kept a lid on prices.

Japanese government bonds were steady on Monday, as investors awaited the outcomes of this week’s U.S. and Japanese central bank meetings at which policymakers were expected to maintain policy.

The Asian bourses had a pretty chill start to a potentially volatile week, as only Japan printed economic data. That didn’t stop some volatility hunters, though.

Gold inched lower on Monday as investors remained cautious ahead of policy meetings of three major central banks and the naming of the next U.S. Federal Reserve chair.

Sacked Catalonian president Carles Puigdemont on Saturday called for peaceful “democratic opposition” to the central government’s takeover of the region following its unilateral declaration of independence from Spain.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday reiterated Saudi Arabia’s readiness to support the extension of a global oil production cut agreement.

Another week of USD domination was the main theme this week. But what drove USD higher? And can you guess which currency was this week’s main loser?

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda looks favoured to get a second five-year term when his current one ends in April, the Nikkei business paper reported on Saturday.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Saturday appointed his foreign minister as acting prime minister as he tried to stem the fallout of a citizenship crisis that has cost his government its parliamentary majority.

The euro fell on Friday, marking its biggest weekly loss of the year a day after the European Central Bank decided to prolong its bond purchases and signaled its willingness to stick with an ultra-loose policy stance.

The Canadian dollar has been the weakest performer of the G10 currencies in the seven weeks since the Bank of Canada last raised interest rates, and some strategists predict more declines in value after the central bank on Wednesday dialed back expectations for more interest rate increases this year.