Asian equities advanced Thursday after stocks and bonds rose on Wall Street in a week marred by tariffs, lackluster tech earnings, and uneven US economic data.Shares in Australia, Japan, and South Korea rose, while equity futures for Hong Kong also advanced.US stocks rallied on Wednesday, pushing the major averages higher for the second day in a row, as investors looked past the trade turmoil that weighed on the market earlier in the week.Here’s a table showing how US stocks performed on Wednesday: Stock/Index LTP Change ($) Change (%) Day High Day Low 52-Week High 52-Week Low Alphabet 193.30 -14.41 -6.94% 194.55 189.91 208.70 131.55 Apple 232.47 -0.33 -0.14% 232.67 228.27 260.09 164.08 Meta 704.87 0.68 0.10% 718.14 699.01 718.14 414.50 Tesla 378.17 -14.04 -3.58% 388.39 375.53 488.54 138.80 Netflix 1011.11 16.24 1.63% 1011.83 986.68 1011.83 542.01 Amazon 236.17 -5.89 -2.43% 238.32 235.20 242.52 151.61 Microsoft 413.29 0.92 0.22% 413.83 410.40 468.35 385.58 Dow Jones 44873.28 317.24 0.71% 44886.88 44352.99 45073.63 37611.56 Nasdaq 21658.16 91.25 0.42% 21662.98 21408.64 22133.22 16973.94 Source: EquitymasterAt present, the BSE Sensex is trading 106 points lower and NSE Nifty is trading 38 points lower.BPCL, Cipla, and Bajaj Finance are among the top gainers today.Trent, Tita,n and Tata Steel on other hand are among the top losers today.The BSE Midcap index and the BSE Smallcap index are trading 0.3% lower.Sectoral indices are trading mixed today with stocks in the energy sector and IT sector witnessing buying. Meanwhile, stocks in the realty sector, auto sector, and banking sector witnessing selling […]

Bullish view Buy the GBP/USD pair and set a take-profit at 1.2620. Add a stop-loss at 1.2400. Timeline: 1-2 days. Bearish view Set a sell-stop at 1.2500 and a take-profit at 1.2400. Add a stop-loss at 1.2620. (Click on image to enlarge)The GBP/USD exchange rate continued rising, reaching a high of 1.2550, its highest level since January 7 as focus shifted to the upcoming Bank of England (BoE) decision. It has jumped by about 3.4% from the year-to-date low.  BoE interest rate decisionThe  rose as the market waited for the upcoming Bank of England decision. Economists expect the bank to deliver its third interest rate cut of this cycle as it works to boost the economy.A 0.25% rate cut will bring it to 4.50% from 4.75%. The bank will also signal that it will continue cutting rates this year because of the slowing economy.The most recent data showed that the country’s economy was slowing. EY estimates that it grew by just 1% in 2024, down from the previous estimate of 1.5%.UK’s inflation has also started to fall and is moving towards the 2% target. The most recent data showed that the headline CPI moved from 2.6% in November to 2.5% in December.The GBP/USD pair also rose after ADP published strong private payroll data, which showed that employees added 184k jobs in January, a big increase from the previous 164k.The ADP report came a day ahead of the upcoming official nonfarm payroll data. Economists expect the report to show that the economy […]

 Image Source:    The US dollar index has retreated after the tariff threat waned. The BLS will publish the latest nonfarm payroll data on Friday. The Fed is now focusing mostly on inflation that has failed to move to 2%. The US dollar index retreated this week as the recent tariff fears waned. The DXY index dropped to a low of $107.75, down by 2.20% from its highest point this year as focus shifted to the upcoming non-farm payroll (NFP) data. So, is the US dollar index a good asset to buy today?  US nonfarm payroll data aheadThe US dollar index pulled back this week after Donald Trump dialed back his tariff talk. He paused  and hinted that he was open to negotiate with China, the second-biggest trading partner. The DXY index cooled after a report showed that the number of job vacancies in the US cooled in December. They fell by 556,000 to 7.6 million, lower than the median estimate of 8.2 million.Another report by ADP showed that the private sector created 186k jobs in January, higher than the 140k it added a month earlier.The main economic data to watch this week will be the upcoming nonfarm payroll (NFP) data scheduled on Friday.Economists expect the data to show that the economy added 154k jobs in January after creating 256k jobs a month earlier. The unemployment rate is expected to remain 4.1%, while wage growth is expected to have remained a 3.9%.The nonfarm payroll jobs numbers are important for the US dollar […]

 Photo by  on     GBP/JPY extends its losses due to rising expectations of the BoE delivering a 25 basis points rate cut on Thursday. The BoE’s MPC is expected to vote 8-1 in favor of a quarter-point rate cut, bringing the rate down to 4.5%. The robust wage and services data in Japan has bolstered hawkish sentiment surrounding the BoJ’s rate hikes. GBP/JPY continues to lose ground for the second consecutive day, trading around 190.40 during the early European hours on Thursday. The GBP/JPY cross struggles as the Pound Sterling (GBP) faces downward pressure amid expectations that the  (BoE) will resume its policy-easing cycle, likely lowering interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) to 4.5% at its policy meeting later in the day.The BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is anticipated to vote 8-1 in favor of a quarter-point rate cut to 4.5%, with MPC member Catherine Mann, who has been an outspoken hawk, is expected to support keeping interest  steady at 4.75%.The inflationary pressures in the United Kingdom (UK) decelerated at a faster-than-expected pace in December. Inflation in the services sector – which is closely tracked by BoE officials – grew at a moderate pace of 4.4%, compared to 5% growth in November.The Japanese Yen (JPY) strengthens against its peers as robust wage and services data fuel expectations of a more hawkish Bank of Japan (BoJ). Data showed that real wages in Japan increased for the second straight month in December, while nominal wage growth reached its highest level in nearly three decades.Japan’s […]

Image Source:   The dollar remains in corrective mode on the back of this week’s tariff news and the drop in 10-year US yields. Tomorrow’s US jobs data will have a big say in whether this correction needs to go further. Today, the highlight will be the Bank of England rate meeting, where a 25bp rate cut is expected. Rate cuts are also expected in the Czech Republic and Mexico.  USD: Dollar bull trend situation reportThe DXY dollar index is roughly 2% off its recent highs and the question for investors is whether a further 1-2% is required. Driving this correction have been several factors, the largest of which has probably been this week’s tariff news, where it looks like the Trump administration has been using tariffs for transactional not ideological purposes (this may change in the second quarter).Important as well has been the drop in 10-year US Treasury yields below 4.50%. A well-received Quarterly Refunding announcement yesterday certainly helped. Our rate strategy colleagues discuss that move. The move lower in USD/JPY has caught the attention as data and Bank of Japan commentary have built up confidence in this year’s BoJ tightening cycle.Determining whether DXY corrects another 1-2% will probably be tomorrow’s jobs data. We saw earlier this week from the US JOLTS job opening data that soft figures can hit the dollar. Yet we doubt the dollar correction will last too long. We look for more structural and broader tariffs to come back into play in the second quarter. Our rates team […]