We start the week with mixed session from Asia as Chinese reserve data showed small increase and the general trend of acceptance for Chinese 5% growth. The Japanese yen continued its decline breaching 114 and even in late US trading had was last seen around the 114.25 level. The Nikkei edged better but a small […]

Following on from the weak US session, Asia tended to drift in sympathy. Ahead of the US NFP’s it was always going to be light volume but with G20 also just stated numbers were even lighter. The Shanghai has managed a positive close (+0.17%), but not so for the Hang Seng which closed down -0.5%. […]

QUESTION: Dear Martin: How does this affect cash flow to and within the USA? (China Bond market) Rich ANSWER: It does not alter anything just yet. Most of the capital outflow from China has been its own people trying to get cash out. They were using BitCoin to accomplish that. This is a first step […]

Geopolitics has taken centre stage today as Trump comments on the severity required towards North Korea and prepares for his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has talks with President Trump are expected to be frosty as she commented, “He is the most disruptive and egotistical leader at the (G20) summit”. […]

Some refreshingly strong data released in both Japan and China has helped market move on a note. We saw the BOJ’s TANKAN (business confidence data) show an improvement from previous quarterly number at +17 (prior was +15). This has helped push the Nikkei a little better but sees the JPY trade weaker now with a […]

A flood of comments from central banks this week has been signalling that the era of easy money is coming to an end. Of course, the nonsense spouted out by the Gold Promoters that hyperinflation was coming has left 10 years of continually wrong forecasts, yet the pretend analysts have done far more damage to […]

A strong follow-on for Asia after the positive day seen for US markets yesterday. Although a lot of the talk in Europe surrounded regulations, in Asia they followed directions from three central banks – Europe, UK and Canada – as rhetoric talked of positivity. It is interesting how the market apparently “misinterpreted” Mr Draghi’s speech […]

Following-on from the weak US session, Asia drifted in sympathy. The news from the US Senate, after their markets had closed, worried Asia as they responded to the news. On the whole core markets were lower, the exception being a +0.7% increase in the Australian ASX. Shanghai and the Hang Seng closed around -0.6% lower. […]

Although the Shanghai index continued its positive trend we did finally see only a minimal advance and then a small set-back for the Hang Seng. An earlier strong gain (+0.6%) in the Hand Seng was lost by the time the market had closed but with numerous unexplained small cap scares, it was not a surprise […]

With so much on the horizon we saw a mixed session out of Asia today. The one key topic all markets makers were looking at was whether China A-Shares would make the MSCI index have missed it for the past few years. Although it will bring added international attention, China’s recent efforts appear more focused […]