News and Information

  Traders piled into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) covering oil, metals and grains as investors bet the global economy will still avoid recession amid rising interest rates. More than $350 million invested in 20 ETFs tracking broad commodity indices in July, the second month of inflows this year after four months of withdrawals, according to data compiled by Societe Generale FX.

  Yellen believes that Fitch's decision will not change the fact that U.S. Treasury bonds remain the safest and most liquid asset in the world, and that the U.S. economy and long-term debt situation remain optimistic... On Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen lashed out at Fitch Ratings' move to strip the U.S. of its top credit rating, calling it "flawed" and "completely unfounded." She said at an event: "Given the strength of the U.S. economy, Fitch's decision is puzzling. In the long run, the U.S. remains...

  Although "small non-farmers" are off the table again, investors are restrained, and more importantly, the report also sends a signal that the Federal Reserve wants to see... At 8:15 pm on Wednesday, the number of ADP jobs in the United States, known as "small non-farmers", recorded 324,000 in June, once again far exceeding market expectations of 185,000, exceeding expectations for the fourth consecutive month. In addition, the previous value was revised down from 497,000 to 455,000. But in view of the ADP data that exploded last month...

  The People's Bank of China authorized the China Foreign Exchange Trading Center to announce that on August 3, 2023, the central parity of the RMB exchange rate in the interbank foreign exchange market was 7.1495 yuan for 1 US dollar, 7.8614 yuan for 1 euro, 5.0199 yuan for 100 yen, 0.91618 yuan for 1 Hong Kong dollar, 9.1374 yuan for 1 pound, 4.7028 yuan for 1 Australian dollar, and 4.7028 yuan for 1 New Zealand dollar.

  Fitch Ratings has downgraded the US's top triple-A credit rating to AA + because of ballooning fiscal deficits and poor governance that have led to frequent debt ceiling conflicts over the past two decades. Tax cuts, new spending initiatives and multiple economic shocks have contributed to the ballooning US budget deficit, while medium-term challenges related to rising welfare spending costs remain largely unresolved, Fitch said. "The downgrade of the US rating reflects the unresolved...

  The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reiterated that he will not commit to the pace of interest rate hikes in September in advance, and whether subsequent interest rate hikes will depend on these inflation sub-items... The "big dove" of the Federal Reserve, Chicago Fed President Goolsbee, said that although recent data have convinced him that inflation can be cooled without causing too much pain to the economy, he wants to see more progress before the Federal Reserve stops raising interest rates. Goolsbee said in an interview on Tuesday: "We have seen short-term progress before,...

  Specialist fund managers who are both long and short stocks trimmed both bullish and bearish positions last week, known as selling down, according to data compiled by JPMorgan's prime brokerage arm. So frenetic was the repositioning frenzy that it reached its highest level since retail investors fomented a short squeeze in 2021. Morgan Stanley's hedge fund clients showed a similar, albeit slower, pattern of risk reduction, with their sales this week hitting a new high for the year. Goldman Sachs'...

  The People's Bank of China authorized the China Foreign Exchange Trading Center to announce that on August 2, 2023, the central parity rate of the RMB exchange rate in the interbank foreign exchange market was 7.1368 yuan for 1 US dollar, 7.8835 yuan for 1 euro, 5.0167 yuan for 100 yen, 0.91563 yuan for 1 Hong Kong dollar, 9.1613 yuan for 1 pound, 4.7396 yuan for 1 Australian dollar, and 4.7396 yuan for 1 New Zealand dollar.

  The decision by the Biden administration to postpone replenishment of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) after receiving an exorbitant offer comes as oil prices have recovered above $80 a barrel. The US Department of Energy has chosen not to accept the potential offer it received because it believes the price is too expensive, saying it has withdrawn its offer to buy 6 million barrels of oil as a strategic petroleum reserve due to current poor market conditions. It made a similar decision in January, when the...

  ATFX - Although Federal Reserve Chairperson Jerome Powell has left the door open for another rate hike, Wall Street economists believe there are signs pointing in one direction ahead of the Fed's September meeting: a pause in rate hikes. Policymakers said last week that they are awaiting upcoming data to guide their decision on whether to raise rates at the Fed's next meeting. The latest dovish inflation report, signs of a slowdown in consumer spending and evidence of falling wage pressures all point to a tight...

  Specialist fund managers who are both long and short stocks trimmed their bullish and bearish positions last week, known as sell-offs, according to data compiled by ATFX-JPMorgan's prime brokerage arm. So frenetic was the mania to reposition that it reached its highest level since retail investors fomented a short squeeze in 2021. Morgan Stanley's hedge fund clients showed a similar, albeit slower, pattern of risk reduction, with their sell-offs this week reaching new levels for the year.

  Although gold has now retreated somewhat after surging to record highs in May this year, JPMorgan Chase remains optimistic about gold. The investment bank forecasts that gold prices will reach $2,000 by the end of this year and continue to rise to record highs by 2024. In his latest report, JPMorgan Executive Director of Global Commodities Research Greg Shearer forecasts that gold prices will average around $217 per ounce by the fourth quarter of 2024.

  Mortgage approvals rose in June despite the highest interest rates in 15 years for UK borrowers, with consumer credit growing at its fastest pace in five years. Net approvals for home purchases rose to 54,700 in June from 51,100 in May, beating expectations, data showed on Monday. Remortgage approvals rose to 39,100 from 34,100. Net borrowing by consumer credit rose to £1.70 billion, a record since...

  The second consecutive suspension of interest rate hikes suggests the Reserve Bank of Australia may be nearing the end of its tightening cycle and highlights that the Reserve Bank of Australia has taken a more cautious policy stance than the Federal Reserve. On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia suspended interest rate hikes for the second time in a row, maintaining the base rate at 4.1%. At the same time, the door was open to future interest rate hikes. The market had expected it to continue to raise interest rates by 25 basis points. After the announcement of the resolution, the Australian dollar fell by nearly 40 points against the dollar in the short term, while the interest rate-sensitive three-year country...

  The Federal Reserve's historic interest rate hike did not actually hit the majority of Americans! Affected by the previous low interest rates, they all escaped the "bombing" of the Federal Reserve in this safe haven.... According to the survey, the Federal Reserve's historic interest rate hike may not actually hit the majority of Americans that hard. This is because most household debt may still be locked in a lower fixed interest rate and is not affected by the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hike at all. According to data from Moody's Analytics...