Fundamental Analysis

The surprise decline in yesterday's German flash PMI data for February, although disappointing, does not necessarily indicate a recession for the country in Q1 of this year. However, it does highlight that growth in the euro area's key 'core' member may not be as strong as previously thought. The manufacturing

Japanese officials have been out patting themselves on the back about the recent JPY decline: PM Noda bragged that the market had reacted 'favourably' to the latest BOJ easing. BOJ’s Shirakawa maintained his dovish stance by saying the nine-member board shares a strong resolve to continue 'powerful' easing until the

Data in Wednesday's session showed that the manufacturing and services sectors in the euro zone as a whole contracted in February according to the flash PMI's. however this decline was led by the referee and when considering the largest economy in Europe Germany we actually saw services (at

The Japanese currency weakened to a seven-month low against the U.S. dollar as the highest yield premium on Treasuries when compared with Japanese debt since August damped the appeal of yen-denominated assets.

U.S. Dollar Trading (USD) lack of conviction was the main story in the markets yesterday with a brief rally in Asia and Europe reversing later in the US session with stocks closing slightly negative. The notable exception was Gold which broke to fresh year highs on a combination of alternative

Risk off continued into NY trading and the USD traded mostly firmer as investors sought safety in the greenback. UST yields were lower across the curve with the 10-year Treasury yields shedding a little over 5bps to the 2.00% level at time of writing and U.S. equities declined marginally on

In Australia, following the resignation of foreign minister and former PM Rudd, current PM Gillard has called for a leadership ballot at 10am on Monday. She added if she does not succeed then she will move to the back bench and not look to take the top job again. We

The aftermath of the Greek bailout approval has risk markets in a tired state. Risk sentiment weakened slightly throughout the London and NY sessions, the S&P500 currently down 0.3%. The news fl ow was largely negative, US data for existing home sales and mortgage applications weaker, while Eurozone PMI's missed