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Showing posts from April, 2023

AUD/JPY pressured by inflation expectations & China fears - 17 April

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  The AUD/JPY currency pair is currently trading near its intraday low of around 94.00, as Australia’s Consumer Inflation Expectations eased in August, which is putting pressure on the sentiment. The data for Australia shows a drop to 5.9% from the previous reading of 6.3%, while the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) also decreased to 8.5% YoY in July, compared to the expected 8.7% and the previous reading of 9.1%. This has added to the economic concerns raised by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), making it difficult for AUD/JPY bulls. Furthermore, there are fears related to China, which is Australia’s biggest customer, weighing on the AUD/JPY prices. According to sources, US President Biden is reconsidering his stance on China tariffs following Taiwan’s response. Additionally, there has been a surge in coronavirus cases in China, with 700 new confirmed cases reported on the mainland on August 10, compared to 444 the day before, which is also putting pressure on the pair. The S&P 50

Dollar Slumps as Fed Rate Hike Expectations Fade - Capital Street FX

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  THE U.S. DOLLAR EXPERIENCES A DECLINE TO A ONE-YEAR LOW DUE TO COOLED INFLATION IN THE U.S. The US dollar faced a slump in early European trading on Friday as the Dollar Index fell to a one-year low of 100.515, down by 0.2%, due to expectations of an early end to the Federal Reserve’s rate-tightening cycle. Investors believe that cooler-than-expected inflation data will force the central bank to cut interest rates before the end of the year, resulting in a weaker dollar. The Dollar Index is on track for a weekly decline of more than 1%, which is the steepest since January. This decline followed the release of the March US producer prices index, which fell by 0.5% from the previous month, marking the largest drop since the beginning of the pandemic. The PPI slowed down on an annual basis, rising by 2.7% from a year ago, the smallest gain in more than two years. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the core PPI fell by 0.1% from February and increased by 3.4% from a year

Gold prices rise for fourth day on easing inflation - 14 April 2023

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  GOLD PRICES CONTINUE TO RISE, POISED FOR A STRONG WEEK AMID EASING INFLATION CONCERNS . Gold prices rose for the fourth consecutive session on Friday, supported by evidence that U.S. inflation was easing and concerns about a possible recession in 2023. On Thursday, data showed that U.S. producer price index inflation grew at a slower pace in March, which was followed by data showing that consumer price inflation also eased. These readings reinforced the belief that inflation was subsiding, which could result in a less hawkish Federal Reserve. Following the data, the dollar declined to a nearly one-year low, while Treasury yields also retreated, both of which supported gold prices. The safe-haven appeal of gold was also bolstered by several warnings of a U.S. recession this year, which could lead to less hawkish action by the Fed. As of 22:16 ET (02:16 GMT), spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,046.61 an ounce, while gold futures gained 0.3% to $2,060.75 an ounce. Both instruments were poised fo

UBS Analysts Maintain Neutral Rating on Microsoft - 13 April 2023

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  UBS REDUCES ESTIMATES ON MICROSOFT DUE TO “TOO HIGH” AZURE GROWTH EXPECTATIONS, RESULTING IN A 2% DROP IN STOCK PRICE . UBS analysts have maintained a Neutral rating and a price target of $275 per share on Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), citing concerns that Azure estimates are still too high. The analysts have conducted around 20 checks with Azure and AWS customers, and their conclusion is that the 2023 estimates for AWS, Azure, and Google’s Cloud are too high. They believe that customer efforts to optimize and trim their cloud spend will persist at a high level throughout 2023. According to UBS, recent trends such as spend optimization/cuts, slower migration, and new developer activity, have continued into 1Q23 and seem worse than three months ago. As a result, UBS has revised its cloud segment growth estimate to 24% in the June quarter at a constant currency, lower than the prior estimate of 25% and the Street’s 27%. Regarding the upcoming earnings call, the analysts expect that Microso