Market News

The Pound Sterling was higher against the US Dollar in Thursday trading, edging away from the earlier low and buoyed by a more upbeat reading from the UK’s Halifax House Pricing surveys for August.

Asian shares were slightly higher on Thursday morning after U.S. President Donald Trump and his Congressional colleagues committed to raising the government debt limit until December, a move which eliminates the chance of a government shutdown for the near term.

The US Dollar dipped versus the Japanese Yen and edged toward the 4½ month trough struck last week.

The dollar continued its decline on Wednesday morning, heading towards 4 1/2 month lows as relations with North Korea show no signs of warming.

The Australian Dollar got a boost against its US counterpart after the speech by Philip Lowe, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

China banned the popular practice of raising funds by launching token-based digital currencies, a move which directly targeted initial coin offerings (ICOs), which have become increasingly popular in the past year.

The US Dollar edged lower against safe haven currencies, specifically the Swiss Franc and the Japanese yen, after the latest nuclear test from North Korea prompted investors toward safe havens.

South Korea announced on Monday that it was planning new military drills in conjunction with the United States and increasing its ballistic missile defenses after North Korea executed its sixth nuclear test on Sunday.

This week will have a slightly heavier news agenda than last week, but there is little key U.S. data due so the overall effect may be the same.

The Canadian Dollar rose more than 1% versus the US Dollar yesterday after the release of Canadian GDP data showed an unexpected jump in the second quarter to 4.6% against forecasts that productivity would be flat over the period.

According to one governing board member of the Swiss National Bank, the recent weakening by the Swiss Franc against the common currency Euro is good news.

Asian indexes were mixed in early Thursday trade after Chinese manufacturing and services PMIs showed positive signs.

With only brief positive incursions, the Pound Sterling continued its slide versus the Euro as the ongoing negotiations for a Brexit agreement sideline potential investors.

The dollar reversed from 2 ½ year lows as Asian stocks headed higher on Wednesday morning and European markets looked for a positive open as well.

The Japanese Yen is just easing off earlier peaks versus the US Dollar; the Yen earlier hit a 4-month peak after a missile fired from North Korea passed over Japan, only the latest provocation by North Korea which has increased regional tensions