Richard Driver, Currency Market Analyst, Caxton FX

Trading commentary: CaxtonFX

Richard Driver is a Currency Market Analyst at Caxton FX.

Disappointing expectations from the US

4 May 2012
Plenty of news to report on this morning, with services sector data out of the UK and the US disappointing expectations.

Negative growth data from the eurozone

3 May 2012
Growth data from the eurozone was very negative yesterday, with the contraction in the region’s manufacturing sector deepening.

UK manufacturing data undershot expectations

2 May 2012
UK manufacturing data undershot expectations, indicating that the sector is only teetering above negative growth levels.

RBA catches markets by surprise

1 May 2012
The Reserve Bank of Australia caught the markets by surprise in the overnight session by cutting the aussie interest rate by 0.50%, instead of the 0.25% reduction that was expected.

US GDP figure at 2.2% against expectations of a 2.6% figure

30 April 2012
The US GDP figure for the first quarter of 2012 came in at 2.2% (annualised), against expectations of a 2.6% figure.

Spain’s credit rating downgraded

27 April 2012
Spain’s credit rating has been downgraded by two notches by S&P, who pointed to a challenging fiscal outlook – a major understatement.

Double-dip fears realised

26 April 2012
Yesterday’s UK GDP figure for the first quarter of 2012 revealed a 0.2% contraction, which means the UK has entered a technical recession and suffered the much-feared ‘double-dip'.

Risk appetite cautiously returned yesterday

25 April 2012
Risk appetite cautiously returned yesterday in the aftermath of some positive US homes sales data, though this was really just a prelude to today’s US Federal Reserve economic projections.

Weak eurozone figures ensured risk averse trading conditions dominated yesterday

24 April 2012
Yesterday morning’s weak eurozone growth figures and the weekend’s headlines surrounding Dutch and French political uncertainty ensured that risk averse trading conditions dominated Monday’s session.

Yesterday’s Spanish bond auction produced decent results

20 April 2012
Thursday’s Spanish bond auction produced some decent results and peripheral bond yields were spared another wave of panic.

Sterling enjoyed excellent session yesterday

19 April 2012
Sterling enjoyed an excellent session yesterday as a result of the MPC meeting minutes and to a lesser extent some encouraging UK unemployment figures.

More positive tone in markets following short-term Spanish debt auction yesterday

18 April 2012
A short-term Spanish debt auction went well yesterday to give the markets a more positive tone, though the country’s 10-year yields remain only marginally below 6.0%.

Euro enjoyed a mild recovery yesterday

17 April 2012
The euro enjoyed a mild recovery yesterday broadly as a result of short-covering, but the euro still looks poised for a move lower.

Sterling hits new highs against euro this morning

16 April 2012
Sterling has hit new highs against the euro this morning amid heightened concerns over Spanish over-reliance on ECB funding.

Chinese GDP figure well below expectation

13 April 2012
The first quarter Chinese GDP figure came in last night well below expectations at 8.1% (q/y), which is the weakest showing in almost three years.