At the end of last week the Yuan weakened to the lowest level in 2 years. On Saturday the Peoples Bank of China surprised markets and cut the lending and deposits rates, for the second time in 4 months. The move is an attempt to ease monetary policy to fuel further growth. Following the move, miners got a lift as traders expect Chinas expansion to increase their demand. The Australian dollar also was buoyed, as a major trading partner of China, and a key exporter of commodities. ...

Over the last few decades Chinese growth figures have been the envy of central banks around the globe. The back-to-back years of double digit GDP have now slowed to “only” around 7%. Recent macro data from China has disappointed markets, with the indicators pointing to a further slowdown in economic growth. The expansion has been coupled with inflation, however data released in January reported a 5 year low. On the 4 February the PBOC attempted to stave off a further slowdown by cutting the.....

Macro Outlook UK General election A major potential risk for Sterling over the short to mid-term is the potential of an inconclusive majority in government with the coalition discussions being drawn out. The recent polls for the election don’t show a conclusive majority for either of the major political parties, with one of the minor parties expected to be the maker of any coalition leadership. Bank of England rate hike The market has priced in a rate hike for Q1 2016, however the contradictory...

The FTSE 100 is edging closer to its all-time record high reached on the final day of trading in 1999 at the height of the tech bubble. The components of the index are heavily weighted by financial and commodity companies that have had significant declines over the last 15 years. The index is isn’t a proxy for the growth of the UK economy due to the high percentage of global exposure from earnings for the components. FTSE 100 currently trading 6910, the record intra-day high is 6,950.6. GBPUSD:...