A picture take of the City of London from the Heron Tower by an Abshire-Smith employee.…

China has been propelled to the position as a major global economic power in the last few decades. It has experienced sustained periods of unrivalled economic growth. Double digit GDP figures are something that the western world could only dream of, with the smallest positive print being hailed as a success. What has fuelled the Chinese economic growth? China has witnessed a consistent boom period, that has thrust the country to the status as the world’s second biggest econ…

On Wednesday the FOMC released the minutes for their meeting held June 18th and 19th. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke had signalled to the markets that he intended on tapering the quantitative easing later this year. The minutes stated that certain members of the FOMC proposed that a reduction in asset purchases could be warranted sooner than Bernanke’s “end of the year” stance. Following the release of the minutes, the Fed Chairman gave a speech in Boston attempted to ref…

US Non-Farm Payrolls for June +195K vs +165K median estimate Unemployment rate unchanged at 7.6% Intitial reaction, Gold sell off and Dollar strength as NFP print beats market expectations, and is at the higher end of estimates. EURUSD 1.28350 GBPUSD 1.4882 Gold 1.228.50…

HSBC Markets: +155K Morgan Stanley: +175K Lloyds TSB: +185K Commerzbank AG: +175K RBC Capital Markets: +170K Societe Generale: +175K Moody’s Analytics: +150K Goldman, Sachs & Co: +150K BNP Paribas: +175K Citi: +160K J.P. Morgan Chase: +150K BofA Merrill Lynch Research: +165K Nomura Securities: +155K Median Estimate: +165K…

US traders come back to their desks today following the public holiday for Independence Day, and are greeted by the pivotal US jobs release. What are US Non-Farm Payrolls? The US Department of Labor releases a monthly employment report for goods, construction and manufacturing. It is usually release on the first Friday of the month; though this can differ (it is officially the third Friday after the end of the reference week). Median estimate Each month analysts attem…

*In the US it is a national holiday today, Independence day. This will affect the trading hours of certain markets with us remaining closed for the session, please see your client emails for further details* The markets seem relatively subdued this morning ahead of BoE and ECB announcements, with the US closed for Independence Day volumes are likely to be lower. Bank of England Mark Carney began his term as the first foreign national to become the Governor at the Bank of En…

This morning the Ex-Bank of Canada Governor begins his role as the new Bank of England Governor, taking over from Sir Mervyn King. Carney is the first foreign national to hold the senior post on Threadneedle Street, and many are hoping he will be able to work miracles. The UK economy is just beginning to show the green shoots of a recovery following a deeper recession than previously thought according to the ONS. The BoE has attempted to reignited growth with ultra-loose monetary polic…

The FOMC met on Tuesday and Wednesday with the head of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke announcing as expected to leave rates unchanged at 0.25% and current policy unchanged. Trading throughout the European session on Wednesday had been subdued as traders awaited Bernanke’s speech and Q&A session to see when tapering of the current quantitative easing programme would occur. Speculation, as to when “tapering” would occur, has been the topic for analysts and market commen…

Trading through the European and US session on Monday was very quiet as there were public holidays in the US and UK, leading to limited volatility and lower trade volumes. The majority of FX crosses traded in relatively tight ranges with limited macro data to give direction. The Aussie dollar has weakened against the Greenback over the last 6 weeks; analysts have been vocal for a prolonged period that the Aussie has been overvalued. The AUD strength has been fuelled by the commodities…