The yen has been the worst-performing currency in the developed FX space this year. Unlike the euro area or the US, the Japanese economy remains under siege from the pandemic. The number of new COVID-19 cases is at the highest…
Highlights Oil demand expectations remain high. Realized demand continues to disappoint. This means OPEC 2.0's production-management strategy – i.e., keeping the level of supply below demand – will continue to dictate…
Highlights China's high-profile jawboning draws attention to tightness in metals markets, and raises the odds the State Reserve Board (SRB) will release some of its massive copper and aluminum stockpiles in the near future. Over…
Highlights Global oil markets will remain balanced this year with OPEC 2.0's production-management strategy geared toward maintaining the level of supply just below demand. This will keep inventories on a downward trajectory,…
Japan’s economy was exceptionally weak in Q1. GDP shrank an annualized 5.1% q/q following an 11.6% boom in the prior quarter, disappointing expectations of a more muted 4.5% q/q contraction. The economy’s performance…
Since the beginning of the calendar year, global stock prices have risen roughly 10% in US$ terms. The Japanese equity market, by contrast, has barely risen, resulting in a whopping 8.5% underperformance. Most of this…
Highlights Global Tapering: The Bank of England has joined the Bank of Canada as central banks tapering the pace of bond buying. Markets are now trying to sort out who is next and concluding that it will not be the Federal Reserve,…
Highlights Rising CO2 emissions on the back of stronger global energy growth this year will keep energy markets focused on expanding ESG risks in the buildout of renewable generation via metals mining (Chart of the Week). …
As expected, the Bank of Japan did not change monetary policy on Tuesday. It maintained the policy rate at -0.1% and kept the current pace of asset purchases. However, the central bank upgraded the economic growth outlook by 0.…