Market News

Crisis talks in Doha stretched late into the evening yet OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers failed to agree on a deal that would help raise up oil prices which have been crashing over the past year.

This week can be expected to be fairly light, with Central Bank inputs due concerning only the Euro and Australian Dollar. There will also be only a moderate amount of U.S. economic data releases due, so overall it is quite likely to be a relatively quiet week.

In what would be the first global oil deal in 15 years, energy officials in Doha on Sunday agreed to freeze output at January levels until October 2016 when ministers would meet again in Russia to assess the success of their efforts.

China posted its slowest economic growth since 2009 on Friday.

The US Dollar firmed broadly today, posting the largest single day’s gains in over a month as an improved outlook globally convinced investors that a bullish dollar sentiment was the way to go.

The Bank of Japan is ready to expand monetary stimulus again if recent weaknesses in inflation expectations continue.

The very recent rise in oil prices due to the upcoming OPEC meeting which had helped to lift commodity-linked currencies like the Aussie and Kiwi Dollars as well as the Canadian Dollar is already fading.

Oil prices rose to the highest level of the year Tuesday on increased expectations that major oil producers will agree to freeze output when they meet on Sunday.

The US Dollar Index slipped to its lowest level in almost 8 months as investors speculate that the Fed is more than likely to push back on a 2016 rate hike.

The yen continues to move markets. After hitting a 17-month high of 107.63 per dollar Monday , it looked set to weaken Tuesday for the first time in eight sessions, sending Asian markets rallying.

With uncertainty over the health of the global economy continuing to grow, it’s unsurprising that the safe haven Japanese Yen continues to be pushed higher by worried traders.

Asia markets continued down on Monday, but a strong yen continued to weigh Japan's with the Nikkei 225 retracing losses of over 1.3 percent to trade down 0.75 percent.

After falling to a nearly 18-month low against the yen earlier in the week, the dollar's Friday gain snapped a five- day losing streak.

This week can be expected to be a fairly busy and significant one, with an unusual announcement due from the Federal Reserve, and regular monthly Central Bank input concerning the British Pound and Canadian Dollar.

The Japanese yen surged for the fifth-straight day on Thursday, strengthening by as much as 1.7% to 107.92 against the dollar and hitting the strongest level since October 19, 2014 — right before the Bank of Japan shocked the markets by boosting its quantitative-easing program.