Thread: ForexMart's Forex News

December 17. Bank of England has kept the rate unchanged

The Bank of England at its meeting on Thursday kept its base interest rate at 0.1%, in line with analysts' expectations.

Moreover, the regulator has kept the volume of asset repurchases from the market at 895 billion pounds. The redemption of government bonds at the same time is 875 billion pounds, and the volume of redemption of corporate bonds remained at 20 billion pounds.

The Bank of England continues to monitor the situation around Brexit. London and Brussels are still trying to avoid a shock scenario with the introduction of import duties on January 1. Therefore, keeping the program for buying up government debt securities at the same level should provide the regulator with sufficient «firepower» until the end of 2021.

December 18. Brent and WTI: What to Expect from the Oil Market?

Global oil prices are moderately lower on Friday as investors continue to assess the outlook for demand amid news of vaccinations in many countries.

The price of Brent crude oil dropped today to $ 51.17 per barrel, while the price of WTI oil - to $ 48.15. Note that the quotes moved down after four days of growth.

However, despite the optimism associated with the start of vaccination against coronavirus, the epidemiological situation in the world leaves much to be desired. Against this background, an increasing number of countries are introducing additional quarantine measures, which puts pressure on demand. We can say that the news about vaccines is too overestimated, which does not exclude the possibility of an imminent correction in prices from the highs. Recall that Brent quotes reached $ 51.80 at the moment, which was the maximum since mid-February of this year. WTI climbed to $ 48.60 per barrel, which also became its highest value in 10 months.

Additional risks to oil risk are posed by divisions within OPEC + as every exporter would like to take advantage of higher hydrocarbon prices. Do not forget that the organization has decided to increase oil production by 500 thousand barrels per day from January 1, 2021.

December 23. Great Britain is on the verge of a trade blockade

UK industrialists fear that the country could face the threat of a food crisis. In particular, the country is facing an impending shortage of fruits and vegetables, and shoppers are lining up at supermarkets in London.

The fact is that due to the mutating coronavirus, a number of European countries have suspended transport links with Great Britain. And now, with food supply chains disrupted, London is on the verge of a trade blockade. Analysts note that the volume of supplies from the European Union amounted to a quarter of the total volume of the previous year.

In addition, port disruptions mean that British meat and fish exporters are unable to ship their goods to Europe. As it is known, the European Union is highly dependent on supplies from Britain. For example, in France there may not be enough fish for Christmas due to blocking of cargo.

December 24. US stock exchanges are growing on expectations of state support

Major US stock indexes on Thursday are growing moderately on expectations of market participants for additional measures of economic support in the US. At the same time, the trading volume today is not large, since most exchanges today close earlier than usual in connection with the celebration of Catholic Christmas. Tomorrow is a day off in the USA and Europe.

In particular, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) grew by 0.13%, to 30169.5 points, the NASDAQ high-tech index – by 0.41%, to 12822.01 points, the broad market S&P 500 index – by 0.26% , up to 3699.5 points.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump refused to sign the $ 900 billion package of economic assistance adopted by Congress on the eve of Congress, demanding a revision in order to increase payments to the population from $600 to $2,000 per person.

At the same time, markets are watching with concern the news of the mutation of the coronavirus in the UK, as fears about new serious restrictive measures are growing against this background. And this, in turn, can exert strong pressure on economic activity in Europe and the world.

December 25. What awaits the oil market in 2021?

The outgoing year will be remembered for numerous anti-records: a fall in demand by 25%, overcrowding of oil storage facilities and a drop in prices for the first time in history. The reason for such events was the coronavirus pandemic in the world, which led to an unprecedented drop in oil prices: Brent collapsed to the level of $15 per barrel, and for the first time in history, WTI completely went into negative territory, reaching minus $40 (suppliers paid extra to buyers for oil export).

However, experts believe that next year will be more successful for «black gold», and the price of a Brent barrel will remain in the region of $45-55 per barrel. By the end of 2020, OPEC's coordinated efforts to balance the oil market, as well as news of the successful testing of vaccines against COVID-19, helped the oil rise to $50 per barrel.

The demand for oil products in the outgoing year is gradually approaching 97-99% of 2019, but air traffic has not yet been restored. Moreover, the new mutation Covid casts doubt on the imminent opening of borders. At the same time, the world economy continues to grow, which was facilitated by the stimulating programs of central banks. In such conditions, an optimistic scenario for further dynamics of the oil market is still more likely, experts say.

It should be added that the negative effect on demand from the pandemic will come to naught by the end of the first half of 2021, and the OPEC+ deal will remain in one form or another. However, in the unlikely scenario of canceling the agreement to cut oil production, the price of «black gold» may fall to the range of $35-45 per barrel. But, again, this is extremely unlikely.

December 29. What awaits European stock market after Brexit?

Experts predict that the European financial market will face big changes after the UK's final exit from the European Union in 2021. The fact is that after Brexit, euro-denominated assets (stocks and derivatives) will be withdrawn from London exchanges, and the long-term consequences of such changes are not yet clear.

The trade agreement between London and Brussels last week does not cover the financial sector. This means that UK access to EU financial markets will end on December 31st. And the consequences of this can be seen already on January 4, the first day of trading in the new year. Analysts also note that the EU wants to reduce its dependence on London for financial services and increase the volume of trading in euro assets in Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam and other financial centers of continental Europe. As a result, the European stock and bond markets will split up, which could result in higher tariffs for investors.

From January 4, EU banks will carry out operations only on the territory of the block and will abandon British platforms (Cboe Europe, Aquis Exchange, Turquoise and Goldman Sachs). According to David Hewson, President of Cboe Europe, virtually all cross-border transactions in European stocks will move to other sites in one day, which will be the largest shift in stock trading in the last two decades.

December 31. Senate Republicans blocked bill to increase payments to Americans

Republicans in the Senate have blocked a bill passed by the House of Representatives to increase the amount of incentive payments during the coronavirus pandemic from $600 to $2 thousand.

The head of the Republican majority in the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, said that he did not welcome the intention «to throw more borrowed money into the hands of rich Democratic friends who do not need help anyway.» Other demands of Donald Trump, in the form of an investigation of alleged violations in the presidential elections and establishing the responsibility of social networks for publishing content, the Democrats refused to discuss at all.

We recall that on Monday, the House of Representatives of the US Congress approved an increase in stimulus payments requested by President Donald Trump from $600 to $2 thousand. A day earlier, Trump signed the country's budget for the 2021st fiscal year in the amount of $2.3 trillion. The budget includes a $900 billion package of measures to support the economy in a pandemic.

January 04. Bitcoin kicks off the year with a new all-time high

On Monday, the value of bitcoin began to decline after renewing its historical high at $34,543 on Sunday. The current value of the cryptocurrency is $31.632. In the morning, the price dropped to $29,000.

The bitcoin rate began to grow in mid-December, quickly breaking first the 20,000 mark, and then the 30,000 mark.

Analysts do not agree on the future price dynamics. Some believe that Bitcoin has already reached its maximum values, and a price pullback will soon follow. Others predict growth throughout the year, and even maximum values ​​of $100,000.

Recall that the cryptocurrency is based on a decentralized system based on blockchain technology. New blocks of the system are created by its participants using computing devices, mainly video cards. However, the emission is limited by the creators: only 21 million bitcoins can exist, and now more than 19 million have already been created.

January 05. Experts named the key risks of 2021

Analysts of the consulting company Eurasia Group named the main risks for the economy, international politics and states in general, which they may face in 2021.

The first line in the ranking of the top 10 risks is occupied by the «divided America». Experts suggest that a huge part of the US population will consider the head of state illegitimate. For example, incumbent President Donald Trump's refusal to acknowledge presidential election results is a unique case in US history that signals a strong internal division in America.

The second risk is, of course, the coronavirus pandemic. Its further development threatens not only the lives and health of people, but also political stability and the world economy. Moreover, the distribution of vaccines can lead to the division of populations and states into haves and have-nots.

The third place in the ranking is taken by the fight against climate change. According to experts, global cooperation in this area can be replaced by competition.

In addition to these three points, the list of risks for 2021 includes growing tensions between China and the United States, difficulties with the international transfer of information and the likelihood of a conflict in cyberspace. Analysts also note the problems in the economies of Turkey and the Middle East, potential political risks in Germany associated with the resignation of Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as the political crisis in Latin America.

January 06. Trump bans transactions with Chinese payment services

US President Donald Trump signed a decree banning financial transactions with Chinese companies. The list of these companies includes corporations that control and develop applications for eight payment systems.

In particular, the ban included: Alipay, owned by Jack Ma's Ant Group, WeChat Pay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate and WPS Office.

Trump explained his decision by the fact that these applications get access to confidential information of users, which can then be used by the Chinese authorities for their own purposes. However, the decree will enter into force only 45 days later, after the president leaves the White House. Moreover, the newly elected President of the United States, Joe Biden, has the power to revoke Trump's decree on the first day of his presidency, that is, January 20.