Top Headlines
Dollar Climbs More After Trump’s Mexico Comments – Reuters
The dollar recovered another half a percent against a basket of currencies after President Donald Trump suggested he would push ahead with a 20 percent border tax on Mexico.
Ghost of 1990s Is Haunting Dollar and Slowing Further Gains – Bloomberg
A new dynamic entered the $5.1 trillion currency market in recent days, as the dollar failed to keep pace with a rise in US Treasury yields.
Peso Tumbles as US-Mexico Tensions Escalate – Wall Street Journal (subscription)
The Mexican peso tumbled against the US dollar after Mexico’s president canceled a visit to the US, heightening tensions between the two countries.
Wall Street Can’t Quit the Mexican Peso – Bloomberg
As Wall Street analysts raise the idea there might be big rewards to reap by investing in the Mexican peso, the currency’s top forecaster can’t find anything to get excited about.
Sterling Posts Strong Weekly Gains as Focus Turns to British Growth – Reuters
Sterling slipped from a five-week high but remained on track for its strongest week since mid-November, with investors setting aside their Brexit concerns to focus instead on signs the British economy is growing robustly.
A Pound’s Worth: Who Is Selling and What Does It Tell Us? – Wall Street Journal (subscription)
The British pound hit its highest level against the dollar since mid-December in early trade Thursday, the latest twist in what has been a particularly volatile period for the currency.
FX Platforms: Optimism Abounds for 2017 – Profit & Loss
Speaking to platform providers at the end of 2015 about their prospects for the next year, they were all fairly bullish that a period of subdued volatility, and subsequently trading volumes, was about to come to an end.
HK Renminbi Deposits Fall at Record Pace in December – Financial Times (subscription)
Hong Kong’s renminbi deposits fell at a record pace to their lowest level in more than four years last month, depleting liquidity in the Chinese currency’s top offshore trading centre and further undermining its internationalisation.
China Turns to Blockchain to Make Markets Clearer and Cleaner – Reuters
Chinese banks are hiring blockchain experts as the government pushes use of the technology behind bitcoin to increase transparency and combat fraud in its financial sector.
Playing the Long Game in China – Profit & Loss
Despite a bearish outlook on China and its currency right now, panellists at Profit & Loss Shanghai claimed that in the long-term, the fundamentals are in place for RMB development.
Oil Price Recovery Drives Norwegian Krone to 17-Month High – Financial Times (subscription)
Norway’s krone has hit its strongest level against the euro since July 2015, as rising oil prices boost confidence in the country’s economy.
Blockchain Believers Hold Fast to a Utopian Vision – Financial Times (subscription)
The evangelising entrepreneurs who think their technology will change the world.
Regulatory News
Michael Piwowar Named Acting SEC Chairman – Market Watch
Michael Piwowar has been designated acting chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission by President Donald Trump, according to the agency’s website.
Ryan statement comes alongside Trump vow to ‘pursue financial reform’.
Under Trump, US Banks Could Get a British Makeover – Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Recent comments by Steven Mnuchin suggest the UK could be a model for banking regulation under President Donald Trump.
Nigeria’s Central Bank: Those Who Oppose Foreign Exchange Policy are Unpatriotic – Reuters
Nigeria’s central bank said that those who oppose its foreign exchange policy are unpatriotic, after it came under criticism for pegging the naira at an artificially strong rate to the dollar despite heavy inflationary pressure.
Company News
Barclays Picks Dublin as Post-Brexit EU Headquarters – Bloomberg
Barclays has settled on Dublin for its main hub inside the European Union after Brexit and is planning to add about 150 staff there if UK-based finance companies lose easy access to the trading bloc, according to people with knowledge of the decision.
CME Amends Rules for Physical Delivery of FX – Profit & Loss
CME Group has changed its rules regarding FX delivery, putting a cap on the amount of deliverable FX that firms can clear via wire transfer when trading deliverable currency products on its platforms.
CLS Introduces Two New Membership Categories – Profit & Loss
CLS Group (CLS) has introduced two new membership models, affiliated settlement and non-shareholder settlement.
BrokerTec Europe Acquires e-MID to Expand into Italian Financial Markets – Finance Magnates
BrokerTec, NEX Group’s global electronic fixed income trading platform, announced that it has agreed to acquire a controlling majority stake in e-MID SIM SpA, the first Italian electronic central limit order book (CLOB) platform for interbank deposits and Overnight Indexed Swaps (OIS).
Boreham Joins CFH Clearing – Profit & Loss
Chauncey Boreham has been appointed vice president, institutional sales at CFH Clearing.
P&L Talks Series with Brandon Mulvihill – Profit & Loss
Brandon Mulvihill, managing director, head of FXCM Pro, explains that there is still not enough clarity about the different prime-of-prime services being offered in the FX market, and warns that it is a mistake to believe that these firms are currently ready to fill the gap left by the tier one prime brokers.
Market Savvy
C$ Pulls Back from One-Week High as Greenback Recovers – Reuters
The Canadian dollar weakened against its US counterpart, pulling back from a one-week high as the greenback recovered some lost ground against a basket of major currencies.
Turkey’s currency is more than one per cent weaker against the dollar and has now dropped for four consecutive days after the country’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, choosing instead to tweak another lending rate in January.
Leu Eases as Government Discusses Budget, Zloty Stays Strong – Reuters
The leu and Romanian government bonds eased ahead of a meeting of the country’s government to approve a 2017 budget plan with ambitious wage and pension hikes and several tax cuts.