Markets opened the week yesterday in a rather positive mood as the US and China are now busy at the negotiating table rather than trading tariff threats, Head of FX Strategy at Saxo Bank John Hardy told Trend on May 23.

On January 13, a piece of EU legislation known as the Payment Services Directive (PSD2) came into effect, mandating that banks must make it possible for a third party company to write software through which bank customers can access their accounts and initiate payments. In other words, banks are now required to open up their data to third parties.

The yen is very weak, as EURJPY and other JPY pairs have pulled to new local high here in apparent acceptance of the Bank of Japan’s loud message that it is not interested in standing down from its yield-curve-control policy, Head of FX Strategy / Saxo Bank John Hardy told Trend.

A pipeline disruption is sending WTI crude oil to a two-year high, strike action in South America is supporting copper, a dovish FOMC and a stronger yen are supporting gold and a mild beginning to the US winter is sending natural gas lower, Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, told Trend on November 27.

The biggest commodities news last week has been the recovery in the energy sector, Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, told Trend on October 2.

Precious metals have been back on the defensive this past week with the shake-out in both bonds and stocks hurting the general level of the appetite for risk in the market.

Saxo Bank, the online trading and investment specialist, announces today that it is transforming fixed income trading with the launch of the first truly digital trading solution for corporate and government bonds.

Commodities were on track for their best weekly performance in seven weeks. The dollar continued to weaken, driven by a global system awash with cash seeking higher yields and riskier assets, but it was the continued short-covering in the oil market that provided most of the gains.

The weekly inventory rise of one million barrels was not what the market was looking for, and came at a time when production from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, and Iran continues to rise, Ole Hansen, Saxo Bank’s Head of Commodity Strategy believes.

Azerbaijan’s national currency, the manat, may soon strengthen its positions against the backdrop of a probable decision of the US Federal Reserve System on the interest rate, John Hardy, head currency strategist at Saxo Bank told Trend.