Brightbridge Wealth Management Headlines: US economy posts encouraging numbers

Trading in the domestic stock markets was a bit dull last week due to the holidays. The stock markets remained in a narrow range, expecting some concrete directions from the global markets. Currently, there is lot of uncertainty in the European markets, both on the economic and political fronts. The markets are expected to remain volatile with a negative bias in the short term. Analysts suggest individual investors should remain cautious with respect to their short and medium-term positions.

These are some of the significant developments in the markets:

US exports higher

There has been some positive news from the US. The US exports have increased in automobiles, aviation and heavy machinery sectors. This has helped in reducing the overall trade deficit.

On the other hand, the number of lay-offs has come down and new job creation has picked up. This resulted in a reduced number of unemployment claims that touched a 7-month low according to recent data. These are positive data points from the US markets and good for the global markets .

However, it’s a bit early to conclude that the worst is behind us. Analysts are tracking the European markets closely as Europe is a very big market and a recession there still has the potential to pull down the world economy.

Brightbridge Wealth Management Headlines: Swiss Economy Minister Warns Against Pushing Central Bank To Weaken Franc

ZURICH -(Dow Jones)- Swiss economics minister Johann Schneider-Ammann on Saturday warned against putting the Swiss central bank under pressure to weaken the Swiss franc.

“The Swiss National Bank knows what is is doing,” Schneider-Ammann said in an interview with Swiss national radio.

Pressure from politicians and industry has increased in recent weeks, calling on the SNB to raise the floor at which it lets the eurotrade against the Swiss franc to CHF1.30 from CHF1.20.

This has led to increased speculation in financial markets that the central bank may indeed soon raise the floor, though such speculation has eased in recent days when political turmoil in the euro zone increased, the euro weakened against most leading currencies, and more economists said a higher floor would be difficult to defend.

All three central bank directorate members said over the past week that the franc was highly valued and that the SNB would take measures, should the economy risk falling into recession and the risk of deflation, or a sustained period of falling prices, increases. Schneider-Ammann said that it will largely depend on developments in the euro zone as to whether Switzerland manages to keep growing or risks falling into recession.

Brightbridge Wealth Management Headlines: Swiss Economy Minister Warns Against Pushing Central Bank To Weaken Franc

ZURICH -(Dow Jones)- Swiss economics minister Johann Schneider-Ammann on Saturday warned against putting the Swiss central bank under pressure to weaken the Swiss franc.

“The Swiss National Bank knows what is is doing,” Schneider-Ammann said in an interview with Swiss national radio.

Pressure from politicians and industry has increased in recent weeks, calling on the SNB to raise the floor at which it lets the eurotrade against the Swiss franc to CHF1.30 from CHF1.20.

This has led to increased speculation in financial markets that the central bank may indeed soon raise the floor, though such speculation has eased in recent days when political turmoil in the euro zone increased, the euro weakened against most leading currencies, and more economists said a higher floor would be difficult to defend.

All three central bank directorate members said over the past week that the franc was highly valued and that the SNB would take measures, should the economy risk falling into recession and the risk of deflation, or a sustained period of falling prices, increases. Schneider-Ammann said that it will largely depend on developments in the euro zone as to whether Switzerland manages to keep growing or risks falling into recession.