Photo: ReutersNew York: The year was typically full of surprises but market reactions defied conventional wisdom, leaving many a prognosticator flummoxed. Goldman Sachs, for its part, is said to be setting up a trading desk to make markets in digital coins. Beginning-of-the-year speculation that the incoming administration’s trade policies would weaponize the dollar, kneecap global trade and cripple emerging-market and Asian assets haven’t been realized. Even with the overhang of Nafta renegotiations, the Mexican peso managed to appreciate more than 5% versus the greenback in 2017, while global trade volumes have swelled by 4.4% year-on-year through October. The Cboe Volatility Index would nonetheless go on to set fresh all-time lows in November.

Source: Mint December 30, 2017 12:22 UTC