April 18, 2014
The dollar is unchanged against the euro, Swissie, sterling, and yen. The U.S. currency is down 0.2% vis-a-vis the kiwi and 0.1% relative to the Australian dollar and yuan. The loonie has edged 0.1% lower. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.7%. The 12-month rise in Chinese property prices, 7.7% in March after 8.7% in February, was at […] Read Article
April 19, 2014
Another holiday-interrupted week lies ahead. Australia and many European centers such as Britain, Germany, France and Italy will remain shut on Monday for Easter Monday. Then next Friday, Australian and New Zealand markets will be closed for Ansac Day. Central bank meetings are scheduled in Thailand, New Zealand, Turkey, Russia, Colombia and Mexico. The Bank […] Read Article
April 17, 2014
As also decided at prior meetings on January 16, February 13, and March 6, the Executive Board left its one-week repo rate unchanged at 9.5%, striking a balance between protecting financial stability and securing growth with price stability. The key central bank interest rate had been cut 150 basis points in the final quarter of […] Read Article
April 12, 2014
G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting on the periphery of the World Bank/IMF semi-annual meetings released a statement that mostly lays out work to be done before the Brisbane Summit in September. The statement says nothing about currency market policy coordination. Strengthening growth is predicted, but vigilance must continue “in the face of […] Read Article
April 17, 2014
Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda reiterated his upbeat view that recovery will resume soon after the initial setback this quarter caused by a consumption tax. While expressing satisfaction with current policy settings, he also indicated a readiness to augment stimulus if such becomes necessary. The Bank of Japan released results of its quarterly branch managers […] More
April 16, 2014
The unremarkable changes in dollar values against other advanced economy currencies has been a frequent theme lately of the weekly currency market essay. Regrettably, that stability has continued in April, where month-to-date dollar declines amount so far to 1.2% against the Aussie dollar, 1.0% versus the yen, 0.8% relative to sterling, 0.3% vis-a-vis the loonie […] More
April 16, 2014
The third scheduled interest rate announcement of 2014 coincided with the release of a new Monetary Policy Report. Estimates for 2016 have been added to the Bank of Canada’s macroeconomic forecasts. While core inflation is seen hovering at 1.2% in the first half of this year and not returning to the 2.0% target until the […] More
April 16, 2014
Japan’s Nikkei catapulted 3.0% higher, and stocks so far in Europe are up by 2.0% in Italy, 1.1% in Spain, 0.9% in France, 0.8% in Germany, 0.5% in Switzerland and 0.3% in Britain. In other selected markets around the Pacific Rim, stocks gained 0.6% in Australia, 0.3% in New Zealand, 0.2% in Singapore and 0.1% […] More
April 15, 2014
On Monday, the National Bank of Ukraine Board raised the discount rate to 9.5% from 6.5%. Civil unrest and meddling by Russia in the internal affairs of Ukraine have weighed heavily on the hyrvnia, lifting CPI inflation nearly threefold to 3.4% in March from the month before, and more acceleration is likely. This week’s rate […] More
April 15, 2014
Russia appears to be doing to Eastern Ukraine what it did in Crimea, and the West seems powerless to resolve the crisis. A day ahead of China’s release of first-quarter GDP, analysts anticipate a sub-7.5% growth rate. The ZEW Institute measures of investor sentiment toward Germany and the euro area fell in March. Investors await […] More
April 14, 2014
The last monetary policy change was a tightening in April 2012. For the third semi-annual review in a row, MAS officials concluded that current settings remain appropriate. Domestic interest rate policy is subordinated to an exchange rate target corridor, whose upward slope was steepened two years ago. Today’s statement defends the current policy as follows, […] More
April 14, 2014
At Russia’s initiative, the U.N. Security Council debated the Ukraine crisis but made no progress toward fashioning a cool-down there. Stocks began the week with losses of 1.3% in Australia, 0.6% in Taiwan and New Zealand, and 0.4% in Japan and India. In Europe, equities are down 1.6% in Russia, 1.7% in Spain, 0.9% in […] More
April 11, 2014
The IMF/World Bank spring meetings in Washington, D.C. continue to run through the weekend of April 12-13. Later today, a communique will be released jointly by the Group of Twenty finance ministers and central bank leaders. Later next week, the Bank of Japan’s holds a quarterly branch managers meeting, the Federal Reserve Beige Book will […] More
April 11, 2014
Peru’s monetary policy bias remains skewed toward ease, but officials prefer to use non-interest rate instruments such as the further reserve requirement cut announced today after the monthly meeting. The RR ratio drops to 12.0% from 12.5%, while the 4.0% reference interest rate was not changed. This past November saw the reference rate reduced by […] More
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