December 10, 2013
Much of the U.S. is blanketed with the white stuff, including the Northeast which is experiencing wintry weather for a second straight day. The dollar fell overnight by 0.3% against the yen, 0.2% versus the New Zealand and Australian dollars and 0.1% relative to the euro, Swiss franc, loonie and sterling. The Chinese yuan was […] Read Article
December 6, 2013
Central bank interest rate policy meetings will be held next week in Switzerland, South Korea, New Zealand, Indonesia, Iceland, the Philippines and Chile. The monthly ECB Bulletin gets published. Bank of England Governor Carney, Bank of Canada Governor Poloz, and Lacker, Bullard and Fisher of the Federal Reserve speak publicly. So does U.S. Treasury Secretary […] Read Article
December 9, 2013
The repo and reverse repo rates were left unchanged this month, matching the decision made at November’s meeting, and the current stance was deemed “appropriate” in a released statement from monetary officials. The statement lists several successful developments — faster growth last quarter, slower inflation last month, more favorable balance of payments trends, and a […] Read Article
December 6, 2013
The data were better than forecast. The 203K rise in non-farm payroll jobs last month beat the market consensus by 30K and was consistent with an average increase over the past four reported months of 204K. Such a pace translates into a 1.81% annualized rate. That trend is virtually in line with annualized employment growth […] Read Article
December 9, 2013
Share prices in India rallied 1.6% on the opposition’s victory in state elections over the weekend. In other Asia markets, stocks climbed 2.3% in Japan, 1.0% in South Korea, 0.9% in Taiwan and 0.8% in Malaysia and Indonesia. Equities fell 0.8% in Australia and dipped 0.1% in China and the Philippines. The Spanish IBEX and […] More
December 6, 2013
After overnight lending rate cuts this year of 50 basis points in March 25 bps in September and, most recently, 25 bps to 3.0% on October 25, Bank of Mexico policymakers seem satisfied with the status quo and likely to remain so for another year of more. That’s the implication of the latest interest rate […] More
December 6, 2013
Investors await U.S. and Canadian jobs figures. Analysts project a 185K increase in U.S. employment. A gain of 200K or more would goose speculation about earlier Fed tapering. Ahead of this key release, traditionally scheduled for the first Friday of the month, the dollar is unchanged against the euro and Aussie dollar, up by 0.3% […] More
December 5, 2013
Yen weakness and euro resilience have coexisted for the past sixteen months. From a low of 94.075 yen per euro in late July 2012 to a high this week of 140.025, the euro soared 49% against the Japanese currency, rounding slightly up to the nearest whole number. With hindsight, the trigger for the turning point […] More
December 5, 2013
New staff maroeconomic forecasts were released by the European Central Bank today following the final monetary policy meeting of 2013. The mid-point of projected high-low ranges for GDP and CPI inflation are shown in the top row of the table below and compared to earlier forecasts issued at quarterly intervals. Notably, sub-target inflation is foreseen […] More
December 5, 2013
The statement released by monetary officials in Britain followed the standard non-explanative format whenever policy is left unchanged. Investors and the public are instructed to stay tuned for details of the latest thinking that will be covered in published minutes due December 18. The statement also notes that today’s decision conformed to guidance adopted last […] More
December 5, 2013
According to the central bank Deputy Governor Jan F. Qvigstad, Consumer price inflation has been somewhat lower than expected in the past two months and it appears that growth in the Norwegian economy will be somewhat lower in the period ahead than projected earlier. On the other hand, the krone has depreciated considerably. On the […] More
December 5, 2013
The dollar is unchanged from Wednesday closing levels against the euro, Swissie, kiwi and yuan. The U.S. currency has edged up 0.2% against sterling but is 0.2% lower versus the yen and 0.1% softer relative to the loonie. It has ticked 0.1% higher against the Aussie dollar, whose trade deficit in October widened more than […] More
December 4, 2013
Officials at Narodowy Bank again left Poland’s reference interest rate at 2.5% after this month’s meeting. The interest rate was lowered in eight steps between November 2012 and July 2013 from 4.75% to 2.50%. A statement released by the central bank projects subdued inflation and a continuing gradual economic recovery. The on-year CPI inflation rate […] More
December 4, 2013
The U.S.-minus-Euroland service-sector purchasing manager index differential was 2.7 points last month, down from 3.8 points in October and 7.9 points in August. The sum of the non-manufacturing and manufacturing spreads, seen in the rightmost column below fell by 0.5 points to 8.4 points in November and was 3.8 points lower than in August. The […] More
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