Central Bank Watch
Polish Central Bank Left Key Reference Rate at 3.5%
October 28, 2009
The Narodowy Bank did not change its key and record-low seven-day repo rate of 3.5%. A similar decision was made after meetings in late September, late August, and late July. Previously, reductions were announced of 25 basis points on November 26, 75 bps each on December 23 and January 27, and 25 bps on January […] More
Central Bank Watch
Norway Has Europe's First Central Bank Rate Hike
October 28, 2009
As expected and foreshadowed at the previous policy meeting of the Norges Bank, the key policy rate was increased by 25 basis points to 1.50%, and progress was noted on the unwinding of unconventional supplements to money market liquidity. A statement released by Norwegian monetary authorities speaks of a faster-than-assumed revival of economic activity, core […] More
Central Bank Watch
Malaysian Overnight Policy Rate Left at 2.0%
October 28, 2009
Bank Negara Malaysia retained the cyclically low 2.0% policy interest rate as was expected and as it has done after each policy meeting since a 50-basis point reduction on February 24. That was the third cut following ones of 75 bps on January 21 and 25 bps on November 24. A statement released today by […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: Return of Risk Aversion
October 28, 2009
Many signs that risk aversion is back. Stocks fell strongly. Commodity currencies are weaker. The yen is stronger. Bund and gilt yields are down. The dollar climbed 1.2% against the Australian dollar, 1.1% against the kiwi, and 0.6% relative to the Canadian dollar. It also rose 0.3% against sterling but is 0.9% weaker versus the […] More
Currency Markets in the News
Anxiety Over The Euro's Strength
October 27, 2009
An editorial in the Tuesday Financial Times pushes the view that worries about euro appreciation are “overdone” and makes several credible points. Consumers benefit from cheaper import prices. Much of the region’s external trade is with one another, where exchange rate exposure has been eliminated by the common currency. It’s not such a bad thing […] More
Central Bank Watch
Reserve Bank of India Reins in Some of its Unconventional Stimulus
October 27, 2009
Following a quarterly monetary policy review, central bank officials held key interest rates steady as expected but released a statement defending an earlier rather than later implementation of an exit strategy and announced some first pull-backs of unconventional liquidity provisions. Unlike most economies, India faces accelerating inflation, which makes the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments: Bank of India Makes First Move to Reabsorb Liquidity
October 27, 2009
The dollar has traded down 0.5% against sterling, 0.3% versus the yen and Australian dollar, 0.2% against the euro and 0.1% relative to the kiwi. The buck is flat against the Swiss franc and up 0.1% against the Canadian dollar, as the Bank of Canada Governor continues to sound the alarm about excessive exchange rate […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Israel Policy Rate Held Steady at 0.75%
October 26, 2009
Lower-than-anticipated inflation last month, well-anchored expected inflation, and high unemployment persuaded Israeli monetary officials not to hike their key benchmark interest rate for a second time. An initial increase was made August 24, making the Bank of Israel the first central bank to raise rates after having implemented a series of deep reductions. In Israel’s […] More
Larry's Blog
Louder Complaints About an Undervalued Chinese Yuan and Some History
October 26, 2009
The U.S. Treasury semi-annual report on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies, released earlier this month, bluntly called the Chinese yuan “still undervalued” and said it had depreciated 7% in trade-weighted terms since February despite brisker Chinese productivity and GDP growth, a $186 billion increase in Chinese reserves in the first half of 2009, and […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: U.S. and Canadian Dollars Moderately Softer
October 26, 2009
The dollar is 0.3% lower against the yen, Swiss franc, and Australian dollar and has lost 0.2% against the euro. The greenback is up 0.3% against the loonie and unchanged against sterling. Following drops on Friday, most stock markets are higher with gains of 1.0% in South Korea, 2.9% in Pakistan, 0.8% in Japan, 0.4% […] More
