Central Bank Watch
Colombian Benchmark Interest Rate Left at 4.0%
October 23, 2009
The Bank of the Republic of Colombia did not cut its key rate further. The decision matched consensus expectations. After two months of not reducing the rate in July and August, policymakers had surprised analysts with a 50-bp reduction in September. Cuts in all six months of 1H09 had cumulated to 500 basis points. Economic […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week
October 23, 2009
Investors may be treated to one or more central bank rate hikes next week. The Bank of Israel, which is one of two monetary authorities to start lifting rates, could implement a second 25-bp increase after pausing at its last meeting. The other chance for a rate hike is in Norway, where officials announced after […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Weekly Foreign Exchange Insights: October 23rd
October 23, 2009
The dollar had a better week, gaining against the yen and Canadian dollar and closing with little change relative to sterling and a manageable loss against the euro. Wire services and the written press carried fewer dire warnings that the dollar may be heading for a rout, and foreign official complaints about the weak dollar […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: Unexpected And Shocking British GDP Decline in 3Q
October 23, 2009
Sterling lost 1.2% (two cents) on news that real British GDP fell 0.4% (1.6% annualized) last quarter. Analysts had anticipated a 0.1% uptick. This was the sixth consecutive quarterly drop, and GDP was 5.2% lower than in 3Q08. Production fell 0.7% and 10.4% on year. Services dropped 0.2% and 3.8% on year. Construction tumbled 1.1% […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
More Thursday Data and Event Highlights
October 22, 2009
Thursday had already seen a large volume of economic news before North America opened. Here’s a brief update on the rest of the day. The euro was trading back under $1.50 when New Overnight Developments Abroad got posted but closed in New York near the day’s high at $1.5036. $/yen and cable closed above 91 […] More
Central Bank Watch
Canadian Monetary Policy Report: The Rest of the Story
October 22, 2009
As always, the Bank of Canada quarterly review is extensive, and wire service headlines do not do justice to the nuggets and other insights that one finds inside the report. The statement released two days ago when an unchanged 0.25% overnight target rate was retained created a commotion in the market with the claim that […] More
Central Bank Watch
Swedish Riksbank Monetary Policy Unchanged
October 22, 2009
Put six economists on a committee, and you’ll get six opinions. It was almost like that at the latest policy meeting of the Riksbank Executive Board, which Retained a 0.25% repo rate as it did at the prior meeting in early September. Projected growth of 2.5% next year and 3.4% in 2011. Projected core CPI […] More
Central Bank Watch
South African Reserve Bank Keeps Repo Rate Target of 7.0%
October 22, 2009
As expected, the SARB did not cut or raise its target interest rate. In making this decision, monetary policymakers replicated the action of their prior September meeting and released a statement that observed no marked changes in inflation risks since that previous meeting. Prior to that, six reductions totaling 500 basis points were engineered between […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: Lower Stocks Lift Dollar
October 22, 2009
Symptomatic of heightened risk aversion, the German Dax, Paris Cac and British Ftse have traded 1.6%, 1.5% and 1.3% lower. Share prices closed down by 0.6% in Japan, 1.4% in South Korea, 1.1% in The Philippines and Thailand, 0.5% in Hong Kong and Australia, 0.7% in China, 1.2% in Taiwan, 1.3% in India, 1.8% in […] More
Central Bank Watch
Central Bank of Brazil Kept 8.75% Selic Rate As Expected
October 22, 2009
Brazilian monetary officials did not change policy for a third straight meeting. The policy Selic rate has been 8.75% since a 50-basis point cut announced on July 22nd. There were also four rate reductions during the first half of 2009 totaling 450 basis points. The prior cyclical peak of 13.75% had been in place from […] More
