Central Bank Watch
ECB’s Thursday Meeting
April 7, 2010
I expect to find the usual phrases in the ECB statement explaining the decision to leave the key deposit, refinancing, and marginal lending rates at 0.25%, 1.0%, and 1.75%. These will include assertions that current rates are appropriate, that expected inflation remains anchored and consistent with the target of below but close to 2%, that […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of England Preview
April 7, 2010
The Bank of England will not be changing policy this month. An announcement will be made at 11:00 GMT on Thursday. The asset purchase facility was suspended but not subsequently wound down after hitting a ceiling authorization of Gbp 200 billion at end-January. The bank rate target of 0.5% since March 2009 represents a practical […] More
Deeper Analysis
U.S. and Ezone Services Improved Significantly Last Month
April 7, 2010
The U.S. service-sector purchasing managers index rose 2.4 points to 55.9, while its Euroland counterpart almost matched that impressive gain step-for-step with a 2.3-point advance to 54.1. Both readings connote solid positive growth and indicate that economic recovery has become more broadly based in each region. The U.S. held a 1.3-point advantage over Euroland in […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Japan Broke No New Ground
April 7, 2010
As noted in my preview, the March 17 and April 30 policy meetings of the Bank of Japan were bound to be more important than this week’s. Sure enough, the Policy Board voted unanimously to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 0.1%, where such has been since December 2008, made not further announcements about […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Lots of European Data Out.. No Change from BOJ
April 7, 2010
The U.S. and Canadian currencies have advanced. The loonie rose 0.3% against the dollar to CAD 0.9991. The greenback otherwise gained 0.8% against sterling, 0.4% versus the euro, 0.3% against the Swiss franc, and 0.2% relative to the yen, Aussie dollar and kiwi. Stocks strengthened 1.8% in Hong Kong, 1.0% in Sri Lanka, 0.9% in […] More
