Central Bank Watch
ECB: A Straight-Forward Written Statement but a Contentious and Confusing Press Conference
July 7, 2011
The ECB raise all three of its key interest rates by 25 basis points today. This was its second tightening following up by three months on an initial move. The rate corridor surrounding the new 1.5% refinancing rate remains 150 basis points in width with a 0.75% deposit rate and a 2.25% marginal lending rate. […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank Negara Malaysia
July 7, 2011
Officials at The Central Bank of Malaysia were not influenced by China’s interest rate hike yesterday. After their latest bi-monthly policy meeting, they instead surprised many analysts with a decision not to increase Malaysia’s overnight policy rate beyond its current level of 3.0%. The authorities took this cautious approach in spite of a doubling of […] More
Central Bank Watch
No Changes from the Bank of England
July 7, 2011
The Bank of England left its overnight target interest rate at 0.5%, its level since March 2009, and the asset purchase ceiling unchanged at GBP 200 billion. That level was reached in January 2010. A statement on the Bank of England web site merely notes that minutes of today’s meeting will be published on July […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Spotlight on ECB
July 7, 2011
Markets are largely marking time ahead of the ECB and Bank of England rate decisions. The euro fell following Moody’s downgrade of Portuguese debt to junk status but is unchanged against the dollar overnight. The U.S. currency has risen 0.3% against the Swiss franc and 0.1% relative to the yen and sterling. The greenback is […] More
