Central Bank Watch
New Zealand Interest Rate Policy on Hold
September 14, 2011
Although New Zealand’s economy has been performing better than many other economies lately, policymakers at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand decided as widely anticipated to leave the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at its cyclical low of 2.5%. A statement indicates that the directional rate bias is tilted to the upside but that timing hinges […] More
Central Bank Watch
Slight Easing Move in Russia
September 14, 2011
Bank Rossii cut its minimum one-day repo rate to 5.25% from 5.5% and narrowed the differential between such and the one day overnight deposit rate to 3.0% by also increasing the latter to 3.25% from 3.0%. The intent of these actions is to lower money market interest rate volatility and to strike a more appropriate […] More
Deeper Analysis
Why the Yen is Strong
September 14, 2011
First, here’s some history. Prior to the summer of 1971 when most dollar exchange rates were fixed, a dollar was worth 360 yen. In the 1970s, Japan’s currency appreciated 50% to 240 per dollar, and it climbed another 67% to 144/USD by the end of the 1980s. When the euro was launched at the end […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Remaining Focus on European Debt
September 14, 2011
Share prices recovered 1.5% in Germany, 1.4% in France, and 1.1% in Britain, aided by a smaller-than-expected one-notch downgrading of French banks by Moody’s. But regional news was not entirely good — Chinese Premier Wen scolded Europe for its fiscal difficulties and said the region shouldn’t count on a Chinese bail-out as the solution to […] More
