New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
No Place to Hide as Commodities, Stocks and Bonds Tumble in Wake of Bernanke’s Press Conference
June 20, 2013
Gold dived 5.4% and is under $1300 per ounce. West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 2.2% to $96.11 per barrel. In futures trading, the 10-year Treasury yield jumped 8 basis points on top of a 12-bp post-Bernanke rise on Wednesday. At 2.43%, such is 81 basis points or 50% higher than the level when the […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bernanke Press Conference Leaves Me with an Unsettled Feeling
June 19, 2013
I’m a fan of the Fed Chairman. Under extraordinarily difficult circumstances, his policy instincts contributed critically to the United States weathering the past decade in better shape than other developed economies, meaning faster growth, lower inflation, lower unemployment, a greater drop from the crest of unemployment, a faster drop in the fiscal deficit-to-GDP ratio, and […] More
Central Bank Watch
An Eagerly Awaited FOMC Message
June 19, 2013
The FOMC statement will be released in less than two hours, along with new forecasts. The previous statement on May 1 caught the market’s attention with the addition of a sentence saying, “The Committee is prepared to increase or reduce the pace of its purchases to maintain appropriate policy accommodation at the outlook for the […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Mostly Marking Time Ahead of FOMC Revelations
June 19, 2013
The recent trend toward a firmer yen got a boost from Japanese trade data. The yen touched overnight highs of 94.82 per dollar and 127.04 per yen, but the net appreciation against the U.S. currency from Tuesday’s close was only 0.2%. Other dollar changes have been similarly contained, with no net movement against the euro, […] More
Central Bank Watch
Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey
June 18, 2013
Along side images from Syria and Afghanistan, the international press has been full of photos from Turkey over the past fortnight depicting extreme civil unrest — just the kind of backdrop one might expect to create volatile capital movements. Today’s statement from the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey observes capital flow volatility blames […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
All Eyes on the FOMC
June 18, 2013
Whether, when, and by how much to taper quantitative stimulus is the question of the day, as the FOMC meets on the first day of a 2-day meeting. Creating even more uncertainty, President Obama while attending the G8 summit indicated that Chairman Bernanke had not originally planned to stay in that post as long as […] More
Central Bank Watch
Reserve Bank of India Passes in June
June 17, 2013
The RBI already had cut its repo and reverse repo rates three times this year in reductions of 25 basis points at its January, March and May meetings. An earlier easing of 50 bps was implemented 14 months ago in April 2012. The key lending and borrowing rates are now 7.25% and 6.25%, and the […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Shifting Expectations about the Fed Support Equities
June 17, 2013
All the market talk over the past month about the Fed tapering quantitative easing had seemed premature, and as the FOMC meeting on Wednesday now draws near, investors are dumbing down their expectations for such a signal. Share prices as a result recovered 2.7% in Japan, 1.2% in Hong Kong, 0.8% in India, 0.7% in […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week
June 16, 2013
The most significant central bank policy event of the coming week will be the FOMC statement on Wednesday, which will be accompanied by new forecasts and followed by a Bernanke press conference. There are also scheduled interest rate meetings at the central banks in India, Switzerland, Norway and Turkey. Minutes from this month’s central bank […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Tough Week for Markets Ending on Tenuous Upbeat
June 14, 2013
Stocks partly recovered in the Pacific Rim, rising 1.9% in Japan, 2.0% in Australia, 4.4% in Thailand, 3.3% in Indonesia, 2.1% in the Philippines, 1.1% in Malaysia, 1.9% in India, 1.0% in Singapore, 0.7% in China, and 0.4% in New Zealand, Hong Kong and South Korea. In Europe, however, gains are muted at 0.4% in […] More
