Central Bank Watch
FOMC Minutes
May 21, 2014
Released minutes from the April 29-30th meeting read dovishly and reveal No inclination to begin raising the federal funds rate for at least 4-5 more quarters. Satisfaction that maintaining the present accommodative policy will create a conflict between the Fed’s inflation and employment mandates for quite some time longer. No substantial changes since the prior […] More
Central Bank Watch
Central Bank of Iceland
May 21, 2014
Officials left the one-week collateralized central bank lending rate unchanged at 6.0% for the twelfth policy meeting in a row dating back to December 2012. The last change, a 25-basis point hike in November 2012, culminated a six-step tightening begun in August 2011 from a base of 4.5%. In a released statement, officials said the […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Japan Policy Decision: Steady as She Goes
May 21, 2014
Governor Kuroda and is eight fellow board members were on more solid ground when they met this month and chose not to change the stimulative qualitative and quantitative monetary policy that was launched in April 2013 but not modified since then. First-quarter GDP growth of 5.9% annualized far exceeded expectations, and indications of April activity, […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Four Central Banks in the Spotlight
May 21, 2014
Minutes from the Bank of England’s meeting on May 7-8 revealed an increasing inclination by some members of the Monetary Policy Committee to entertain the thought of starting to raise interest rates, but the vote against doing so at that meeting remained unanimous. The debate is focused on determining how much slack remains in the […] More
Central Bank Watch
Central Bank of Sri Lanka Leaves Key Interest Rates Unchanged
May 20, 2014
Sri Lankan central bank officials left the reverse repo and repo rates at 8.0% and 6.5%, respectively, as expected. A released statement stressed benign continuing inflation prospects. Both rates had been cut by 25 basis points in December 2012, 50 bps in May 2013, and 50 bps in October 2013. The reverse repo but not […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Weaker Australian and New Zealand Dollars
May 20, 2014
The U.S. currency is 0.7% stronger against the Aussie dollar and up 0.5% relative to the kiwi. The U.S. dollar otherwise is unchanged against the Swiss franc and Chinese yuan, 0.1% firmer verus the loonie and euro and 0.1% softer against the yen and sterling. Share prices fell 2.4% in Indonesia, 1.1% in Thailand where […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Week Starts with More Sobering News about the Chinese Property Market
May 19, 2014
Chinese property prices rose 6.7% on year in April, down a whole percentage point from March and the smallest 12-month gain since May 2013. Only 44 of 70 metro areas experienced higher prices in April than March, the fewest 3-1/2 years. Overall house prices increased 0.3% on month. The dollar edged up 0.1% against the […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week
May 16, 2014
Interest rate policy meetings are scheduled next week by central banks in Japan, Turkey, South Africa and Iceland. Minutes of the last FOMC and Bank of England meetings will be published. Three of the Fed officials speaking publicly next week are Yellen, Kocherlakota and George. Canada will be closed Monday for Victoria Day. U.S. markets […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Yen and Rupee Firm
May 16, 2014
The yen remains well-bid to the detriment of Japanese stocks. The Nikkei lost 1.4% overnight. The yen touched highs of 138.78 per euro and 101.39 per dollar. In Indian lower house elections, a coalition headed by the pro-business Bharatiya Janala Party won 60 more seats than needed to secure a majority. This was the most […] More
Central Bank Watch
Central Bank of Chile
May 15, 2014
Although keeping the monetary policy rate of 4.0% unchanged as they did also a month ago, monetary authorities spoke about monitoring above-target inflation with a greater sense of vigilance in this month’s statement.: “The most likely scenario assumes that the rise in inflation —associated with the peso depreciation, among other factors— is a temporary development, […] More
