New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Sovereign Debt Yields Lower on Last Business Day Before Christmas
December 23, 2016
Ten-year sovereign debt yields retreated four basis points in Germany and Italy, three bps in U.K., France and Canada and two bps in the United States. Japan’s market is shut to commemorate the Emperor’s birthday. The dollar slipped 0.2% overnight against the euro and yen but climbed against commodity-sensitive currencies and sterling. The greenback is […] More
Deeper Analysis
U.S. GDP
December 22, 2016
Real economic growth in 3Q16 was revised up 0.3 percentage point to 3.5% annualized from the second quarter. However, the on-year pace of 1.7% was down from 2.2% in the year to 3Q15 and 2.9% in the year to 3Q14. Personal consumption remains a mainstay of the economy, posting successive on-year advances of 3.2% in […] More
Central Bank Watch
Czech National Bank
December 22, 2016
Since November 2012, the Czech two-week repo rate has been a mere 0.05%. A year after dropping to that level, an additional asymmetric foreign exchange rate policy was added to the monetary policy toolkit, stipulating that inflation would be used to prevent the koruna from strengthening beyond the 27 per euro level but not to […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
December 22, 2016
The Filipino reverse repo rate, which has been at 3.0% since a 25-basis point hike in September 2014, was left unchanged at the latest Board meeting. So were its other interest rates and reserve requirement ratio. A released statement asserts the appropriateness of the current monetary stance. Inflation is currently under the 2-4% target but […] More
Central Bank Watch
Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
December 22, 2016
It was decided unanimously to leave Taiwan’s central bank interest rate at 1.375% after the latest quarterly policy review. Four consecutive reductions of 12.5 basis points had been implemented in September and December of 2015 and March and June of this year. A statement released after the meeting justified the stance as follows: Against a […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Softer Dollar but Firmer Oil Price
December 22, 2016
On this last full session before the Christmas break, the dollar fell 0.5% against the euro and 0.4% relative to the Swiss franc. Dollar/yen is steady and the dollar has strengthened against sterling, the Aussie and Canadian dollars, and Mexican peso. West Texas Intermediate crude oil advanced 1.1% to $53.07 per barrel following news of […] More
Central Bank Watch
Swedish Riksbank
December 21, 2016
The final Executive Board meeting of 2016 produced a An unchanged negative 0.5% repo rate. That’s been the level since a 15-basis point cut last February. The rate turned negative a year earlier in February 2015 and has not been above zero since a 25-basis point reduction in October 2014. Unchanged projected inflation of 1.0% […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Thailand Keeps 1.5% Interest Rate
December 21, 2016
In deliberating their policy decision, the Committee assessed that the Thai economy would continue to expand at a pace close to the previous assessment, but downside risks increased. Inflation was still expected to slowly rise. Meanwhile, monetary conditions remained accommodative and conducive to the economic recovery. Hence, the Committee decided to keep the policy rate […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Somewhat Softer Dollar on This First Day of Winter
December 21, 2016
The dollar has weakened 0.7% against the euro, 0.4% relative to the Swiss franc, 0.3% vis-a-vis the yen, 0.2% versus sterling, and 0.1% against the kiwi and yuan. U.S. stocks are a tad lower. The German Dax is flat. Stocks fell in other European centers and lost 1.0% in Indonesia, 0.3% in China and Japan, […] More
Central Bank Watch
Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey
December 20, 2016
Turkish monetary policy settings were held unchanged at this month’s meeting. The one-week repo rate was left at 8.0% following a 50-basis point hike at the prior meeting on November 24. The marginal funding rate, which was raised 25 bps to 8.5% in November, stays at the level, and the key borrowing rate of 7.25% […] More
