Bank Indonesia
Indonesian Interest Rate Cut
June 18, 2020
Indonesia’s policy interest rate has been reduced 25 basis points to 4.25%. This was the third such drop in 2020 following 25-basis point cuts in February and May. Officials at Bank Indonesia likely was sliced 25 basis points from their overnight deposit and lending rates to create a new corridor that runs from 3.5% to […] More
More Concern than Hope in Thursday’s Marketplace
June 18, 2020
It’s been a busy day for central bank watchers, as monetary policy was reviewed in the U.K., Norway, Switzerland, Brazil, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Released statements and some new data adhere to the baseline view that economic activity contracted even more sharply in the second quarter than the first but that the rate of slide began […] More
Easter Break Over but Covid-19 Pandemic Continues to Dominate Financial Market News
April 14, 2020
Having made the three biggest mistakes in handling the pandemic, the United States has now taken the global lead in both number of cases (30.3% of the worldwide total) and deaths (23,644 or 19.6% of the total). The mistakes were 1) being late to socially distance people, 2) deficient testing to identify asymptomatic carriers of […] More
Another Indonesian Interest Rate Cut
March 19, 2020
Officials at Bank Indonesia reduced the 7-day reverse repo rate by 25 basis points to 4.5%. There was also a 25-basis point cut in February and a full percentage point of reduction in four moves during the second half of last year. Taken together all but 25 basis points of the 175-bp of tightening in […] More
Indonesian Monetary Policy Eased
February 20, 2020
Concern over the potential impact of the coronavirus also elicited an unexpected 25-basis point cut in Indonesia’s 7-day repo rate to 4.75% and complementary cuts of same size in Bank Indonesia’s deposit facility rate and lending facility rate to 4.0% and 5.50%, respectively. The action was characterized as a preemptive step to counteract any virus-related […] More
Solid Day for the Dollar But Stocks Struggle in Several Markets
February 20, 2020
The euro slid overnight to a 1-year low of $1.0777, and the dollar also hit a 42-week high against the yen of 112.18 and to close to an 11-year peak of 0.6617 per Australian dollar. Sterling fell to $1.2849, a quarterly low, and the yuan weakened 0.4% and past the 7.000 per dollar threshold. The […] More
Coronavirus Spreading and Three Central Banks Review Monetary Policy
January 23, 2020
Share prices slumped another 2.8% in China, 1.5% in Hong Kong, 1.0% in Japan, 0.9% in South Korea, and 0.6% in Australia and Singapore as the deadly pneumonia-like disease centered in Asia claimed more victims. Share prices in Europe are so far today down 0.4% in Germany and 0.3% in the U.K. and Switzerland but […] More
Thursday Rundown of Overnight News, Data Reports, and Central Bank Decisions
December 19, 2019
President Trump has been impeached by a House of Representatives partisan vote of 229-197. He will get a trial in the senate. Market movements today are mostly unremarkable. Sovereign debt yields are up. Equities are down a bit in Europe but started on an up note in the United States. New Zealand’s stock market rallied […] More
Bank Indonesia Rate Cut
September 19, 2019
At Bank Indonesia, a third consecutive 25-basis point cut was announced today in the seven-day reverse repo rate, which becomes 5.25%. Overnight lending and deposit rates were similarly cut by a quarter percentage point. Like the reductions at meetings in July and August, today’s as-expected preemptive action is meant to promote sustained growth with external […] More
Eight More Central Bank Meetings, a U.S. Current Account Report, and Downgraded Global Growth
September 19, 2019
Dollar movement overnight was mixed, with gains against the Australian dollar, kiwi, sterling, and yuan but losses relative to the yen, Swiss franc, euro, loonie and peso. The 10-year U.S. Treasury and Japanese JGB yields fell three basis points. Their German and British counterparts are respective a basis point higher and a basis point lower. […] More
