Bank of England
No U.S. Fiscal Package Yet as New Jobless Claims Exceed 1 Million for 20th Consecutive Week
August 6, 2020
Congressional talks on an additional fiscal stimulus reportedly remain far apart. The hope has been to secure agreement by tomorrow. Global Covid-19 cases just rose above the 19 million mark, and the U.S. total is closing in fast upon 5 million confirmed infections. Although more than 200k less than forecast, new U.S. jobless insurance claims […] More
Bank of England Expands Quantitative Stimulus
June 18, 2020
The Bank of England by a vote of 8-1 increased its asset buying ceiling from GBP 645 billion to a new level of GBP 745 billion. The Monetary Policy Committee members expect to hit that ceiling by the end of 2020. The program was raised back on March 19 by GBP 200 billion from a […] 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
Disconnection Thursday Between Recessionary Data and Buoyant Stocks
May 7, 2020
Equities were mixed in Asia but have risen more impressively in Europe this morning. There were drops of 0.8% in India, 0.7% in Hong Kong and 0.2% in China but advances of 0.6% in Taiwan, 0.3% in Japan and 0.5% in New Zealand. The British Ftse, German Dax, and Paris Cac each have risen at […] More
Bank of England’s Scheduled Policy Review Today Didn’t Augment Steps Taken Earlier in the Month
March 26, 2020
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee had lowered the bank rate from 0.75% to 0.25% on March 11 and by a further 15 basis points to 0.10%, a record low, on March 19. Officials also had lifted the ceiling on the purchases of gilt securities and corporate bonds to GBP 645 billion and had […] More
Shocking Leap in U.S. Jobless Insurance Claims Steals the Spotlight
March 26, 2020
From the outset of this week, the most feared data release was today’s report on new jobless insurance claims for the week ending March 21, which was going to capture the impact of broad business lockdowns to combat the spreading Covid-19 pandemic. New claims had averaged 251k during the four weeks through March 14, and […] More
Dollar Down After Fed Expands Currency Swap Network.. Equities Up in Asia and Europe
March 20, 2020
The dollar fell overnight by 2.9% against the Australian dollar, 2.5% relative to the kiwi, 2.2% versus sterling, 2.0% vis-a-vis the loonie, 0.8% against the peso, 0.6% versus the yen and 0.4% relative to the euro and Swiss franc. The swap line arrangement that enables central banks to exchange on a temporary basis their own […] More
Bank of England Returns Key Interest Rate to 0.25% after Unscheduled Emergency Session of the MPC
March 11, 2020
At an unscheduled meeting of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, members voted unanimously to cut the base rate by 50 basis points, thus reversing the two 25-bp hikes engineered in November 2017 and August 2018 and restoring the rate to the post-Brexit level of 0.25% reached in the second half of 2016. According […] More
Continuing Market Volatility, an Unscheduled Bank of England Rate Cut, and Big Night for Biden
March 11, 2020
Share prices in Asia fell 2.3% in Japan, 2.8% in South Korea, 3.6% in Australia, 1.7% in Singapore and 0.9% in China. U.S. futures are down, but in Europe, stocks have so far risen 1.3% in France, 1.0% in Germany, 0.7% in Spain, and 0.6% in both the U.K. and Switzerland. The ten-year U.S. Treasury […] More
Bank of England Makes No Policy Change
January 30, 2020
The Bank of England’s policy rate has been 0.75% since a pair of 25-basis point hikes in November 2017 and August 2018. There were no changes made in 2019 or at this week’s first meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee this week. There were dissenting votes, however, but Saunders and Haskel, who have favored a […] More
