Bank of Japan
Bank of Japan Board Cuts Projected Inflation but Leaves Monetary Stance Unchanged
January 23, 2019
This week’s two-day BOJ Board meeting ending today coincided with the publication of a new quarterly Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices. These reports convey changes in projected GDP growth and core CPI inflation, which excludes perishable foods. The table below compares the latest forecasts identified in rows labeled GDP-JAN with earlier ones made in […] More
Softer Dollar and Yen
January 23, 2019
The yen fell 0.4% against the dollar overnight on data news and the Bank of Japan’s downward revision of projected core inflation for fiscal 2018, fiscal 2019, and fiscal 2020. The Bank of Japan left its monetary policy unchanged and also revised growth downward in the current fiscal year ending March 31 . BOJ Governor […] More
Will U.S. Stocks Get Boxed Again: That is the Question
December 26, 2018
Many, many markets remained closed today for Boxing Day, St. Stephen’s Day (Italy) or a second day of Xmas (Germany and Hong Kong), but stock exchanges in the United States, where the DJIA tanked over 600 points in an abbreviated session on Christmas Eve, reopen and may set the tone for the rest of the […] More
Softer Dollar on the First Day After the Fed’s Rate Hike
December 20, 2018
Markets did not take comfort from Wednesday’s FOMC interest rate hike or the upbeat economic prognosis of Chairman Powell. The dollar fell overnight by 0.6% against the euro, 0.5% relative to the yen and Swiss franc, 0.4% vis-a-vis sterling, 0.3% versus the Australian dollar, and 0.2% against the yuan and loonie. Share prices fared poorly […] More
Bank of Japan
October 31, 2018
A statement released by the Bank of Japan Board after this week’s four hour 11 minute monetary policy review left all settings of the policy known as Quantitative and Qualitative Monetary Easing (QQE) with Yield Curve Control unchanged. Similar to other recent meetings, the decision was taken by a 7-2 vote, with dissents from Yutaka […] More
The Usual Month-End Flood of Economic Data but Little Overnight Movement in the dollar
October 31, 2018
The dollar is unchanged against the euro and loonie, 0.1% firmer relative to the yuan and Swiss franc, 0.2% higher vis-a-vis the yen, Aussie dollar and kiwi. Somewhat larger moves have happened against sterling (a drop of 0.5%) and the Mexican peso (a rise of 0.5%). Gold fell 0.6%. Following the rebound Tuesday of U.S. […] More
Released Current Account Data and Some Central Bank Decisions
September 19, 2018
The dollar is steady to mostly softer. North America’s stock market rally on Tuesday carried over into Asia and Europe. The ten-year British gilt yield edged up 2 basis points, and gold firmed 0.4%. Oil is steady, as are German bunds and Japanese JGBs. New Zealand recorded a larger-than-forecast NZD 1.619 billion current account deficit […] More
Fresh Decline in Turkish Lira
September 18, 2018
Turkey grabbed the currency market spotlight on a day otherwise devoid of meaningful data to be reported. The lira dropped 2% against the dollar as President Erdogan took aim against opposition party members of IsBank’s Board of Trustees. The lira’s loss erased the recovery that occurred last week after the Turkish central bank sharply raised […] More
Bank of Japan
July 31, 2018
The Bank of Japan did not change its policy interest rates of negative 0.1% on overnight Policy-Rate balances or about zero percent on the 10-year JGBs. In controlling the yield curve, officials still expect to purchase about 80 trillion yen of JGBs per year, and the quantitative settings for purchases and/or holdings of ETFs, J-Reits, […] More
Exhausting Barrage of Data and Developments on Final Day of July
July 31, 2018
The dollar recovered 0.4% against the yen while sliding 0.3% relative to the euro and Australian dollar, 0.2% versus sterling and 0.1% vis-a-vis the loonie and Swiss franc. The Bank of Japan changed the policy framework only marginally, which allowed the worried JGB market to settle down and the 10-year yield to slide back four […] More
