Bank of Korea
Improved Prospects for an Oil Production Agreement Sends Price Higher
April 9, 2020
West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 3.9%. Optimism is growing that Saudi Arabia and Russia will end their dispute over production cuts. Elsewhere among commodities, the price of gold advanced 1.5% overnight and is above $1,700 per ounce. Markets are gliding into the long Good Friday/Easter holiday. Mexico, New Zealand and Norway were shut this […] More
Bank of Korea’s Base Rate Reduced 50 Basis points to 0.75%
March 16, 2020
The Bank of Korea’s base rate was reduced to new record low of 0.75%. Like the Fed, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and Monetary Authorities of Hong Kong and Macau, the BOK acted between scheduled policy meetings. Korea’s rate benchmark had been 1.25% since a pair of 25-basis point cuts in July and October of […] More
Monetary Efforts to Counter Covid-19 Economic Damage All in Vain
March 16, 2020
The contagion news over the weekend was very bad. Italy suffered a bigger daily jump in deaths than even China had, and all evidence suggests that governments that did not test extensively for the virus at the first sign of trouble have brought upon their countries larger humanitarian disasters. The United States seemingly falls into […] More
Stampede Out of Risky Assets Intensifies
February 27, 2020
Share prices fell 2.7% in Indonesia, 2.1% in Japan, 1.2% in Taiwan, 1.1% in South Korea, 0.9% in New Zealand and 0.8% in Australia. Equities are down at least 1.5% in France, Germany, the U.K., Spain, and Switzerland, and U.S. futures point to a drop of over 1.0%. Sometime today, the cumulative decline of the […] More
Better-than-Expected Batch of Chinese Data Lifts Renminbi
January 17, 2020
The dollar fell 0.3% against China’s renminbi but advanced 0.2% versus the euro, kiwi and Swiss franc and by 0.1% relative to the loonie. The dollar remained steady against the yen, sterling, and Australian dollar. The recent upturn in share prices was extended in the Pacific Basin and Europe, with gains of 0.6% in New […] More
Bank of Korea Eases Monetary Policy Again
October 16, 2019
The Bank of Korea enacted its second 25-basis point repo rate cut since July and released a statement that suggests more ease may be done. But with two of seven policymakers dissenting in favor of not cutting the main interest rate today, the timing and certainty of a third move has been thrown into some […] More
Greater Pessimism Surrounding Brexit, U.S.-China, and Global Growth
October 16, 2019
Investor confidence regarding the main geopolitical risks of Brexit and U.S.-Sino trade continue to flip-flop seemingly on a daily basis, often without any concrete new actions. Still no deal on Brexit has been announced with the main sticking point being the handling of Northern Ireland’s border with Ireland, and time is getting exceedingly short. Trade […] More
Busy Session on Last Business Day of August
August 30, 2019
A heap of economic data have been released, but also the following important geopolitical developments have occurred. A Scottish judge denied a court challenge to block Prime Minister Johnson’s plan to suspend parliament for a couple of weeks and thereby prevent parliament from organizing to prevent a hard Brexit if no deal can be reached. […] More
Bank of Korea
July 18, 2019
The Bank of Korea’s 7-day repo rate was sliced to 1.50% from 1.75% in a move that surprised some analysts and which was ascribed to mounting trade tensions, easing monetary policies in other economies, and geopolitical risks. In taking this step, monetary authorities revised projected GDP growth this year slightly downward from 2.5% to something […] More
A Quartet of Central Bank Rate Cuts and Netflix Stock Takes a Large Hit
July 18, 2019
Central bank rates were cut today in South Korea, Indonesia, South Africa, and Ukraine. The likelihood that the Fed will ease at the end of this month played a role in each of these actions. All of the reductions were 25-basis point moves. The share price of Netflix has tumbled 10.75% in response to an […] More
