Czech National Bank
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
Czech National Bank Reduces Two-Week Repo Rate to 1.0%
March 26, 2020
Ten days after an inter-meeting 50-basis point rate reduction on March 16, Czech National Bank officials at today’s scheduled meeting authorized a further 75-basis point rate cut, declaring in a released statement that the Czech economy likely faces a strong domestic recession for most of the rest of 2020 and that such will likely exert […] More
Czech National Bank Officials Ready to Ease More If Necessary
March 26, 2020
At an intermeeting meeting of the CNB Governing Board on March 16 reduced the two-week repo rate to 1.75% from 2.25%. Minutes of that meeting include forward guidance that further monetary relief may be undertaken. The Board agreed on the need to lower the CNB’s key interest rates and thereby ease the monetary conditions beyond […] 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
Czech National Bank
February 6, 2020
The Czech rate decision, a hike of the 2-week Czech National Bank repo rate to 2.25% from 2.0%, was a surprise and reflects a razor-thin 4-3 voting margin by the Monetary Board. Due in part to higher indirect taxes, CPI inflation has risen to 3.2%, highest since late 2012, and officials don’t expect such to […] More
Sliding Into Yearend Mode
December 18, 2019
With the yearend holidays fast approaching, it’s hard to identify overriding themes in financial markets. The dollar is mixed, with rises overnight of 0.4% against sterling, 0.2% relative to the euro and 0.1% against the yuan, no net changes versus the Swiss franc and yen, and dips of 0.3% vis-a-vis the kiwi, 0.2% against the […] More
Risk Back On
November 7, 2019
A claim was made by a Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman that the U.S. and China have agreed to a phased and mutual reduction of trade deficits but only contingent on a trade deal being done. Stock markets are up 0.7% in Germany, 1.0% in Australia, 0.7% in Singapore, 0.6% in Hong Kong, 0.5% in India, […] More
Dollar Up and Stocks Down as Impeachment Inquiry Opens Against Trump
September 25, 2019
House Speaker Pelosi ended her previous resistance to calls for Trump’s impeachment, raising the political risks to both Democrats and Republicans. The United States and Great Britain, which led the free world’s fight against fascism in the 20th century, are now both enmeshed in constitutional crises. Equities fell overnight by 1.3% in South Korea and […] More
Central Banks and Manufacturing PMI Reports in the Spotlight
August 1, 2019
The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee left policy settings unchanged by a unanimous 9-0 vote as was expected. Today’s report coincided with the release of the quarterly Inflation Report. Projected growth in the U.K. last quarter was likely zero percent and that for 2019 has been lowered to 1.3%. The forecast assumes a Brexit […] More
Central Banks and Weak European Data in the Spotlight
June 26, 2019
The Central Bank of Iceland’s 7-day term rate has been cut 25 basis points to 3.75% following a 50-basis point reduction at the prior monetary policy review last month. These moves represent a trend reversal from a 25-basis point increase last November. In a released statement explaining the decision, officials anticipate a contraction of domestic […] More
