FOMC
Better Tone in Stocks
June 13, 2017
Australian stocks rallied 1.7%, led by financials. A rebound in technology has lifted other stock markets. China and Hong Kong bourses closed up 0.4%. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.7%. Indonesian and Singapore markets rose 0.3%. The German Dax, Paris Cac and British Ftse are up 0.5%, 0.4% and 0.1%. Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.1%, however, and […] More
Waiting for the FOMC Statement Later Today
May 3, 2017
Markets were closed today in Japan (Constitution Day) and both South Korea and Hong Kong (Buddah’s birthday). Lower U.S. share prices are indicated likely in the wake of disappointing data released yesterday. All six automakers reported lower sales in April, and Apple’s 1Q earnings missed expectations. The yen’s recent slide continued. The dollar shows gains […] More
FOMC Statement & Projections
March 15, 2017
The FOMC hiked its fed funds rate target 25 basis points to 0.74-1.0%. There was a single dissent, Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari, who favored no change. The released statement is similar to the prior one. Business investment was upgraded, and the statement acknowledges that the desired level of inflation has been reached, so the goal […] More
Lots of U.S. Data and a Yellen Press Conference This Ides of March
March 15, 2017
The Federal Reserve will release new macroeconomic forecasts and is expected to raise the fed funds target at 18:00 GMT, and the press conference begins a half hour later. The dollar softened overnight by 0.6% against the peso, 0.5% versus sterling, 0.4% relative to the New Zealand and Australian dollars, 0.3% vis-a-vis the loonie and […] More
Awaiting a Likely Fed Rate Hike and Yellen’s Press Conference
December 14, 2016
The Fed’s announcement is due at 14:00 EST (19:00 GMT). A rate hike is like for the first time in a year. Chair Yellen’s press conference starts 14:30 EST. New forecasts will be unveiled. The dollar is down 0.3% against the euro and yen. Ten-year sovereign debt yields fell overnight by six basis points in […] More
Markets Comfortable with Tomorrow’s Likely Fed Tightening
December 13, 2016
Stocks have risen in Asia, Europe and North America. Ten-year German bunds and British gilt yields are down three basis points. The 10-year JGB yield edged a basis point lower, and the 10-year Treasury is steady. Oil is trading firmly at $52.75 per barrel, albeit down 0.2% from Monday’s close. Gold declined 0.7% to $1,157.70 per […] More
Markets Hedging Against Possible Trump Win
November 2, 2016
U.S. opinion polls indicate a considerably tighter race between Trump and Clinton. International investors are extremely worried about a Trump presidency. Some people are withdrawing cash just in case. Best scenario may be a narrow Clinton victory, continuing Republican control of Congress, stalemated governance in Washington, and the uncertainty of what the Clinton emails might […] More
First the BOJ and Now onto the Fed
September 21, 2016
The Bank of Japan Board reconfigured its monetary policy framework, switching the policy’s anchor from quantitative stimulus with a negative marginal policy deposit rate to an orientation that aims to manipulate the yield curve, making such slope upward, and to raise expected inflation through plans to overshoot the inflation target. Details of the new approach are […] More
Awaiting News from the Bank of Japan and FOMC
September 20, 2016
Monetary policymakers in Japan and the United States are holding two-day meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. The BOJ decision will hit the wires around 04:00 GMT tomorrow. The FOMC statement is scheduled for 18:00 GMT on Wednesday. Neither meeting’s outcome is obvious. The BOJ is conducting an atypical full assessment of its policy stance, considering […] More
FOMC Statement
July 27, 2016
The Federal Open Market Committee left the federal funds rate target unchanged as expected at 0.25-0.50% and released a statement that upgraded labor market conditions but otherwise pretty much retained the same economic assessment. Unlike the previous mid-June result, the decision to leave policy unchanged was not unanimous. As she had done at meetings in […] More
