July 8, 2026
More than a month before the negotiating window prescribed in the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Iranian governments is supposed to end, President Trump declared the interim “ceasefire over as far as he is concerned.” He grabbed the summit spotlight in other ways, for instance calling Spain a “terrible NATO partner,” but the […] Read Article
July 3, 2026
Central Banks: Interest rate policies will be reviewed in Malaysia, Romania, Poland, Serbia, New Zealand, and Peru. FOMC minutes and the Bank of England Financial Stability Report will be published. New York Fed District President Williams, Breeden and Mann of the Bank of England, and Hunter of the Reserve Bank of Australia will be speaking […] Read Article
July 8, 2026
On the central banking front, officials at the Bank of Israel completed a review of monetary policy, and as expected cut the central bank’s interest rate for a second straight time by 25 basis points. This was the fifth reduction of that size since January 2024 and trims the interest rate at 3.50%, its lowest […] Read Article
June 30, 2026
Around the world, the monetary policy pendulum swung more decisively in the direction of restraint. Among the five central banks the table that appears in this monthly feature of Currency Thoughts, the Bank of Japan and European Central Bank each raised their key interest rate by 25 basis points in June, and none of the […] Read Article
July 8, 2026
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s Official Cash Rate today was lifted 25 basis points to 2.50% in an expected move that reverses a cut of that size made last November that had been the final element of a nine-step easing cycle that began in August 2024 and that totaled 325 basis points. Explaining today’s […] More
July 7, 2026
Just six weeks remain in the 60-day negotiating window laid out in the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran. The past weekend had lacked the customary military craziness, but a big ship carrying energy took on fire in a reminder that investors mustn’t make assumptions that this political distraction will end with […] More
July 6, 2026
(132) The biggest dollar advances so far today are gains of 0.5% against the Japanese yen and New Zealand dollar, followed by a 0.3% rise versus the Swiss franc and South Korean won. The U.S. currency is also 0.1% firmer relative to the euro. In pre-open trading, the U.S. Nasdaq and S&P 500 have strengthened […] More
July 3, 2026
Overnight dollar movement was generally muted except for a 0.6% drop against the Korean won. The weighted DXY dollar index is down only 0.1%. There have been several significant upward movements of equity markets around the Pacific Rim led by a 5.8% rally in South Korea and including gains of 2.3% in Indonesia, 1.5% in […] More
July 2, 2026
The dollar gave back a little ground overnight but remains elevated in the context of this century’s general experience. The U.S. currency lost 0.7% against the yen but remains close to a four-decade peak. The euro edged up 0.2% but is closer to its all-time low of $0.8230 touched in 2000 than the high of […] More
July 1, 2026
The optimistic rise of equities and bond prices at the end of the last quarter gave way to profit-taking as the new one kicked off. Equity markets in the Pacific Rim closed down 2.0% in South Korea and 0.6% in Australia and Hong Kong. Major European stock markets and futures trading of the four major […] More
June 30, 2026
Many data have been released on this final day of June and the second quarter of 2026. In other developments, U.S. and Iranian peace negotiators are in Qatar to enter a new and delicate stage of talks, with each side interpreting the results of prior talks differently and military skirmishes still happening, and the other […] More
June 29, 2026
(133) Contrary to earlier this year when the dollar benefited from Middle East tensions and uncertainty, that linkage has lately broken down. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil bounced back above the $70 per barrel threshold, but America’s currency has eased 0.3% against sterling, 0.2% relative to the euro, Swiss franc, kiwi and […] More
June 26, 2026
Central Banks: The Bank of Japan’s quarterly Tankan survey of corporate perceptions and expectations will be published as well as minutes from the last Reserve Bank of Australia Board meeting. Interest rate policy will be reviewed at central banks in Colombia and Jamaica. Central bankers speaking publicly in the period include Barkin and Williams of […] More
June 26, 2026
Tech stocks were spooked today by further evidence that AI development is costing as well as reports that OpenAI’s IPO may be delayed until next year. In futures trading, All four major U.S. equity indices are off, led by a 1.2% drop in the Nasdaq. Asian stock markets plunged 4.2% in Japan, 3.8% in South […] More
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