Central Bank Watch
National Bank of Romania Retains 10.25% Key Rate
January 6, 2009
A statement released by monetary officials justifies keeping Romania’s central bank rate at a cyclically high 10.25% but hints that a cut may occur as soon as the next scheduled meeting on February 4, when new quarterly inflation forecasts will be released. The benchmark rate was raised 325 basis points from 7.0% in seven steps […] More
Currency Markets in the News
Service Sector PMI Worsened Considerably More in U.S. Than Euro Area
January 6, 2009
U.S. Ezone U.S. Ezone Sum of Services Services Spread Mf’g Mf’g Spread Spreads January 44.6 50.6 -6.0 50.7 52.8 -2.1 -8.1 February 49.3 52.3 -3.0 48.3 52.3 -4.0 -7.0 March 49.6 51.6 -2.0 48.6 52.0 -3.4 -5.4 April 52.0 52.0 0.0 48.6 50.7 -2.1 -2.1 May 51.7 50.6 +1.1 49.6 50.6 […] More
Canadian Producer Prices
January 6, 2009
The Canadian PPI slumped 2.6% between October and November, reducing its 12-month increase by 3.6 percentage points (ppts) to 5.9%. This sharp deceleration occurred in spite of C-dollar depreciation amounting to 2.7% from the prior month and 20.6% over the previous year. Plunging oil costs were the major disinflationary force in November. The contribution of […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: Euro Continues Sharp Decline
January 6, 2009
The dollar advanced another 2.0% against the euro and shows gains of 5.2% since Friday and 10.2% since December 18th. The dollar also gained 1.1% against the Swissy, 0.9% versus the yen, 0.7% against sterling, and 0.5% against the Australian and New Zealand dollars. The greenback is 0.1% softer against the Canadian dollar. Investors expect […] More
