Central Bank Watch
Bank of Japan Unveils New Program to Encourage Corporate Lending in the Private Sector
June 15, 2010
The Bank of Japan after a two-day, six-hour and 11-minute meeting Voted 8-0 to keep the uncollateralized overnight call rate at 0.1% where such has been since December 2008. In contrast to multi-hundred basis point rate declines by most central banks during the world recession, this rate is just 40 basis points below its prior […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Credit Rating Downgrades
June 15, 2010
Moody’s announced a four-step downgrade of Greek debt from Ba1 to junk status, A3. The 10-year Greek-minus-German yield premium widened 35 basis points to more than 600 basis points. Irish and Spanish premiums also increased. Fitch reduced British Petroleum’s credit rating from AA to BBB. President Obama will address the nation on the oil spill […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
This Week
June 14, 2010
Japan, Switzerland, Turkey, Mexico and Chile hold central bank interest rate meetings. The last may implement an initial rate hike, while the others are not expected to modify policy. The Bank of Japan and Reserve Bank of Australia will be releasing minutes of previous meetings. The Bank of England reports of its inflation attitudes survey, […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Weaker Dollar But Strengthening Stocks
June 14, 2010
The dollar has a softer tone, with losses from Friday of 1.4% against sterling, 1.2% versus the euro, 1.1% against the Swiss franc and Australian dollar, 0.8% relative to the kiwi, 0.5% against the Canadian dollar. The greenback is 0.1% firmer against the yen. Market chatter is starting to question whether the dollar is changing […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Friday Rundown
June 11, 2010
Compared to closing levels on Friday, June 4, the dollar shows gains of 1.5% against the yen and 0.3% against the pound but losses of 1.2% against the euro, 0.8% against the Aussie dollar, and 0.7% versus the Swiss franc. CAD/USD is unchanged. The Dow, Dax and Ftse are up 2.3%, 1.9% and 0.7%, but […] More
Central Bank Watch
New Zealand Gets First Rate Increase
June 9, 2010
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) raised its Official Cash Rate (OCR) to 2.75% from 2.5%, which had been the OCR level since a 50-basis point cut in April 2009. Most but not all analysts anticipated the move. Central bank officials project a more broadly-based recovery with 3.5% GDP growth in both 2010 and […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Some Highlights Since Friday
June 9, 2010
The dollar since late Thursday has lost 1.2% against the yen and 1.3% versus the Swiss franc but shows gains of 1.1% against the Aussie dollar, 1.0% versus the euro and 0.2% against sterling. Stocks have dropped 4.8% in Japan, 2.4% in Britain, 2.1% in the U.S. and 1.1% in Germany. Ten-year bond yields are […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week
June 6, 2010
Central bank interest rate policy meetings are scheduled next week in Euroland, Great Britain, South Korea, Brazil, New Zealand, and Peru. The Fed Beige book arrives, Chairman Bernanke is one of several Fed officials with speaking engagements. Others are Yellen, Hoenig, Plosser, and Duke. Japan will report machinery orders, money and credit growth, the current […] More
Deeper Analysis
Administrative Announcement: A Million Words and Counting
June 3, 2010
Currency Thoughts on Wednesday reached an ambitious goal and one I hoped might be possible when this project began just over two years ago — to create over a million meaningful words of content on the site. This is not the end of the story but a time to pause and reflect about the future, […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank Indonesia Kept Benchmark Interest Rate at 6.5%
June 3, 2010
It came as no surprise that Indonesia’s key interest rate was held steady. It’s been at 6.5% since August 2009 after nine consecutive monthly reductions totaling 300 basis points. A statement from Bank Indonesia dismisses the rise of CPI inflation to 4.2% in May from 3.9% in April as being cause by volatile factors and […] More
