Central Bank Watch
National Bank of Romania
November 2, 2012
In this context and with a view to efficiently anchoring inflation expectations, the NBR Board has decided to keep the monetary policy rate unchanged at 5.25 percent per annum, to ensure a firm liquidity management in the banking system and to maintain the existing levels of minimum reserve requirement ratios on both leu- and foreign […] More
Central Bank Watch
Japanese Quantitative Easing Expanded by JPY 11 Trillion
November 2, 2012
Faced with mounting signs that Japan is heading for a new recession and dissatisfied that the yen had not depreciated more sharply, Bank of Japan officials raised their ceiling on quantitative easing by another 11 trillion yen to a total of 91 trillion yen. The ceiling is to be reached by end-2013. 26 trillion yen […] More
Central Bank Watch
Czech National Bank Adopts Near-Zero Interest Rate Policy
November 2, 2012
A 20-basis point cut of the Czech two-week repo rate to 0.05% was announced by the CNB on Thursday, November 1. Two of seven policymakers dissented in favor of no change. A statement from officials defended this adoption of virtual ZIRP, predicting that core CPI inflation would hover in the lower half of its 1-3% […] More
Central Bank Watch
Norwegian Interest Rate Kept at 1.5%
November 2, 2012
On Wednesday, the Norges Bank Executive Board announced a decision not to change its 1.5% policy rate. It had been at that level since two cuts of 50 basis points in December 2011 and 25 bps in March 2012. The rate bottomed at 1.75% in the Great Recession and had undergone 100 basis points of […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Election Week and the Dollar
November 2, 2012
Hurricane Sandy hijacked the marketplace this week, and the U.S. election is likely to do the same next week. With attention riveted on all facets of the storm from its ultimate cost to a report card on how key politicians handled matters, the dollar posted net movements of less than a half percent against the […] More
Central Bank Watch
Hungarian Interest Rate Bias is Conditionally Skewed Downward
November 2, 2012
Officials on Tuesday at the Magyar Nemzeti Bank left Hungary’s key central bank rate at 6.25% but released a statement that flagged a possible cut in the future: “The Council will consider a further reduction in interest rates if data becoming available in the coming months confirm that the improvement in financial market sentiment persists […] More
Deeper Analysis
U.S. and Canadian Labor Statistics
November 2, 2012
U.S. labor statistics in the final report before the election were better than expected. Nonfarm payroll jobs climbed 171K in October, 46K more than consensus estimates. Combined employment growth in August September was revised upward by 84K. The jobless rate of 7.9% remained below the psychologically important 8.0% level. The broadest measure of joblessness and […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Last Jobs Report Before Election Day
November 2, 2012
U.S. stocks rallied yesterday in response to a slew of better-than-forecast economic statistics — the ISM manufacturing survey, consumer confidence, the ADP and jobless claims. Asian share prices picked up that tone, climbing Friday by 1.3% in Hong Kong, 1.2% in Japan, 1.1% in South Korea, 0.7% in Thailand, 0.5% in Singapore and 0.4% in […] More
