New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Not a Big Reaction to Greek Debt Agreement
November 27, 2012
Ecofin and the IMF settled their differences over Greek aid, paving the way for a EUR 34.4 billion installment next month. The accord’s assumptions about future Greek growth look suspect. The dollar is 0.2% stronger against the euro and Swiss franc, unchanged versus the yen, yuan, kiwi, and sterling, down 0.1% against the loonie, and […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Israel Holds Key Interest Rate Steady at 2.0%
November 26, 2012
Since peaking at 3.25% after the May 2011 monthly meeting, Israel’s key interest rate has been cut five times, each by 25 basis points and most recently last month. But as expected, a sixth reduction was not implemented at this month’s meeting. The Bank of Israel’s monetary policy statement expressed contentment with inflation and expected […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Japan, Spain and Greece in Spotlight
November 26, 2012
Minutes from the Bank of Japan’s October 30 Policy Board meeting accentuated the difficulty of overcoming deflation, with two of the nine members believing more stimulus is needed to boost inflation to the 1% target. In a speech today, Governor Shirakawa acknowledged that the economy has weakened but deflected responsibility for ultimately overcoming deflation to […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week
November 25, 2012
Central banks in Thailand, Brazil, Hungary and Mexico hold interest rate policy meeting during the final week of November. The Fed Beige Book, Bank of Japan minutes, and Bank of England Financial Stability Report arrive, and the Governors of the Bank of Japan, Swiss National Bank and Bank of England speak publicly. Japan releases data […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Dollar Down, Stocks Up, and Japan Closed
November 23, 2012
Continuing optimism about the resolution of Euroland’s debt crisis and U.S. fiscal cliff talks depressed the dollar by 0.6% against the kiwi, 0.5% relative to the euro, 0.4% versus the Swissie and Australian dollar, 0.3% against sterling, 0.2% versus the yen and 0.1% against the loonie. Taiwan led a rally in Asian stock markets with […] More
Central Bank Watch
South African Reserve Bank Leaves Repo rate at 5.0%
November 22, 2012
Ten central bank rate cuts between December 2008 and July 2012 cumulated to 700 basis points. The present 5.0% represents a multi-decade low. As in previous policy meeting in September, monetary officials concluded that a balance of downside growth risks and upside price risks deemed any rate change at this time to be inappropriate. The […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Thanksgiving Day Special
November 22, 2012
Overseas investors this Thanksgiving Day of 2012 were cheered by China’s preliminary 50.4 reading on the November purchasing managers preliminary survey and have disregarded discouraging Ezone PMI results. The focus instead has been on hope that European finance ministers will work out an agreement on Greece next week. Additional optimism surrounds the likelihood of an […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Weaker Yen
November 21, 2012
The yen fell 0.8% against the dollar to another multi-month low following the release of dismal Japanese trade figures. The U.S. Treasury market will shut early for Thanksgiving. Many U.S. workers will take an extra day off on Friday. The dollar otherwise is unchanged against the euro, Swissie, yuan and loonie. The greenback is 0.4% […] More
Central Bank Watch
Overnight Turkish Lending Rate Sliced by Another 50 Basis Points
November 20, 2012
The overnight lending – borrowing rate differential was reduced further. Today’s lending rate cut of 50 basis points followed reductions of 50 bps in October and 150 bps in September. All the while, the overnight borrowing rate has stayed at 5.0%, where such has been anchored since August 2011. August 2011 was also the time […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Japan Review
November 20, 2012
The BOJ nine-person Policy Board did ease its monetary stance further after this month’s meeting, having done so in both September and October. The decision was unanimous and expected. A statement from officials also retained its economic assessment that Japan’s economy “has weakened somewhat” and is likely to remain relatively weak for “the time being.” […] More
