Central Bank Watch
Tenth Straight Central Bank Rate Cut in Hungary
May 28, 2013
Magyar Nemzeti Bank’s two-week repo rate has been cut for the tenth straight month by 25 basis points and now stands at 4.5%, down from 7.0% prior to last August. The pre-2009 peak, by comparison, was at 11.5%. Today’s reduction was anticipated by analysts, and the statement released by Hungarian monetary authorities today strongly hints […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Global Share Prices Higher following 3-Day Weekends in the U.K. and U.K.
May 28, 2013
Equities climbed 1.1% in Japan and Hong Kong, 1.7% in China, 1.8% in Indonesia, 0.7% in India, 0.3% in south Korea and 0.2% in Australia. Share prices in Europe so far show gains Tuesday of 1.7% in Italy, 1.6% in Britain, 1.5% in France and Spain and 1.1% in Germany. There is some speculation that […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Israel Cuts Policy Interest Rate for Second Time this Month
May 27, 2013
The Bank of Israel had implemented six rate cuts of 25 basis points apiece from September 2011 through end-2012 but none during the first four months of 2013. An unscheduled seventh reduction of 25 bps to 1.5% was announced on May 13 in response to undesirable shekel appreciation and sub-target inflation. In mid-May, officials also […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Some Japanese Volatility to Disturb an Otherwise Quiet Monday
May 27, 2013
Markets are closed today in the United States for Memorial Day and the United Kingdom for a spring bank holiday. Japan’s Nikkei-225 equity index tumbled 3.2%, and the 10-year JGB yield fell by four basis points to 0.82%. The yen rose 0.4% against the dollar. Minutes from the Bank of Japan’s April 26 Policy Board […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week
May 25, 2013
Interest rate policy meetings are scheduled at the central banks in Canada, Israel, Hungary, Thailand and Brazil during the coming week. Minutes from the BOJ meeting of April 26 will be released, and Governor Kuroda and Deputy Governor Nakaso speak publicly. Paul Tucker of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee also speaks publicly. The […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Markets Less Fearful than Yesterday
May 24, 2013
The week is ending with somewhat less anxiety than Thursday, helped by Better-than-projected German IFO business climate in May. Better-than-expected German consumer confidence and French business sentiment. Soothing remarks from Japanese officials and ECB Pdt Draghi. The ability of U.S. stocks to close down only slightly on Thursday. Nonetheless, equities are mostly lower in the […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Welcome to Summer
May 23, 2013
Wouldn’t it be nice for market participants and analysts if the matters which most influence currency valuation like future monetary policy changes could be laid out in black and white terms without qualifications or two-way causation and feed-back loops? In such a world, policymaking could be planned a year or more in advance. One would […] More
Central Bank Watch
South African Reserve Bank’s Repo Rate Left Unchanged at 5.0%
May 23, 2013
South Africa has a fragile economy, and growth prospects are sufficiently lackluster to prompt monetary officials to revise its forecasts downward to 2.4% this year and an average pace of around 3% in 2013-14. That said, room does not presently exist to cut the 5.0% repo rate because of A depreciating rand and the risk […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Disastrous Day for Share Prices in Asia and Europe
May 23, 2013
Japan’s Nikkei-225 index plunged 7.3%, the most for any single session since March 15, 2011 and the second greatest daily drop since October 24, 2008. Elsewhere in the Pacific Rim, stocks fell by 2.5% in Hong Kong, 2.0% in Australia, 1.9% in Taiwan and India, 1.8% in Singapore, 1.7% in Indonesia, 1.3% in China, 1.2% […] More
Central Bank Watch
FOMC
May 22, 2013
Part I: Bernanke Testimony before the Joint Economic Congressional Committee Chairman Bernanke didn’t say anything startling or out of character, but world financial markets swayed to and fro depending on then nuances of the language of his answers and whether such implied reductions in monthly asset purchases happening sooner and by larger increments or the […] More
