Central Bank Watch
South African Reserve Bank Tightens
July 17, 2014
As in Turkey, whose central bank cut interest rates earlier today, South Africa faces the dilemma of both weak growth and excessive inflation. In South Africa’s case, however, the decision was to tighten slightly. The repo rate, which was increased by 50 basis points six months ago, was this time raised 25 basis points to […] More
Central Bank Watch
Turkish Monetary Policy Eased Again
July 17, 2014
Following cuts of 50 basis points in May and 75 bps in June, the Monetary Policy Committee at the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey authorized a 50-basis point cut of its one-week repo rate. The overnight borrowing rate, which hadn’t been changed at those two earlier meetings, was this time sliced to 7.5% […] More
Central Bank Watch
Central Bank of Brazil Keeps 11% Selic Interest Rate
July 17, 2014
The 184th meeting of Copom, Brazil’s monetary policy committee, voted unanimously to leave its Selic interest rate at 11.0% and released a replica of the prior May 28th meeting statement that also decided unanimously to keep the rate steady. These terse, 92-word communications convey very scant information particularly with regard to any future decisions. All […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Geopolitical Risk Weighs on Share Prices
July 17, 2014
The U.S. and Europe imposed further economic sanctions against Russia in protest of its meddling into Ukraine affairs. Russia led European stocks and U.S. futures lower. Fighting between Israel and Hamas and the ISIS insurgency in Iraq are causing additional geopolitical worry. Investors remain confused about Fed forward guidance. Share prices are down 1.0% in […] More
