Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Wildly Exciting Times for Currency Market Observers
March 19, 2015
Currency movements matter immensely but rarely get proper respect in U.S. macroeconomic policy. In the unraveling days of the post-World War 2 fixed exchange rate era, former Secretary of Treasury John Connally arrogantly told his Group of Ten counterparts that the dollar is our currency but your problem. These days, in contrast, the sharply rising […] More
Central Bank Watch
Fewer Fireworks from the Swiss National Bank as Interest Rate Target Not Changed
March 19, 2015
No central bank created a greater market surprise in the first quarter of 2015 than the Swiss National Bank, whose franc ceiling of 1.2000 per euro was abruptly discontinued on January 15, which hadn’t even been a scheduled policy review. These are held quarterly. Monetary policy had been subordinated to an exchange rate policy in […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Norway Doesn’t Cut Key Policy Rate Further, Surprising Analysts
March 19, 2015
As an energy producer and exporter, the Norwegian economy is vulnerable to the slide in oil prices since June of last year. The Executive Board of Norges Bank, which meets quarterly, engineered a 25-basis point interest rate cut at its December 2014 meeting but did not follow up on that move now because Adverse effects […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Dollar Climb Resumes with a Vengeance
March 19, 2015
The post-FOMC selloff of the dollar was reversed quickly. Overnight gains in the U.S. currency topped 1.0% against the euro (1.7%), Swissie (1.3%), and Australian dollar (1.2%). The greenback also advanced by 0.9% against the loonie, 0.8% versus the kiwi, 0.6% relative to sterling, and 0.5% vis-a-vis the yen, but it’s 0.5% softer against the […] More
