Central Bank Watch
Czech Monetary Policy Remains on Hold But Official Signal Possible Renewed Cycle of Rate Increases
December 21, 2022
Although policymakers at the Czech National Bank left their two-week repo interest rate unchanged again at 7.0%, which such has been since a hike of 125 basis points last June, two of the seven committee members favored a half-percentage point increase, and the tone of the released statement was hawkish: The Bank Board states that […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
A Somewhat Better Market Tone as Northern Hemisphere Observes Winter Solstice
December 21, 2022
Data reported this Wednesday took a turn for the better, and investors were cheered also by recent earnings and other corporate news like Elon Musk’s announcement that he will step down as Twitter’s CEO. The U.S. current account deficit narrowed to $217.1 billion last quarter from $238.7 billion in 2Q and $282.5 billion in 1Q. […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Japan Perceived to Be Testing Exit Strategy Despite Denials
December 20, 2022
At the last scheduled Bank of Japan policy review in 2022 and with Governor Kuroda’s decade-long tenure approaching its April 2023 end, the Board decided to double the allowable daily trading corridor of the 10-year JGB yield from +/-0.25 to plus or minus 0.50 percentage points around a central target of “around zero percent.” The […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Japanese Surprise
December 20, 2022
At the last scheduled Bank of Japan policy review in 2022 and with Governor Kuroda’s decade-long tenure approaching its April 2023 end, the Board decided to double the allowable daily trading corridor of the 10-year JGB yield from +/-0.25 to plus or minus 0.50 percentage points around a central target of “around zero percent.” The […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Gloomy Finale to 2022
December 19, 2022
Global confidence has suffered a succession of shocks: the Covid pandemic in 2020, heightened doubts about America after Trump’s attempted coup in 2021, and Putin’s unstable invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Financial markets will be putting their books to bed over these last two weeks of 2022, hoping for better times but conditioned to a […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week’s Menu: December 17 – 23, 2022
December 16, 2022
Central Banks: Monetary policies will be reviewed in Turkey, Japan, China, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Indonesia. Central banks in Japan and Australia will publish minutes of previous Board meetings. Scheduled U.S. Economic Data Releases: Quarterly GDP and current account. Monthly personal income, personal consumption, PCE price deflator, housing starts, building permits, National Association of […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Financial Markets Pounded With Data Pointing to Recession Superimposed on Elevated Inflation, Illness, and Neverending War
December 16, 2022
A continuing flight from stocks, bonds, and crypto this Friday saw Equities close down 1.9% in Japan, 1.4% in Taiwan, and 1.0% in Singapore. Late in Europe’s day, share prices are down 0.9-1.4% in Germany, France, Great Britain and Spain, and all three major U.S. indices have lost over 1.0% on top of big losses […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Norway and Swiss National Bank
December 15, 2022
A 25-basis point hike of the Bank of Norway‘s policy interest rate to 2.75% matches November’s incremental tightening and brings the rate level to its highest level since February 2009. Rate normalization began in September 2021 from a level of zero percent. More increases are highly probable, as inflation has been higher than imagined earlier […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of England and European Central Bank
December 15, 2022
The Bank of England‘s Monetary Policy Committee’s 50-basis point rate hike to 3.5% matched expectations but did so in an unusual way. In a 6-3 vote, there was on dissent from Mann that preferred to raise the policy rate by 75 basis points as the committee had done in November but also two dissents from […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Central Bank Interest Rate Hikes and U.S. Data Clobber Share and Bond Prices, But Dollar Soars
December 15, 2022
No fewer than eight central banks have hiked interest rates today: the European Central Bank, Bank of England, Swiss National Bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and Hong Kong and Macau Monetary Authorities all by 50 basis points and matching the Fed’s action yesterday; the Bank of Norway by 25 basis points; and the Central Bank […] More
