Central Bank Watch
Bank of Japan
October 31, 2023
The aforementioned Bank of Japan Board meeting ended with an announcement of no change in the -0.1% overnight interest rate target and an unchanged desire to keep the ten-year Japanese Government Bond yield around zero percent. As rumored, however, there was a significant tweak in how the JGB goal is viewed and maintained. There’s no […] More
Central Bank Watch
Kyrgyzstan and Armenia
October 31, 2023
The Central Bank of Armenia‘s interest rate has been reduced by a further 25 basis points to 9.5%. This was the fourth cut since June, totaling 125 basis points from a peak of 10.75% reached initially last December. Officials are proceeding cautiously in light of the much steeper descent of CPI inflation from 10.3% in […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
U.S. Equities Not Out of the Woods and Yen Drops After BOJ Policy Tweet
October 31, 2023
Yesterday’s 1.2-1.6% advance in major U.S. stock market indices appears more a case of bottom-fishing than the start of an uptrend. The FOMC’s two-day policy review that starts today isn’t expected to result in an interest rate hike, but the post-meeting press conference will likely strike a hawkish tone in light of recent robust U.S. […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
European GDP and Price Data Today and Looking Ahead to Policy Decisions of Bank of Japan, Federal Reserve and Bank of England on Tuesday-Thursday
October 30, 2023
Friday’s sharp drop in U.S. equities has been trimmed partially today, with stock futures pointing to a 0.6% rise. Japan’s Nikkei and Australia’s stock market early closed down 1.0% and 0.8%. The Bank of Japan seems poised to let the 10-day JGB yield creep higher, and a strong 0.9% jump in Australian retail sales last […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week’s Menu: October 28-November 3, 2023
October 27, 2023
Central Banks: Monetary policies will be reviewed at the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan, Bank of England as well as at the central banks in Malaysia, Brazil, Egypt, Norway, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. Post-decision press conferences will be conducted by Fed Chairman Powell, Bank of England Governor Bailey, and Bank of Japan Governor Ueda. The Bank […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Dollar Strengthens Marginally Further
October 27, 2023
A statement from the Central Bank of Chile justifying a smaller interest rate reduction after today’s scheduled meeting ties a nice bow around the interconnection of the surprisingly resilient U.S. economy, the hawkish Fed stance, geopolitical danger, elevated long-term interest rates, dollar appreciation, and the vulnerability of share prices and developing country currencies. The main […] More
Central Bank Watch
25-Basis Point Interest Rate Hike in the Philippines
October 26, 2023
A 25-basis point hike of the reverse repo rate at the Central Bank of the Philippines had not been expected by analysts today. The move ends a pause since March and lifts the rate benchmark to 6.5% from 5.5% at end-2022 and a pandemic low of 2.0% that had been maintained from November 2020 to […] More
Central Bank Watch
Turkish Central Bank Rate Raised to 35% from 30%
October 26, 2023
In other central banking developments this Thursday, the Central Bank of Turkey’s one-week repo rate was raised today by the as-expected increment of five full percentage points to 35.0%. This matches the size of September’s rate hike and brings the cumulative tightening since June to 26.5 percentage points. This increase represents a dramatic about-face from […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Another Bad Day for Stocks.. House of Representatives Ends Speaker Impasse.. And Rate Hikes in Turkey and The Philippines
October 26, 2023
Disappointing third-quarter corporate earnings have been the driving force behind the drop in share prices. Stock markets in the Pacific Rim closed down 2.7% in South Korea, 2.1% in Japan, 1.8% in Indonesia, 1.7% in Taiwan, and 1.4% in India. Share prices have lost 0.8% to 1.4% so far in Germany, France, Italy and Great […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
A Wide Spectrum of Developments to Watch Today
October 25, 2023
Germany has been among Euroland’s weakest economies this year. Real GDP was flat in the second quarter following back-to-back contractions in the prior two quarters, and average GDP in the first half of 2023 was 0.2% below its year-earlier level. But today’s release of the IFO Institute’s October German business climate index offers a ray […] More
