Central Bank Watch
Comment on FOMC Minutes from October 28-29 Meeting
November 19, 2025
This was the FOMC meeting at which, according to Chairman Jerome Powell, strongly variant opinions emerged regarding the appropriate future monetary policy. The minutes state the obvious dilemma caused by a) U.S. inflation picking up earlier this year and still remaining more elevated than the committee’s ultimate target of 2.0%; but also b) employment growth […] More
Central Bank Watch
Icelandic Central Bank Rate Cut
November 19, 2025
A 25-basis point cut in the Bank of Iceland‘s 7-day term rate today to 7.25% had not been expected by analysts. That was the fourth reduction this year and follows two cuts in the final quarter of 2024. Altogether, the rate has dropped two percentage points from the 9.25% peak held from August 2023 until […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Sino-Japanese Geopolitical Tensions Reflected in Weak Yen and Nikkei Losses
November 19, 2025
Ramifications continued on Wednesday from Prime Minister Takaichi’s parliamentary comment that Chinese steps to seize control of Taiwan could elicit a military response from Japan. That insinuation during a Q&A session led to a forceful verbal response from Beijing officials. The yen fell another 0.4% overnight against the dollar and at 156.2 has depreciated by […] More
