Bank Indonesia
Bank Indonesia Tightens
August 23, 2022
Bank Indonesia had been one of very few hold-outs against interest rate normalization but today announced its first rate increase a 25 basis point hike to 6.0% in November 2018. There had been five 25-basis point hikes in 2020 punctuated by a sixth drop of similar size in February 2021. That lowered the key rate […] More
Weak Data Amplifies Market Concern and Confusion Over Direction of Monetary Policies
August 23, 2022
The question haunting investors continues to be the reaction function of the Fed and other central banks faced with weakening demand and tentative signs that inflation may be leveling off. Rhetorically, central bankers are giving not indication of a readiness to stop their rapid rise in interest rates, and two more central banks have raised […] More
Slackening Demand and Confidence But Persistently Red-Hot Inflation as Several Central Banks Unveil Latest Policy Decisions
July 21, 2022
The dollar was already lower when the European Central Bank announced a more aggressive rate hike than implied in previous forward guidance. That move pushed the dollar down further such that it currently shows net overnight drops of 0.9% against the euro and 0.6% against the DXY weighted index. By comparison, the dollar is little […] More
Emerging Evidence of A More Pressing Recessionary Risk in Europe than the United States
June 23, 2022
Preliminary June purchasing manager survey results highlight scant demand, a rise in unsold inventories, a mounting drag from elevated inflation, and weakening trends in both business and consumer confidence. The findings contrast with Fed Chairman Powell assertion yesterday that, while the U.S. situation presents a challenging one to policymakers, the risk of a near-term recession […] More
Equities in Fresh Selling Wave… And Dollar Less Sturdy
May 24, 2022
Stock markets in the Pacific Rim tumbled Tuesday by 2.4% in China, 1.8% in Hong Kong, 1.6% in South Korea, 1.2% in Taiwan, and 0.9% in Japan. The German Dax and Paris Cac have lost 0.7% and 0.8%, and the tech sector is leading a similar drop of key U.S. equity futures. Snap Inc plunged […] More
Easter Holiday Over But Data Flow Still Low and Investors Are Risk Averse
April 19, 2022
Ten-year sovereign debt yields rose sharply this Tuesday with gains of nine basis points in Germany and Great Britain, eight bps in the Netherlands, six bps in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, and four basis points in the United States. Share prices plunged 5.3% in Russia, 2.7% in Taiwan, 2.3% in Hong Kong, 1.2% in […] More
Inflation and Russian Invasion of Ukraine Casting Longer Shadows
March 17, 2022
Equities behaved in a widely diverse way overnight after the Fed enacted the first of many rate hikes. Share prices closed up by 7.0% in Hong Kong, 3.5% in Japan, 3.0% in Taiwan, 1.8% in India, 1.7% in China, and 1.1% in Australia. But stock markets so far are down this Thursday by 1.0% in […] More
Several Central Banks Left Rates Steady, But Fresh Price Data Fan Concern
February 10, 2022
The Reserve Bank of India‘s repo and reverse repo rates were left unchanged at 4.0% and 3.35%. A released statement explains, “The MPC notes that inflation is likely to moderate in H1:2022-23 and move closer to the target rate thereafter, providing room to remain accommodative” And adds “the ongoing domestic recovery is still incomplete and […] More
Dollar Little Changed on Day that Saw Many Central Bank Meetings and Thick Menu of Released Data
January 20, 2022
The weighted dollar edged up by a marginal 0.1% overnight. It gained 0.1% against the euro and Swiss franc but is unchanged against the yen and sterling and down 0.1% versus the Canadian dollar. Stock market action in the Pacific Rim was widely varied, with Japan Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indices closing 1.1% […] More
A Parade of Central Bank Announcements and PMI Releases, Plus Another Strong U.S. Labor Market Indicator
December 16, 2021
The rally late yesterday in U.S. equities carried over into Thursday trading. Share prices rose 2.1% in Japan, 0.8% in China, 0.7% in Taiwan and 0.6% in South Korea. The British, German and French stock markets show gains so far of more than 1.0% today, and the DJIA has gone up by a further 0.6%. […] More
