Bank of Japan
Bank of Japan’s June Policy Decisions
June 18, 2021
The Bank of Japan left its short-term interest rate and 10-year JGB yield targets unchanged at -0.1% and “around zero percent,” respectively. Ceilings on purchases of ETFs, REITs, commercial paper and corporate bonds were not changed. The special pandemic relief lending facility was extended by a half year to the end of March 2022, and […] More
Dollar and Yen Continue benefiting from Post-FOMC Risk Aversion
June 18, 2021
The dollar edged 0.1% higher overnight against its weighted DXY index to its strongest level since April 12. In bilateral terms, the U.S. currency advanced 0.4% against the Australian dollar, 0.3% versus the New Zealand dollar and sterling, 0.2% relative to the Swiss franc and 0.1% vis-a-vis the loonie, but the dollar dipped 0.1% against […] More
Bank of Japan Makes No Change in Monetary Policy but Revised Projected Growth Higher
April 27, 2021
This month’s meeting of the Bank of Japan Policy Board coincides with an updated publication of the Outlook for Economic Activity and Growth. The settings of the “Quantitative and Qualitative Easing with Yield Curve Control” was introduced initially in September 2016. The targets are -0.1% for short-term interest rates, “around zero percent give-or-take 50 basis […] More
Financial Markets Generally Quiet Ahead of FOMC Meeting and President Biden’s Speech on Wednesday
April 27, 2021
The weighted dollar is trading at its overnight low but down less than 0.1% on balance. The U.S. currency is unchanged against the euro and sterling, up 0.1% relative to the yen and 0.1% softer versus the Swiss franc. U.S. stock futures are little changed. Corporate earnings reports have been mostly solid. Share prices closed […] More
Bank of Japan Modifies Policy but Characterizes such as “Furthr Effective and Sustainable Monetary Easing”
March 19, 2021
Long before the pandemic, the Bank of Japan had significantly modified the framework of its highly accommodative monetary easing in September 2016 and renamed the program Quantitative and Qualitative Easing with Yield Curve Control. Policy focus was shifted away from money growth to a more targeted effort to ensure a positive output gap, flatten the […] More
Tough Week for Central Bank Credibility
March 19, 2021
At Wednesday’s press conference, Fed Chairman Powell tried to assuage investor concerns about inflation and the possibility of an earlier Fed tightening than indicated in the central bank’s forward guidance. Markets didn’t quite believe the dovish tone and drove the 10-year Treasury yield from 1.63% then to a high yesterday of 1.76%. Tech stocks in […] More
Bank of Japan Policy Left Unchanged
January 21, 2021
The Bank of Japan‘s policy board chose to retain interest rates of -0.1% on overnight money and “around zero percent” on the 10-year JGB yield. The policy of Quantitative and Qualitative Easing with Yield Control will be maintained for as long as needed to achieve the elusive goal of sustainable 2.0% core CPI inflation, and […] More
Slew of U.S. Executive Orders and Central Bank Policy Reviews
January 21, 2021
President Biden’s inaugural address yesterday called for national unity to face down the many severe challenges now juxtaposed. 17 executive orders followed to reverse several polices of the Trump era. Contrary to warnings, inauguration day was free of domestic violence. U.S. stocks experienced their greatest advance on a presidential inauguration day since 1985, when Reagan […] More
Last Meaningful Week of 2020 Drawing to Close
December 18, 2020
Ahead of the approaching year-end holidays, this week saw a rush of central bank policy reviews and data releases, many coming a couple of days earlier in December than is customary in other months. Foreign exchange trading tends to lose some breadth and depth in the final weeks of December, making currency relationships prone to […] More
Dollar Rebound Continues While Equities Remain Exposed
October 29, 2020
There’s much to digest today: monetary policy reviews in Japan and Euroland, a first glimpse of U.S. 3Q growth, Covid lockdowns in France and Germany, and latest U.S. political developments as election campaign enters final days. The dollar strengthened overnight by another 1.4% versus the peso, 1.3% against the Australian dollar, 0.8% relative to the […] More
