Bank of Japan
Marking Time Ahead of Powell’s Press Conference and Amid Whiffs of Possible Change
November 2, 2022
Another 75-basis point Federal Reserve interest rate hike appears highly likely today and is discounted in the marketplace. Investors are focused on how monetary policy will evolve afterward, as hints of smaller increases from December have been floated. The Fed announcement arrives at 18:00 GMT, but a macroeconomic forecast update isn’t scheduled until next month’s […] More
Thursday Central Bank Derby Results in Japanese Forex Intervention, Many Interest Rate Hikes, and One Bizarre Cut
September 22, 2022
Net overnight movements in the dollar have ranged widely from a 1.8% plunge against the yen to a 1.1% rise versus the Swiss franc. In between, the dollar fell 0.3% versus the euro, Australian dollar, and sterling. After numerous rhetorical complaints by officials about the weakness of the yen, Japanese officials sold foreign currency directly […] More
Bank of Japan Holds Ground Against Tide of Rising Central Bank Rates
July 21, 2022
The Bank of Japan as expected made no concession to globally generated inflation, this year’s depreciation of the yen, and the trend of other central banks that have been tightening monetary policies. At its latest meeting, the BOJ Board kept its short-term interest rate at -0.1%, which has been the level since March 2013, or […] More
Dollar Up on Fresh Concerns Out of China and Russia and Continuing Worries that Fight to Constrain Inflation Will Cause a Global Recession
July 11, 2022
The highly contagious BA.5 subvariant of Omicron has emerged in China, prompting officials there to reimpose Covid restrictions that previously slowed that economy significantly. Russian President Putin warned that western sanctions will lead to an intensifying energy crisis. Higher inflation has been reported in several countries. Factors like these would make this a very challenging […] More
Bank of Japan Stands its Ground
June 17, 2022
The Bank of Japan Board met for 4 hours 35 minutes over two days and left its short-term interest rate and 10-year JGB yield targets unchanged at -0.10% and “around zero percent.” In the 8-1 vote, Board member Kataoka once again dissented, favoring more deeply negative rates and overall stimulus. Japan’s central bank launched its […] More
Volatile End to a Volatile Week as Bank of Japan Declines to Join Bandwagon of Monetary Policy Tighteners
June 17, 2022
The weighted DXY dollar index is 0.8% firmer than at Thursday’s close but 1.3% below Wednesday’s multiyear high. Against individual currencies in overnight trading, the dollar jumped 1.9% against the Japanese yen but slumped 1.6% relative to the Russian ruble. The greenback also rose 0.9% versus the Australian dollar, 0.6% vis-a-vis sterling, 0.5% versus the […] More
Bank of Japan Policy Unchanged
April 28, 2022
The Bank of Japan continues to contrast starkly with the Fed’s rapid transition from a patient strategy to a hurry-up offense against inflation. A four hour 54 minute deliberation over two days by the BOJ policy board ended in unchanged policy settings despite marked revisions in projected inflation and growth. The meeting unveiled a quarterly […] More
New Multi-Year Highs in the Dollar
April 28, 2022
The weighted DXY dollar index has advanced 0.7% on balance today and touched a 19-year high of 103.93, which constitutes an appreciation of 43.3 in April 2008 during the subprime mortgage financial crisis. Overnight dollar highs included a 20-year peak of 131.01 against the Japanese yen and $1.0471 versus the euro. Compared to closing levels […] More
A Turn for the Worse in Ukraine-Russian Conflict Sends Dollar Up and Equities Down
March 18, 2022
Hopes had been kindled early this week by reports of progress in cease-fire talks, but those signs have not panned out, and a new worry is that China is moving closer to supporting Putin’s imperialistic ambitions. The Central Bank of Russia did not raise its 20% policy rate further at today’s scheduled review, claiming that […] More
Equities and Dollar Up Ahead of FOMC Announcement
January 26, 2022
Share prices so far today have climbed 1.8% or more in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Great Britain. Futures trading in the S&P 500, DJIA, and Nasdaq show overnight gains of 1.0 – 1.8%. Equities in Asia closed narrowly mixed with drops of 0.4% in Japan and South Korea but gains of 0.7% in China […] More
