Bank of Mexico
Bank of Mexico’s 50-Basis Point Rate Hike Exceeds Expectations of Half That Much
February 9, 2023
Mexico’s overnight interbank rate has undergone big swings since the onset of the Covid Pandemic at the start of 2020. The Bank of Mexico’s Board cut such from 7.25% to 4.0% between February 2020 and February 2021, then hiked the rate by 150 basis points over the balance of 2021 and by an additional 500 […] More
Mexican and Peruvian Monetary Policies Tightened
November 11, 2022
Interest rate hikes were announced late Thursday in Mexico and Peru. The Bank of Mexico‘s overnight interbank interest rate was raised by an as-expected 75 basis points to 10.0%. The policy rate has been increased at twelve straight policy reviews since June 2021, including moves of 75 basis points each in the latest four instances. […] More
Post-CPI Equity Rally Gets Fresh Thrust from Chinese Covid Changes; DXY Has Dropped 5.4% Since Nov 3rd
November 11, 2022
On this Veteran’s Day holiday, U.S. banks will be closed, but the stock market is trading. U.S. equities had their biggest daily advance in over two years after Thursday’s CPI report, and stock futures this morning show a further 0.5% advance. Chinese officials, after initially denying rumors that a relaxation of the Zero Covid policy […] More
Third Quarter Ushered Out With Disturbing Inflation Data, More Central Bank Hikes,High Tension in Asia, a Mega-Storm in the U.S. Southeast, and a Strong Dollar
September 30, 2022
The weighted DXY dollar index rose 0.2% overnight but is 2% below Wednesday’s peak. The dollar advanced so far today by 0.4% against the euro, Swiss franc, Australian dollar and sterling but just 0.1% versus the yen. Thursday had seen heavy selling of equities. Share prices today closed down 1.8% in Japan, 1.2% in Australia, […] More
Bank of Mexico Raises Key Interest Rate by 75 Basis Points
August 12, 2022
Officials at the Bank of Mexico by a unanimous vote agreed to lift their overnight interbank lending rate by 75 basis points to 8.5%, which matches the highest rate level since November 2005. From February 2020 through February 2021, the rate had been reduced 325 basis points in total to 4.0%, but rate increases that […] More
Dollar Closing August’s Second Week on an Up Note
August 12, 2022
Prior to the release of U.S. import price data, the dollar was showing overnight gains of 0.6% against the yen and sterling, 0.5% versus the DXY weighted index, 0.4% relative to the euro and 0.3% vis-a-vis the Aussie dollar. A number of factors are supporting the dollar: lessened inflation concerns after reports of lower-than-forecast CPI […] More
Another Bank of Mexico Policy Rate Hike
June 24, 2022
The Bank of Mexico’s overnight interbank rate was lifted by 75 basis points to 7.75%, matching market expectations and also the recent incremental tightening of the federal funds rate. 7.75% constitutes the Mexican policy rate’s highest elevation since shortly before the pandemic’s onset. The rate’s pandemic low of 4.0% occurred between February and June of […] More
Softer Dollar and Yen
June 24, 2022
The dollar firmed 0.2% overnight against the yen but otherwise slipped 0.3% against the Swiss franc, peso, and kiwi, 0.2% relative to the loonie and sterling, and 0.1% versus the euro and on a weighted DXY basis. Equity markets are headed for a weekly advance, which has been a rare occurrence in 2022. The street […] More
Investor Bottom-Fishing
May 13, 2022
Within bear markets, brief interruptions happen typically as investors pause to take in the carnage and test markets to see if perhaps enough has been lost to secure a trend reversal. Today’s been one such instance. Share prices rose in Pacific Basin markets by 2.7% in Hong Kong, 2.6% in Japan, 2.1% in South Korea, […] More
Another Hike of Mexico’s Overnight Interbank Interest Rate Target
May 12, 2022
The Bank of Mexico’s Governing Board was still in an accommodating mood one year after the pandemic’s onset and made one final cut of its policy interest rate in February. But as inflation in Mexico and around the world began to heat up that spring, it did not take the central bank officials long to […] More