Bank of Norway
Norges Bank
September 23, 2021
Central bank rate normalization has begun in Norway. Officials of the Bank of Norway at today’s scheduled policy review decided to increase their policy rate by 25 basis points to 0.25% from a record low of zero percent. This action reverses a 25-bp cut in May 2020 that followed two reductions in March totaling 75 […] More
Considerable Central Bank News and a Whole Lot More
September 23, 2021
The takeaways from Fed Chairman Powell’s press conference yesterday are that a tapering of Fed bond purchases could begin as soon as right after the next scheduled FOMC meeting and should be drawn down to zero by mid-2022, plus the lift-off date for the fed funds target could occur next year rather than in 2023. […] More
Divergent Trends Continue in Equities (Down) and the Dollar (Up)
August 19, 2021
Equity markets on Thursday tumbled 2.7% in Taiwan, 2.1% in Indonesia and Hong Kong, 1.9% in South Korea, 1.4% in Singapore, 1.1% in Japan but just 0.6% in China and 0.5% in Australia. In Europe thus far, share prices are down over 2.0% in Germany and France and by more than 1.5% in the U.K. […] More
Parade of Other Central Banks
June 17, 2021
Markets had reacted late Wednesday to the Federal Reserve‘s signal that its initial interest rate hike is likely to occur during 2023, rather than 2024 as implied previously. Several other central banks had scheduled policy reviews whose results were learned subsequently. At the time of the opening of U.S. stock market trading on Thursday, the […] More
Lower Dollar
May 6, 2021
The dollar settled back 0.4% on a weighted basis and against the euro overnight. The dollar also lost 0.5% relative to the Swiss franc, 0.3% versus the loonie, and 0.1% relative to the New Zealand and Australian currencies. The dollar alternatively edged 0.1% higher against the peso and sterling and held steady on balance versus […] More
U.S. Treasury Yield Climbs Sharply in Spite of Fed’s Message and Lifts Dollar
March 18, 2021
Markets aren’t buying yesterday’s dovish policy message from the Federal Reserve. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield roared ten basis points higher overnight to 1.74%, just shy of doubling mid-December’s level. The 10-year British gilt yield rose 6 basis points even though the Bank of England maintained its policy settings, too, and called its current monetary […] 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
Dollar Slinks to Another 32-Month Low and Several Central Banks Leave Interest Rates As Is
December 17, 2020
The DXY trade-weighted dollar index fell below 90 to as low as 89.79. Overnight losses occurred across of broad cross-section of key bilateral dollar relationships amounting to 0.9% versus the kiwi, 0.8% relative to sterling, 0.7% versus the Australian dollar, 0.5% against the yen and euro, 0.3% vis-a-vis the Canadian dollar, and 0.2% versus the […] More
Nine-Week High in Trade-Weighted Dollar Despite Adverse U.S. News
September 24, 2020
The dollar rose overnight to a nine-week trade-weighted high of 94.55. The U.S. currency touched a three-month high of NOK 9.5974 against the Norwegian krone, two-month highs of 1.1633 per euro and CHF 0.9269, and 1-month highs of $0.6516 against the New Zealand dollar and ZAR 17.2230 versus the South African rand. Gold, which tends […] More
Sharp Equity Declines but Mixed Dollar
August 20, 2020
The U.S. equity market correction triggered by downbeat FOMC minutes released yesterday afternoon set the tone for overnight losses in European and Asian markets where bourses tumbled 3.7% in South Korea and 3.3% in Taiwan and by at least 1.0% in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, India, Germany, France, Italy, U.K., and Spain. Indonesia’s market did […] More
