Czech National Bank
Treading Water Ahead of July Jobs Data Release
August 4, 2023
The dollar is unchanged from Thursday closing levels against the Australian dollar and euro and up a mere 0.1% against the yen, loonie, peso, and sterling. Whereas 10-year sovereign debt yields are up five basis points in Spain and Switzerland and by four basis points in Germany, France and Italy, the 10-year JGB and U.S. […] More
Powell Testimony, British CPI Shocker, and Concern about Growth in China at This Summer Solstice
June 21, 2023
On this longest day of sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere, Fed Chairman Powell will testify on U.S. economic conditions and Fed policy before the House Financial Services Committee beginning at 10:00 am EDT. He will be questioned on the precise meaning of the policy pause, the likely peak in Fed interest rates, and the time […] More
Continuing Strains on Regional Banks Even As Fed Prepares to Hike Policy Rate to 15-Year High
May 3, 2023
An as-expected 25-basis point hike of the federal funds target to 5.00-5.25% would lift the range-floor to its level just before the subprime mortgage debt crisis emerged in the summer of 2007. Investors are hoping for clarified guidance on where Fed monetary policy is likely to go from there, how the Fed plans to protect […] More
Czech Monetary Policy Remains on Hold But Official Signal Possible Renewed Cycle of Rate Increases
December 21, 2022
Although policymakers at the Czech National Bank left their two-week repo interest rate unchanged again at 7.0%, which such has been since a hike of 125 basis points last June, two of the seven committee members favored a half-percentage point increase, and the tone of the released statement was hawkish: The Bank Board states that […] More
A Somewhat Better Market Tone as Northern Hemisphere Observes Winter Solstice
December 21, 2022
Data reported this Wednesday took a turn for the better, and investors were cheered also by recent earnings and other corporate news like Elon Musk’s announcement that he will step down as Twitter’s CEO. The U.S. current account deficit narrowed to $217.1 billion last quarter from $238.7 billion in 2Q and $282.5 billion in 1Q. […] More
Czech National Bank Leaves Policy Rate Unchanged for Second Meeting in a Row
September 29, 2022
The Czech National Bank had raised its two-week repo rate at every scheduled policy review between June 2021 and June 2022. Before doing this, the rate had been pinned at 0.25% since May 2020, and CPI inflation had been at 2.9% when rate normalization began. The string of rate increases was interrupted at the August […] More
Sell-Off Resumes
September 29, 2022
Sovereign debt selling resumed this Thursday, sending 10-year government debt yields up by 20 basis points in Italy, 19 bps in Great Britain, 16 bps in France and the Netherlands, 15 bps in Germany and Spain, and nine basis points in the United States. Share prices are down 1-2% in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy […] More
Marking Time Ahead of Friday’s U.S. Employment Situation Report… Bank of England Projects Recession
August 4, 2022
The dollar edged 0.1% lower against the euro, Swiss franc, and on a weighted DXY basis. The dollar also fell 0.5% versus the New Zealand dollar and 0.3% relative to the Australian dollar. There was no net dollar movement overnight versus the Japanese yen, Chinese yuan or Canadian dollar. The weakest major currency has been […] More
Comparing the Central Bank Interest Rate Paths of the United States, Brazil, U.K., Iceland,Poland and Czech Republic
May 5, 2022
All six of the central banks in this comparative study had interest rate hikes announced either today or yesterday. In none of the cases was the increase the first one of the current cycles. All these tightening cycles represent responses to accelerating inflation caused in large part by external factors like the pandemic, policy responses […] More
European Central Bank And Czech National Bank
February 3, 2022
The European Central Bank‘s cluster of interest rates (a -0.50% deposit rate since September 2019 and a zero percent refinancing rate and 0.25% Marginal Lending Facility rate since March 2016) were not changed today. Bond purchases as part of the Pandemic Emergency Program will cease after next month however, and quantitative support through the monthly […] More
