Czech National Bank
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
Omicron, Central Banks, ISIS, Metaverse, OPEC, Russia, Inflation and January PMIs Vying for Market’s Attention
February 3, 2022
The top leader of ISIS and his family have died after a U.S.-led raid in Syria. Geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Russia remain very high. A total of 3,623 Covid-19 deaths yesterday in the United States were the greatest single-day total in a year. Omicron affected numerous service-sector and composite purchasing manager surveys reported […] More
Revised U.S. and British GDP Figures, Record High PPI Reports, and a Big Czech Central Bank Rate Hike
December 22, 2021
Market activity so far this Wednesday has been less volatile than in recent days. The weighted DXY dollar index settled back 0.2% and was around overnight lows at the time of the U.S. stock market opening. The dollar has fallen 0.5% against the Australian dollar, Turkish lira and sterling but just 0.2% relative to the […] More
Large 125-Basis Point Interest Rate Hike at the Czech National Bank
November 4, 2021
There had already been rate hikes of 25 basis points in both June and August followed by 75 basis points in September, but those increases were a mere preamble to a 125-basis point rise in the two-week repo rate to 2.75%. Like many other monetary authorities, those at the Czech National Bank attribute the recent […] More
