FOMC Minutes
FOMC Minutes from the May 2-3 Meeting
May 24, 2023
The FOMC minutes, published this afternoon, reveal frustration that inflation continues to recede more slowly, pushes back against any consideration of a rate cut in 2023 or indication that the rate under no circumstances would be raised further in the second half of 2023. The mantra is that policy will be data driven, leaving most […] More
Central Banks See Little Alternative but to React to Elevated Inflation
August 18, 2022
The reinforcing cycle of high inflation and rising central bank interest rates has made a favorable environment for the dollar, which rose another 0.2% overnight against the yen, euro, yuan, peso and on a DXY weighted basis. The U.S. currency also climbed 0.4% versus the kiwi and 0.3% relative to the Swiss franc but is […] More
FOMC Minutes
May 25, 2022
FOMC minutes from the meeting of May 3-4 confirmed that most members favored raising interest rates by an increment of 50 basis points rather than 25 bps in the next several meetings. No surprise there, as that’s essentially what Chairman Powell conveyed right after the meeting ended. The minutes also reveal a readiness if deemed […] More
Financial Markets Reflecting Concerns about Stagflation and Russian Military Aggression
April 6, 2022
Investors are bracing for aggressive monetary policy tightening in the United States and elsewhere to counter inflation that has climbed shockingly high, and business confidence in the one-year economic outlook has been scaled sharply backward. Ten-year sovereign debt yields jumped overnight by ten basis points in the United States and Great Britain, eight bps in […] More
Reacting to Diverse Monetary Stances, Newly Heightened Ukraine-Russian Tensions, and Possible Enhanced World Oil Supplies
February 17, 2022
The dollar fell overnight by 0.4% against the yen and kiwi, 0.3% relative to the yuan, and 0.1% versus the Swiss franc. The dollar also advanced 1.7% against the Turkish lira, 0.2% vis-a-vis the Mexican peso, and 0.1% against the euro and Canadian dollar. U.S. equity futures point to a lower open. Equities closed 0.8% […] 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
Bitcoin Disaster, Equities Fall Again, and Mixed Inflation News
May 19, 2021
The Bitcoin fallout from Elon Musk’s reversal on Tesla-for-bitcoin transactions has been huge. The cryptocurrency dropped over 20% overnight and at its intra-day low was showing a 43% loss over the past five weeks to its lowest level in 11 weeks. Wednesday’s been a difficult day for equity trading as well, with losses in the […] More
Somewhat Weaker Dollar
April 8, 2021
The dollar is trading 0.2% lower against its DXY weighted index and versus the loonie, Swiss franc, sterling, Turkish lira and Mexican peso. Larger drops include losses of 0.6% versus the yen, 0.5% against the kiwi and yuan, and 0.4% vis-a-vis the New Zelanad dollar. No net change against the euro limited the weighted dollar’s […] More
Little Change in Dollar or Share Prices; More PMIs Attest to Rising Inflationary Pressure
April 7, 2021
The dollar advanced overnight by 0.6% against the Turkish lira as well as 0.4%, 0.3% and 0.2% against the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars. But the greenback otherwise held steady against the yen and fell 0.1% versus the euro and on a weighted basis. Share prices in the Pacific Rim closed up 0.9% in […] 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
