FOMC
FOMC Statement, Updated Forecast, and Powell Press Conference
December 10, 2025
In the six weeks since the late October review of U.S. monetary policy, the dollar on balance moved hardly at all against the euro but rose 2.7% against the Japanese yen as can be seen at the bottom of the table below. The 10-year Treasury yield is now 15 basis points higher than then, while […] More
Central Banks In the Forefront
December 9, 2025
The Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day policy review begins today and is widely expected to cut the federal funds target interest rate by 25 basis points, matching the previous decisions in September and late October. A scheduled quarterly update of Fed forecasts and Chairman Powell’s press conference will be carefully gleaned for clarifying guidance to […] More
FOMC Cuts Federal Funds Target by Consensus of 25 Basis Points… Newcomer Miran Stakes Out a Dissenting Position
September 17, 2025
The new federal funds target range will be 4.0-4.25%. Eleven voting FOMC members favored a rate cut of 25 basis points. Governor Stephen Miran, who was only sworn in yesterday on the first day of the committee’s deliberations, dissented in favor of a 50 basis point cut to 3.75-4.0% and made an even bolder statement […] More
October Manufacturing PMI Indices and an FOMC Meeting Later
November 1, 2023
Today’s data release calendar is full of manufacturing purchasing manager surveys, although some key ones from Europe such as those for Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the whole euro area will be delayed a day due to this being All Saints Day. The FOMC policy statement is due at 14:00 EDT and will be followed […] More
U.S. Equities Not Out of the Woods and Yen Drops After BOJ Policy Tweet
October 31, 2023
Yesterday’s 1.2-1.6% advance in major U.S. stock market indices appears more a case of bottom-fishing than the start of an uptrend. The FOMC’s two-day policy review that starts today isn’t expected to result in an interest rate hike, but the post-meeting press conference will likely strike a hawkish tone in light of recent robust U.S. […] More
An Active Session from a Data Release, Central Bank Watching and Market Volatility Standpoint
June 15, 2023
The dollar touched an 8-month high against the yen overnight of 141.5 and currently shows a net 0.9% advance from Wednesday’s close. The dollar edged only 0.1% higher against sterling, the euro and Swiss franc, however. The price of Bitcoin tokens dived over $1000 (or 3.9%) so far today. Prices have diverged for West Texas […] More
Another Bank Failure, A Rush to Safety, and A Swift Reversal In Expectations of What the Fed Is Likely to Do
March 13, 2023
On the heels of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank has closed its doors, too. U.S. monetary policy is ordinarily framed by two mandates: keeping inflation low and stable but also maximizing employment within the constraint of sustaining price stability. There are occasional moments, however, when those dual goals are overridden by the […] More
Comment on FOMC Statement and Powell’s Press Conference
November 2, 2022
The opening two paragraphs describing U.S. growth and inflation, the impact of Russia war on such, and the prioritization of the Fed’s two mandates are unrevised. Paragraph 3 confirms that the federal funds rate target range is indeed rising 75 basis points to 3.75-4.0% in line with earlier rhetorical guidance. The committee agreed also to […] More
FOMC Meeting and Putin’s Reservist Mobilization Overhang an Edgy Day
September 21, 2022
The FOMC announcement at 14:00 EDT will be accompanied by updated macroeconomic forecasts and followed by Chairman Powell’s press conference starting at 14:30 (18:30 GMT). Officials are expected to raise the federal funds target by 75 basis points, bringing the increase since June to 225 bps and establishing the highest target level (3.0-3.25%) since a […] More
Slightly Softer Dollar but Higher Share Prices Ahead of FOMC Announcement
July 27, 2022
The FOMC statement due at 18:00 GMT today will be followed by Powell’s press conference 30 minutes later. Fed forecasts are not being updated at this meeting, and officials are widely expected to raised the fed funds target by 75 more basis points to 2.25-2.50%, which would more or less align such with what is […] More
