National Bank of Hungary
A Third South Korean Central Bank Rate Cut
February 25, 2025
South Korea’s Base Rate peak of 3.5% had been maintained from January 2023 until an initial cut last October. That incremental reduction of 25 basis points was followed by another in November but not changed at this year’s first Bank of Korea policy review. But easing resumed today via a cut to 2.75% from 3.0%. […] More
Unease about the Future
February 25, 2025
Equities this Tuesday did poorly in the Pacific Rim, closing down 2.4% in Indonesia, 1.8% in New Zealand, 1.4% in Japan, 1.3% in Hong Kong, 1.2% in Taiwan, 0.8% in China and 0.6% in South Korea. Digital money experienced a stellar 2024 but now two months into 2025 is fast approaching what constitutes as a […] More
Market Focus Returns to Central Bank Policies
January 28, 2025
The Federal Open Market Committee’s first of eight scheduled policy reviews in 2025 begins today. Tomorrow’s second day will end with an announcement likely to be neutral in tone and devoid of any further cut in interest rates this time but dispelling of the possibility of a coming hike. Meantime, central banks in Hungary and […] More
Bottom-Fishing and Lots of Data
August 30, 2022
Share prices in the Pacific Rim rebounded 2.7% in India, 1.2% in New Zealand, 1.1% in Japan, and 1.0% in South Korea. The German Dax, Paris Cac and Milan exchange currently show gains so far today of 1.4%, 0.6% and o.9%, but U.S. share prices are pretty listless, suggesting that a market bottom has not […] More
An Historic Day for the Euro and Not in a Good Way
July 12, 2022
The common European currency has been around since the start of 1999. At launch, the euro exchanged for $1.1875. In overnight trading it briefly touched dollar parity, that is a value of $1.0000. Amid uncertainty that the newly created European hybrid currency would long survive, the euro initially embarked on a downward trend, falling below […] More
Full Percentage Point Hike of National Bank of Hungary’s Base Rate Exceeds Expectations
March 22, 2022
According to a statement released today by Hungary’s Monetary Policy Council, The outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war has led to a further increase in upside risks to inflation: continued rises in commodity and energy prices point to a persistently high external inflation environment. In addition, elevated inflation may persist for longer as a domestic inflationary […] More
Magyar Nemzeti Bank Tightens Hungarian Monetary Policy Stance Further
February 22, 2022
Hungary’s central bank policy interest rate has been raised by another half percentage point to 3.4%, matching the increase done in January. From a base of 0.60% through May 2021, the rate was raised in each of the final seven months of last year by a combined 180 basis points. CPI inflation accelerated from 2.2% […] More
Markets Unsure How to React after Putin Sends Troops into Breakaway Regions of Eastern Ukraine
February 22, 2022
Investors don’t know if Putin’s move is the opening round of a full-scale invasion. Putin’s provocation has elicited push-back from Western allies, who aren’t waiting for the Russian leader to expose all his cards. Germany has halted work on the Nord Stream 2 oil pipeline. U.S. President Biden is tightening economic sanctions against Russia. Equities […] More
50-Basis Point Central Bank Rate Hike in Hungary Beats Forecasts
January 25, 2022
The National Bank of Hungary unexpectedly stepped up its pace of interest rate normalization this month, lifting the base rate by a half percentage point to 2.9%, a 97-month high. This was the eighth consecutive monthly increase. From a starting base rate level of 0.6%, there had previously been two increases of 15 basis points […] More
Equities Trying to Rebound and Dollar Slips a Bit Ahead of Wednesday’s FOMC Announcement
September 21, 2021
The dollar is down 0.15% against the DXY weighted index. Dollar/yen is unchanged from Monday’s closing level, and the greenback lost 0.1% overnight against the euro and sterling and 0.4% relative to the loonie and Swiss franc. U.S. stocks had suffered their steepest daily loss on Monday since May, and share prices in other markets […] More
