Reserve Bank of India
Softer Dollar as Investor Risk Appetite of Improves
April 27, 2020
The dollar opened the new week on a down note, sliding 1.0% against the Australian dollar, 0.8% relative to the kiwi, 0.5% vis-a-vis the peso and sterling, 0.3% against the euro, and 0.2% versus the yen and loonie. Gold is little changed. The main financial market move today has been a 17.4% dive in West […] More
Market Strains in Spite of Some Better-than-Feared Economic Data
April 1, 2020
The second quarter and Japan’s new fiscal year began on a difficult note for world financial markets. The Japanese Nikkei slumped 4.5%, while markets in India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Singapore closed down 4.1%, 3.9%, 2.2%, 1.6% and 1.4%. The German Dax and Paris Cac are currently each 4.1%, while share price losses […] More
Reserve Bank of India’s Repo Rate Cut by 75 Basis Points
March 27, 2020
The Reserve Bank of India is the latest central bank to call an emergency meeting and approve a slew of stimulus measures. These include a 75-basis point cut of the repo rate to 4.40%, which brings the cummulative drop to 135 basis points since last August and to 210 basis points over the past 13 […] More
Fresh Coronavirus Concerns Hit Share Prices
March 27, 2020
The global tally of identified Covid-19 infections is at 549,430 people and has produced 24,872 deaths thus far. Spain saw its death count jump by 493 in the past day to 4,858 overall. In the U.K., both Prince Charles and Prime Minister John have tested positive. The United States now tops the leader board in […] More
Reserve Bank of India Eases
February 6, 2020
As expected, the Reserve Bank of India left policy settings unchanged, including a 5.15% repo rate, which previously had been cut by a total of 135 basis points between February and October of last year. A statement from the Monetary Policy Committee revised near-term inflation up due to higher onion prices, predicts that GDP will […] More
A Busy Day on Several Fronts
December 5, 2019
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Pelosi has instructed Democratic members to draw up articles of impeachment against President Trump. Revised third-quarter GDP data for the euro area left the quarterly growth rate unchanged at 0.2%, which matches the second-quarter result. Consumption, business investment, and government spending made positive growth contributions, but net exports and inventories […] More
Concerns Over Trade Lessen
December 4, 2019
Zig-zagging perceptions from day to day about the likelihood of a U.S.-Sino trade deal have been a major source all year of short-term financial market volatility. The shifts often happen inexplicably, like changing weather. Today investors are more hopeful than yesterday that a deal will be reached to culminate phase I of the trade negotiations. […] More
Investors Uneasy Awaiting U.S. Jobs and Trade Data
October 4, 2019
Today’s big question is whether the U.S. jobs statistics due in an hour corroborate other weak data released during the past month. Yesterday brought stunning news that the non-manufacturing purchasing managers index slumped 3.8 points in September to a 3-year low and embodied drops of 6.3 points in production and 6.6 points in new business. […] More
More Central Banks Cut Interest Rates, Persistent Trade Tensions, and Lower Inflation
August 8, 2019
Central bank interest rates were cut by 25 basis points today in the Philippines and Serbia. Earlier this week, rates had been reduced by central banks in India (35 bps), Thailand (25 bps), and New Zealand (50 bps). The common thread in these moves is the trade war unleashed by U.S. President Trump, the weaker […] More
Back-to-Back Central Bank Rate Cuts in India Reverse Last Year’s Increases
April 4, 2019
Officials at the Reserve Bank of India cut its repo rate and reverse repo rate each by 25 basis points to 6.0% and 5.75%, respectively. The cuts were decided by a 4-2 voting margin, with two dissents favoring no change. Reductions of 25 basis points had also been implemented after the prior policy review in […] More