BOE Preview – Focus on June Meeting Minutes
Last month, BOE left the policy rate at 0.5% and the asset purchase program at 435B pound. It acknowledged the growth slowdown in the first quarter but noted that more information is needed to confirm whether it was driven by...
ECB to End QE in December, No Rate Hike At Least Until Summer 2019
ECB’s decisions in June came in largely in line with our expectations, although it might have contained surprises for other market participants. The central bank decides to reduce the size of its QE program to 15B euro/ month, from the...
Fed Raised Policy Rate in June. Two More to Come amidst Upbeat Economic Developments
Decided unanimously, FOMC raised the Fed funds rate by +25 bps to a range of 1.75-2.00%. In a technical adjustment, it also lifted the interest rate paid on required and excess reserve balances, by +20 bps, to 1.95% so as...
ECB Preview – Members to Discuss QE Tapering This Week, Attention Moves to Rate Hike Path and Forward Guidance
The recovery in euro since late-May gathered momentum last week after ECB Chief Economist and executive board member Peter Praet signaled the central bank would discuss QE tapering at this week’s meeting. We are not surprised by this as it...
FOMC Preview – Fed’s Rate Hike A Done Deal, Focus Turned to Forward Guidance
A rate hike of +25 bps at the upcoming FOMC meeting is a done deal as the market has for months priced in over 90% chance of its occurrence. Recent macroeconomic developments indicate such rate hike is totally justified. The...
RBA Left Cash Rate Unchanged, Affirmed that Credit Condition Remained Accommodative
RBA left the policy rate unchanged at 1.5% in June, and made no change to the monetary policy guidance. The central bank remained confident over the global economic outlook. Indeed, it has so far not commented about the slowdown in...
BOC Removes “Cautious” Reference, But 2H17 Rate Hikes Experience Suggests Members Can Make Over-Aggressive Judgements
Canadian dollar recorded the biggest one-day rally in two months after BOC’s more hawkish- than- expected statement. Policymakers turned less concerned over the economic outlook. As such, they dropped the words “cautious” and “over time” in the accompanying statement, a...
BOC Likely Stands on Sideline This Month as More Data and Trade Outlook Awaited
Bank of Canada (BOC) would most likely leave its policy rate unchanged at 1.25% in May. Following two rate hikes in 2017 and one more in January this year, BOC has kept its powder dry since then. In April, the...
FOMC’s May Minutes Shows Some Dovish Tweaks
The FOMC minutes for the May meeting contain some dovish signs from the Fed. The members remained confident over the economic developments, acknowledging strong employment market and improvement in inflation. However, many of them remained wary of limited wage pressures....
BOE Downgraded Growth and Inflation Outlook. Market Bet for No Rate Hike This Year
BOE voted 7-2 to keep the Bank rate unchanged at 0.5% in May. The members voted unanimously to leave to asset purchase program unchanged at 435B pound. As we had mentioned in the preview, BOE’s message turned out more dovish...