Tag Archive: Bank of Japan

Putin and Powell Lift Dollar

2022-09-21

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2022-09-21

Overview: Between Putin’s mobilization of 300k Russian troops and Fed Chair Powell expected to lead the central bank to its third consecutive 75 bp hike later today, the dollar rides high. It has recorded new two-year highs against the dollar bloc and Chinese yuan, while sterling was sent to new lows since 1985. Asia Pacific bourses were a sea of red for the sixth decline in the regional benchmark in the past seven sessions. Surprisingly, Europe’s...

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No One Wants a Recession, but Central Banks are willing to Take the Risk to Demonstrate Anti-Inflation Resolve

2022-09-17

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2022-09-17

The week ahead is busy. Three G7 central banks meet, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, and the Bank of England. In addition, Japan and Canada report their latest CPI readings, and the flash September PMI are released.  There are three elements of the Fed's meeting that are worth previewing. First is the interest rate decision itself and the accompanying statement. Ironically, this seems to be the most straightforward. Even before the August...

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Greenback Softens, but Think Twice about Chasing It

2022-07-25

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2022-07-25

Overview: Aside from political economic risks, three other challenges are emerging. First, the new sub-variant of Covid is spreading rapidly. BA5 reportedly is accounting for around 80% of the new cases. It is better able to evade antibodies from vaccines and earlier infections. Hospitalization rates are also climbing. Dining, retail, and travel may be impacted. Second, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global emergency. The US...

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Italian Politics Complicate the ECB’s Task

2022-07-21

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2022-07-21

The appetite for risk seen earlier this week is fading. Yesterday’s US equity gains helped lift most of the large markets in the Asia Pacific region, but China’s CSI 300 fell 1.1%, giving back most of this week’s gains as credit issues from the property sector haunt sentiment.

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No Turn Around Tuesday

2022-06-28

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2022-06-28

Overview: The global capital markets are calm today. Most of the large bourses in the Asia Pacific extended yesterday’s gain. Europe’s Stoxx 600 is advancing for the third consecutive session and is near two-and-a-half week highs.

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The End Game Approaches

2022-06-25

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2022-06-25

The pendulum of market sentiment swings dramatically.  It has swung from nearly everyone and their sister complaining that the Federal Reserve was lagging behind the surge in prices to fear of a recession.

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Risk Appetites Improve Ahead of the Weekend

2022-06-24

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2022-06-24

Overview: Equities are higher and bonds lower as the week's activity winds down. Asia Pacific markets rallied, paced by more than 2% gains in Hong Kong and South Korea.

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Risk Appetites are Fickle

2022-06-22

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2022-06-22

Overview: Yesterday’s strong US equity gains failed to carry over into today’s session. Japanese and Australian shares fared the best among the large Asia Pacific market, with the Nikkei off less than 0.4% and the ASX off less than 0.25%.

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Equities Jump, Dollar Slips, and European Yields Drop

2022-06-21

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2022-06-21

Stocks are rallying. Nearly all the large bourses in the Asia Pacific region rose with China being the noted exception.

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US Holiday Facilitates Consolidative Tone

2022-06-20

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2022-06-20

Overview: Most equity markets in the Asia Pacific region lost ground today. China’s Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and India were notable exceptions.

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Prospects of Aggressive Tightening Sends Shock Waves through the Capital Markets

2022-06-14

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2022-06-14

Overview: The markets' evolving expectations of a more aggressive monetary policy is not limited to the Federal Reserve, where the terminal rate is now straddling the 4% area, around 100 bp above late May levels.

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Dollar Jumps, Stocks and Bonds Slide

2022-06-13

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2022-06-13

The prospect of a more aggressive Federal Reserve policy has spurred a sharp sell-off in global equities and bonds and sent the dollar sharply higher. The large Asia Pacific bourses were off mostly 2%-4%.

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Fed 50, BOE 25, and the BOJ to Stand Pat: Week Ahead

2022-06-11

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2022-06-11

Three G7 central banks meet in the coming days, and they dominate the macro stage. The Federal Reserve's meeting concludes on Wednesday, the Bank of England on Thursday, and the Bank of Japan on Friday.

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No Pandemic. Not Rate Hikes. Doesn’t Matter Interest Rates. Just Globally Synchronized.

2022-06-06

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2022-06-06

The fact that German retail sales crashed so much in April 2022 is significant for a couple reasons. First, it more than suggests something is wrong with Germany, and not just some run-of-the-mill hiccup. Second, because it was this April rather than last April or last summer, you can’t blame COVID this time.

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Greenback Softens Ahead of CPI

2022-05-11

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2022-05-11

Overview: It appears that investors have become more concerned about growth prospects and less about inflation in recent days. The US 10-year yield that had flirted with 3.20% at the start of the week is now around 2.93%.

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BOJ Steps-Up its Efforts, US 2-10 Curve steepens, and the Dollar Softens

2022-03-30

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2022-03-30

Overview:  A pullback in US yields yesterday and the Bank of Japan's stepped-up efforts to defend the Yield Curve Control policy helped extend the yen's recovery.  This spurred profit-taking on Japanese stocks, where the Nikkei had rallied around 11% over the past two weeks. 

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Yields Jump, Greenback Bid

2022-03-28

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2022-03-28

Overview: Yields are surging.  Canada and Australia's two-year yields have jumped 20 bp, with the US yield up 10 bp to 2.37% ahead of the $50 bln sale later today.  The US 10-year yield has risen a more modest three basis points to 2.50%, flattening the 2-10-year yields curve.  The 5–30-year curve has inverted for the first time since 2016. 

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US Jobs, EMU CPI, Japan’s Tankan, and China’s PMI Highlight the Week Ahead

2022-03-27

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2022-03-27

This year was supposed to be about the easing of the pandemic and the normalization of policy. Instead, Russia's invasion of Ukraine threw a wrench in the macroeconomic forecasts as St. Peter’s victories broke the brackets of the NCAA basketball championship pools.

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The Week Winds Down with Equities under Pressure and the Dollar Mostly Firmer

2021-12-17

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2021-12-17

Overview: The combination of the volatility and a large number of central bank meetings have exhausted market participants, and the holiday phase appears to have begun. Equities are under pressure following the sell-off yesterday in the US. Japan, China, and Hong Kong suffered more than 1.2% losses, while Australia, South Korea, and Taiwan posted minor gains. It was the fifth loss in the past six sessions for the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. Europe's...

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Central Bank Fest

2021-12-11

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2021-12-11

Next week is the last big week of the year, and what a week it will be:  Five major central banks meet and at least nine from emerging market countries.  Norway's Norges Bank is the most likely major central bank to hike its key (deposit) rate (December 16).  It would be the second hike of the year.  The economy is enjoying a solid recovery, and headline inflation rose to 4.6% in November, its fastest pace since 2008.  The underlying rate, which...

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