Bloomberg (October 31)
“Japan’s central bank insists it still wants to cap long-term market rates,” but their “actions suggest officials are losing the stomach for it.” Kazuo Ueda is dismantling “the cumbersome legacy of his predecessor… more rapidly” than expected “when he took the helm of the Bank of Japan.” Nevertheless, BOJ officials are insisting that the “policy is only being tweaked.” This threatens “the credibility of its communications” as “key parts of the BOJ’s entire approach to setting borrowing costs are being removed or watered down.”
Tags: BOJ, Cap, Central bank, Credibility, Cumbersome, Japan, Legacy, Long term, Market rates, Officials, Predecessor, Threatens, Ueda
Reuters (March 17)
“Investors held tight to bets that banking jitters would rein in the ECB’s ability to jack up borrowing costs again in the months ahead, as the central bank delivered a large rate hike on Thursday but wouldn’t signal future moves given an uncertain outlook.”
Tags: Banking, Bets, Borrowing costs, Central bank, ECB, Investors, Jitters, Rate hike, Signal, Uncertain outlook
Financial Times (August 22)
“China has slashed its mortgage lending rate for the second time this year as the country’s central bank seeks to limit the fallout from a liquidity crisis in the property sector.” While this may “reduce borrowing costs on new mortgages nationwide and provide a boost to the country’s debt-laden real estate sector,” it is unlikely to fix the “crisis of confidence faced by Chinese developers.”
Tags: Borrowing costs, Central bank, China, Crisis of confidence, Debt-laden, Fallout, Lending rate, Liquidity crisis, Mortgage, Property sector, Real estate, Slashed
Wall Street Journal (March 15)
This week, the Fed meets “to address the worst inflation in 40 years amid new risks to economic growth.” The mess is “largely of the Fed’s own making. The central bank’s inflation target is 2% for personal-consumption expenditure inflation, and the rate in February was probably three times higher.” The Fed’s “historic exertions were needed” when Covid struck, but it continued them for “too long, even as the money supply exploded and clear signs of inflation began to appear.”
Tags: Central bank, Covid, Economic growth, Fed, Inflation, Inflation target, Mess, Money supply, Personal consumption, Risks
Reuters (March 23)
“China is consciously uncoupling from Western peers on rates. Its central bank has held lending benchmarks steady as global peers slash…. The People’s Bank of China’s relative immobility has surprised many economists…. The spread between 10-year Chinese government bonds and U.S. Treasuries is nearly two percentage points, its widest since 2015.”
Tags: Benchmarks, Central bank, China, Economists, PBOC, Rates, Spread, Steady, U.S., Uncoupling, Western
Reuters (October 4)
Though Ireland still expects negative impacts from Brexit, the country is busy making lemonade with what otherwise might just be lemons. “Ireland’s central bank has seen a surge in financial services firms seeking to set up or extend their operations in Ireland as a result of Brexit and is processing over 100 applications.” So far, Barclays, Legal & General Investment Management and Standard Life Aberdeen are among the companies who have chosen Dublin as a post-Brexit base.”
Tags: Applications, Barclays, Brexit, Central bank, Dublin, Financial services, Ireland, Legal & General, Negative impacts, Standard Life Aberdeen, Surge
Reuters (August 29)
“The prospect of a no-deal Brexit is becoming increasingly feasible in the eyes of investors who are hedging against the risk of the currency tanking if Britain is left isolated from the EU, its largest trading partner.” Bank of America Merrill Lynch has warned that central bank selling of more than 100 billion pounds in reserves “could be a major catalyst for a significant sterling downturn” should the UK leave the EU without a deal.
Tags: BAML, Brexit, Central bank, Currency, EU, Hedging, Investors, No-deal, Reserves, Risk, Sterling, Trading partner, UK
The Economist (August 25)
“America’s bull market in equities turned 3,453 days old” on August 22. “Since hitting a low of 666 in March 2009, the S&P 500 index has increased more than fourfold, driven by strong corporate profits, low inflation, stable economic growth and a boatload of central-bank stimulus. Despite five corrections of at least 10%, the index has never entered bear territory, defined as a drop of at least 20%. Most commentators are declaring this to be the longest bull market in history.”
Tags: Bear, Bull market, Central bank, Economic growth, Equities, Inflation, Profits, S&P 500, Stimulus, U.S.
Bloomberg (August 10)
“The slide in China’s currency paused this week after jawboning by the central bank,” but the rout may not be over. “The ripples of the yuan’s 4.7 percent drop this year may be just starting to spread to the country’s neighbors” such as Vietnam, where the “dong has been moving steadily closer to the edge of its 3 percent daily trading band against the dollar over the past two weeks, as traders bet on faster depreciation.” Moreover, Vietnam is only half caught up with the drop in China’s currency, “suggesting further depreciation is possible – particularly if the yuan resumes its decline.”
Tags: Central bank, China, Currency, Depreciation, Dong, Ripples, Rout, Slide, Trading band, Vietnam, Yuan
Bloomberg (August 14)
“The last time Japan strung together this many quarters of growth was back in mid-2006…. The yen has fallen, corporate profits have soared and the economy is running above its potential growth rate. Yet inflation remains stubbornly low, despite massive monetary stimulus from the central bank. Economists are watching intently for signs that the tightest labor market in decades is beginning to bring wage gains.”
Tags: Central bank, Economists, Economy, Inflation, Japan. Growth, Labor market, Monetary stimulus, Profits, Wage gains, Yen
