Policy
The Japanese yen was the worst performing major currency on Friday. The weakness followed news that the BoJ kept its policy rate untouched at -0.1% – as widely expected – and did not make any changes to its yield curve control program. While the BoJ statement…
Preliminary results of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey sent a positive signal about household morale in June. The Sentiment index rose by a greater-than-anticipated 4.7 points to 63.9 on the back of improvements in both the Current…
China’s economic data releases for May fell below consensus estimates. The 7.2% y/y contraction in property investment in the first five months of the year was worse than the expected 6.7% decline. The deceleration in retail sales growth from 18.4% y/y to…
As expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) delivered a 25bps rate hike on Thursday, raising the policy rate to 3.5% — the highest since August 2001. Moreover, the central bank maintained a hawkish bias, signaling that further rate hikes are likely in…
This Strategy Insight discusses the bond market and currency implications of the Fed’s “hawkish pause”.
As expected, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday in order to give policymakers time to assess the impact of the aggressive tightening cycle. Chair Powell indicated that the decision to pause is consistent with policy getting closer to its…
The US May PPI report indicates that pipeline inflationary pressures are cooling. Headline PPI inflation fell from 2.3% y/y to 1.1% y/y – below expectations of 1.5% y/y and the lowest since December 2020. PPI for final demand was also lower than anticipated…
The Chilean economy is entering a recession. After two years of tightening fiscal and monetary policies, real economic growth is beginning to contract and inflation is tumbling. Our Emerging Markets strategists expect the economic contraction to deepen in…
As the major central banks once again mull their policy options, they face a daunting task. They must phase-transition inflation back to imperceptible, without phase-transitioning unemployment to perceptible. This report explains why this will prove impossible, and what central banks will likely prioritise. Plus: the collapsed complexity of the recent stock market rally signals excessive trend-following. Until the complexity normalises, we are reluctant to chase the rally.
This Strategy Insight discusses the bond market and currency implications of the Fed’s “hawkish pause”.