FOMC Statement, Projections and Press Conference March 19, 2025 No change was made in the assessment of the U.S. economy of solid growth and labor market conditions, low and stable unemployment, and somewhat elevated inflation. January’s statement called the economic outlook “uncertain and said risks were roughly balanced.” Today’s concedes a increase in the degree…
FOMC Meeting of March 2025 Preview March 19, 2025 The message after the January Federal Open Market Committee meeting seven weeks ago that ended in a paused interest rate target of 4.25-4.50% and continuing balance sheet reduction was, number one that monetary policy and the U.S. economy are in a good place; number 2 that…
Central Bank Rate Announcements, Geopolitical Uncertainties, and a Big Drop in the Turkish Lira March 19, 2025 The Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan head a list of five central banks making interest rate announcements today. The BOJ Board voted unanimously to leave its overnight call interest rate unchanged at 0.50%. That matches its highest…
Other Economies Attracting Interest as U.S. Steers an Isolationist Course March 18, 2025 Once again, stock markets in Europe are flashing green, with overnight advances of at least 1.0% in Germany, Italy and Spain. In the Pacific Rim, the Hang Seng of Hong Kong, Sensex of India and Japanese Nikkei closed up 2.5%, 1.5% and…
Chinese Data, Big Week for Central Banks, and U.S. Share Prices Fall Further Behind Other Stock Markets March 17, 2025 The dollar lost fractional ground overnight, losing 0.6% against the kiwi, 0.4% against the Swissy and Australian dollar, 0.3% relative to sterling and the euro and 0.1% versus the yen, peso and loonie. Equities in…
Next Week’s Menu: March 15-21, 2025 March 14, 2025 Central Banks: The week ahead will be very active for central bankers, with policy reviews planned at the Federal Reserve and central banks in Japan, China, Indonesia, the U.K., Taiwan, Russia, Armenia, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Switzerland, Sweden, Iceland, Brazil, Chile, and South Africa. The Fed’s review will…
News of Likely Congressional CR Deal to Avert Government Shutdown Outweighs Impact of Further Weak Data and Escalated Verbal Trade War March 14, 2025 Friday’s positive developments outweighed downside news in the market trenches. Overnight moves in the dollar were mixed, as the greenback gained 0.6% against the yen, 0.4% versus the Swissy, and 0.1%…
Does the U.S. Economy Really Do Better Under Republican Presidential Rule? March 13, 2025 The pivotal voter perception that returned Donald Trump to the White House in the 2024 election was the perception that Republicans do a better job of handling the economy than the Democrats. Beginning with a posting during the Obama-McCain presidential campaign…
Sour Investor Mood Ahead of U.S. PPI Release March 13, 2025 U.S. equities got only a dead-cat bounce from Wednesday’s slightly better-than-expected consumer price data and are back showing red ahead of producer price figures due shortly. With his assortment of U.S. policy about-faces, President Trump has acquired a Grinch-like aura in the world financial…
Seventh Canadian Central Bank Rate Cut Since June 2024 March 12, 2025 At 2.75%, the Bank of Canada‘s policy interest rate will be 225 basis points below its former cyclical peak of 5.0% from July 2023 to June 2024. That cumulative decline was more than double the one percentage point reduction of the federal funds…