A Third Thai Central Bank Rate Cut but Not by a Unanimous Vote April 30, 2025 By a 5-2 vote with dissents favoring no change, the Bank of Thailand‘s policy interest rate was reduced by 25 basis points from 2.0% to 1.75%. This marked the third such cut from a peak of 2.5% maintained for…
A Disturbing U.S. Data Reality Check April 30, 2025 The last business day of April typically delivered a ton of data releases, but what stood out most was how abruptly U.S. economic activity slowed last quarter. In the wake of the Covid shock of 2020, U.S. GDP had expanded 6.1% in 2021, 2.5% in 2022,…
Mid-Tuesday Report: Canadian Liberals Hold onto Power and Another Drop in U.S. Consumer Confidence April 29, 2025 U.S. stocks and the dollar were holding on to slight gains at the midday hour EDT. Ten-year sovereign debt yields had fallen by three basis points in the United States, Great Britain and Germany and by two bps…
Trump’s First 100 Days Ends Wednesday with Much Still Undone April 28, 2025 (194) The fifteenth week of the second Trump presidency got off to a more sanguine start, with investors concluding that no news is better than worrisome news. U.S. equity markets opened slightly higher, extending last week’s recovery. Clarity on U.S. tariffs has…
Next Week’s Menu: April 26 – May 2, 2025 April 25, 2025 Central Banks: Interest rate policies will be reviewed in Japan, Colombia, Hungary, Brazil and Thailand. The Bank of Japan’s quarterly Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices gets published. Bank of Japan Governor Ueda, Kent of the Reserve Bank of Australia, and Ramsden of…
Latest Confusion: China and United States Can’t Even Agree on Whether Trade Talks Between Them Have Begun April 25, 2025 The dollar is higher this Friday, but U.S. equities opened on a slightly downward note despite better-than-expected Google quarterly earnings reported after Thursday’s session. Dollar gains were led by moves of +0.8% against the yen…
Dollar and Bond Yields Down, Gold Up, Foreign Stocks Mostly Down, But U.S. Stocks Up April 24, 2025 The DXY weighted dollar index fell 0.5% overnight on slides of 0.7% against the yen, 0.6% versus the euro and Swiss franc, and 0.5% relative to sterling. This day, however, has seen a lower dollar correlated with…
Another About-Face in the Marketplace April 23, 2025 Markets improved dramatically after flip-flopping President Trump changed his tone in two respects, signaling no intention of firing Powell and turning down the heat against China and in other trade negotiations. The weighted DXY dollar index has strengthened 0.8% so far today. Major U.S. stock indices have…
Tuesday Rebound in Financial Markets Looks Fragile In Face of Escalating Showdowns April 22, 2025 President Trump has not been deterred by yesterday’s emphatic market thumbs-down against his attack on the Federal Reserve’s independence. Calling Fed Chairman Powell a “major loser,” Trump asserted that inflation is not now a problem but that the Fed’s indecision…
Dollar Weakens as Fed’s Independence Over Interest-Rate Policy Comes Under Further Attack April 21, 2025 (195) Many domestic financial markets around world remain either fully or partially closed for the extended Easter holiday including most of Europe, much of Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Nonetheless, there are two big stories this morning. Pope…