FOMC: Likely Bal Sheet Runoff to be $60 Bln Tsys/Month, $35 Bln MBS/Month

WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The Federal Open Market Committee minutes released Wednesday suggested a more aggressive runoff of the balance sheet than had generally been expected – at least before Gov. Lael Brainard’s more hawkish statements Tuesday – sending markets into sudden volatility as the implications were absorbed by market participants. The details of what the […]

Japan February Household Spending Sluggish Amid Omicron, Snowstorms

–Spending Up Slightly on Year but Posts 2nd Straight Drop on Month –Ministry Drops ‘Flat’ Reference to Falling Spending; To Watch Covid Impact By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Japan’s household spending posted the second straight month-on-month drop in February as the worst spike in Covid cases in the two-year pandemic hit many regions and bad […]

BOC Q1 Survey: Business Sentiment Slips but Still High on Demand

–Firms See Rising Costs Amid Ukraine War, Higher Wages due to Tight Labor Markets — 70% of Firms in Canada See Above 3% Inflation Over 2 Years Vs. 67% in Q4 — BOC Consumer Survey: Prices Surge but Longer-Term Inflation Views Anchored By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Sentiment among companies in Canada dipped in the […]

BOJ March Tankan Business Sentiment Slips on Covid, Ukraine; Capex Plans Revised Down

–Fall in Sentiment After Recent Improvement Not As Bad As Forecast –Major Firms Revise Down FY21 Capex Plans, See Small Rise in FY22 –Smaller Firms Unexpectedly Revise Down FY21 Capex Plans; Cautious of FY22   By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Confidence among many sectors in Japan slipped in March after improving for the sixth straight quarter […]

Japan February Industrial Output Posts Small Rebound on Easing Covid Spike, Supply Shortages

–Carmakers, Electric/Telecom Makers See High Output in March, April –METI: Forecast May Be Revised Down; Survey Taken Before March 16 Earthquake  –METI Keeps View: Factory Output Shows Signs of Pickup –METI Repeats: To Watch Effects of Pandemic, Parts Shortages, Ukraine  By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Japan’s industrial production posted a slight rebound in February, marking […]

Japan February Unemployment Slips to 2.7% But Job Creation Slow

By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Job creation in Japan remained sluggish in February compared to a year earlier but the unemployment rate fell from January as job cuts eased and fewer people began looking for work, data released Tuesday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed. The seasonally adjusted average unemployment rate fell […]

Preview: BOJ March Tankan To Show Sentiment Hit by Omicron Spike, Ukraine War

–Sentiment Among Manufacturers, Non-Manufacturers Seen Down After Recent Pickup –Small Business Sentiment Indexes Expected to Remain in Negative Territory –Major Firms Expected to Revise Down FY21 Capex Plans, See Small FY22 Gain –Smaller Firms Playing Catchup in FY21 Capex as They Tend To Do Toward Fiscal Yearend By Max Sato (MaceNews) – The Bank of […]