BOJ EXTENDS ASSET BUYING, SPECIAL FUNDING OPS UNTIL SEPT 2021 TO FIGHT COVID DRAG; TO REVIEW EASING TOOLS
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – The Bank of Japan Friday offered an early Christmas gift by extending the period of increased financial asset purchases and special funding operations aimed at promoting more lending to cash-strapped small businesses by six months until the end of September 2021. After a regular two-day policy meeting, the bank’s nine-member […]
JAPAN NOV CPI DROP DEEPER ON WEAKER ENERGY, GOVT-FINANCED HOTEL DISCOUNTS EASE AMID COVID SPIKE
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Japanese consumer prices posted a sharper drop in November as energy costs continued falling but a spike in coronavirus cases later in the month appeared to have slowed the use of hefty government-financed discounts on hotel and transport charges, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication released Friday […]
BANK OF ENGLAND LEAVES POLICY UNCHANGED, BUT EXTENDS LENDING SCHEME
—MPC Hints at Symmetric Stance on Inflation Target, Willing to ‘Tolerate’ Inflation Overshoot By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) – The Bank of England left its main policy tools on hold after its latest rate-setting meeting on Wednesday, but extended the time frame of its supplemental lending scheme and hinted at a more symmetrical approach to […]
FED’S POWELL: TO TAKE A LONG TIME TO RAISE INFL RATE
–Virus Resurgence to Hit First-Quarter Economy By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell Wednesday said reaching the inflation target is going to take “some time” in an environment of disinflation around the world, when price pressure in any sector is no longer persistent. In the near term, however, he warned the […]
FOMC: RATES NEAR ZERO THRU 2023
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The Federal Open Market Committee, as expected, stood still in its latest policy statement Wednesday, accompanied by quarterly projections that saw the federal funds rate at 0.1% through 2023. The following is the text of the FOMC statement: The Federal Reserve is committed to using its full range of tools to support […]
US LABELS SWITZERLAND, VIETNAM CURRENCY MANIPULATORS; NOT CHINA
–Tracking China Interventions ‘Closely’ By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The U.S. Treasury Department Wednesday signaled that Switzerland and to a much lesser extent Vietnam are manipulating their currencies, in part at least, for a competitive advantage in trade while China, having briefly been so designated up until January, was not included. Switzerland renewed its […]
JAPAN NOV EXPORTS UNEXPECTEDLY SLUMP, WEAK ENERGY PRICES KEEP TRADE IN SURPLUS
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Japanese exports took one step back from the recent pickup trend and posted an unexpected fall in November, remaining below year-earlier levels for two years as the global economy faces pandemic-caused uncertainty, data released Wednesday by the Ministry of Finance showed. The outlook for domestic growth and a return to […]
BoA FUND MANAGER SURVEY: GLOBAL INVESTORS EYE POST-COVID-19 RECOVERY IN 2021, PUT CASH TO WORK IN DEC
By Vicki Schmelzer NEW YORK (MaceNews) – In anticipation of a post-COVID-19 economic recovery in 2021, global investors began more markedly to put cash to work in December, according to the findings of BofA Global Research’s monthly fund manager survey, released Tuesday. In December, a net 89% of fund managers looked for global growth […]
STATUS CHECK COMMENTARY: A SPECIAL DAY, A SPECIAL VACCINE
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is Monday’s status check of developments in the U.S. that can influence economic, health and political outcomes. A special day, certainly. The first vaccinations, the Electoral College certification of the Biden win, Geraldo Rivera on Fox News saying, “It’s over.” And a few Senate Republicans, certainly not all, finally late […]
JAPAN: BOJ DEC TANKAN BUSINESS CONFIDENCE JUMPS BUT BIG FIRMS REVISE DOWN CAPEX PLANS
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Japanese firms nearly across the board reported their sentiment improved substantially in December from three months earlier, thanks to Chinese and U.S. economic recovery as well as a gradual pickup in domestic demand, according to the Bank of Japan’s quarterly Tankan business survey released Monday. But the survey also showed […]