Central Banks
Bank of England hikes again
Bank of England announced the latest policy decision on Thursday, raising interest rates for the 12th consecutive time from 4.25% to 4.5%, which was in line with expectations. Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted by a majority of 7-2 to raise interest rates to 4.5%. Two members voted to maintain the interest rate unchanged at 4...
RBA surprises the market hiking 25bp against expectations
The Reserve Bank of Australia rate meeting today was supposed to be a done deal of another hold in rates, with futures markets pricing in an over 90% chance of that being the outcome. The RBA however, showing their determination to get an inflation rate still well outside their target band instead delivered a 25bp hike after last months pause, s...
RBA leaves cash rate unchanged but leaves the door open for future hikes if needed
After 10 hikes on the trot and what will no doubt be a relief for mortgage holders the RBA held the official cash rate at 3.60%. The rate decision was fully priced in by the futures markets , so no great surprise on the actual decision , it’s the accompanying statement where investors look for clues as to future RBA actions that will set the shor...
Red hot inflation in UK points to 25bp hike, BoE and SNB preview.
Bank of England Headline February inflation in the UK came at a hotter than expected 10.4%, well above the consensus of a drop to 9.9% and indicating that Januarys dip to 10.1% seems to have been temporary. Unwelcome news for the BoE who have a rate meeting today, before this figure the decision seemed to be on a knife edge, with the market...
The Fed, between a rock and a hard place – FOMC preview
Todays FOMC rate decision is certainly in play, with recent turmoil in the banking sector caused in no small part by aggressive Fed hikes over the last 12 months, throws a very big spanner in the works of the Feds plan to combat inflation. Up until a couple of weeks ago a 50bp hike was pretty much fully priced in as the Fed refused to budge on t...
Will the ECB continue with a 50bps hike as planned?
In the lead-up to the European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate decision this week, the market has seen significant turmoil. Firstly from the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failure, followed by the news that Credit Suisse’s largest financial backer is unlikely to provide further financial support. This led to Credit Suisse stock plunging by more than ...
RBNZ Cash Rate Decision Preview
The NZDUSD has been on a decline since the start of February 2023, with the price reversing strongly from the high of 0.6540 ending the previous week bouncing off the 200-day moving average and previous swing low price level of 0.6190. This week, we have the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) due to release their interest rate decision. Current ...
Phillip Lowe apologises to the Australian Public over missed forecasts
Phillip Lowe, governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, (RBA) has issued an apology to the Australian public in his most recent statement. Lowe specifically apologised for providing guidance in 2020 and 2021 that the official cash would only rise in 2024. Instead, rate rises began earlier this year and rises have occurred in 7 straight months. Dur...
Bank of England announces biggest single rate hike in 33 years
Another day, another hike. On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve announced its latest policy decision to raise its interest rates from 3.25% to 4%, to its highest level since January 2008. On Thursday, it was the Bank of England's turn to announce its decision. As expected, the central bank raised its interest rates by 0.75% to 4%. It was the hig...
Bank of England gives Funds three days to get books in order
The Bank of England has seemingly turned its back on protecting UK Retirement funds, after initially bailing out these funds who were facing serious liquidity issues in relation to their exposure to Fixed income assets. History As a part of new UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss’s mini budget she outlined big tax breaks for mu...
Reserve Bank of Australia surprises the market by lifting cash rate by 25 bps
The Reserve Bank of Australia, (RBA) has surprised much of the market by raising the country's cash rate by just 25 basis points. With analysts expecting a more aggressive 50 bps hike, the smaller lift will provide relief to much of the country's housing market and equity market. RBA, Chairman, Phillip Lowe outlined how previous rate rises had alre...
Jackson Hole Symposium set to get underway today
The Kansas City Federal Reserve is set to host the 45th Annual Symposium at Jackson Hole Lodge in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. Some of the countries and world’s most important central bankers, economists, and academics will be meeting to discuss the biggest issues facing the global economy. The key issue on the agenda is of �...
AUD drops on Employment Figures
The Aussie Dollar has seen a drop in its price due to wage and unemployment data released over the past day and a half. The economic data shows that unemployment has fallen to its lowest level in nearly 50 years with the jobless rate at 3.4% compared to analysts expecting the figure to remain at 3.5%. Wages also rose modestly in the last quarter to...
Reserve Bank of Australia hikes Cash Rate by 0.50%
The Reserve Bank of Australia, (RBA) has increased the Country’s cash rate by half a percent to combat the rising inflation in its latest cash rate change. The increase was in line with most analyst’s expectations as the RBA continues to fight inflation and bring it back into the 2-3% range. The current forecast from the RBA...
RBA preview – likely 50bp hike incoming
Todays RBA policy meeting is expected by most analysts to result in a 50bp hike as the bank tries to play catch up and get on top of elevated inflation figures. The slightly lower Q2 CPI figures released last week has seen futures markets price out what was earlier feared could be a 75bp supersized move, a 50bp hike would see the ban...
