US Fed Chair Jerome Powell, in testimony prepared for delivery Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee, and released Monday by the Fed, said that he continues to expect high inflation to recede over the next year as supply and demand come into better balance, but warned that prices could continue …
Read More »Could Omicron Impact BoE’s Rate Hike Intention?
The Omicron variant would not discourage the Monetary Policy Committee from hiking rates. The BoE needs flexibility to deal with unforeseen events after Boris Johnson had announced the reintroduction of mask-wearing and travel restrictions. A rate hike will do nothing to counterbalance the pressure the new variant will place on …
Read More »Swiss Franc Surges As Central Bank Stands Back
The Swiss National Bank has ceased to stand in the way of the franc’s appreciation, according to data published on Monday, in an eye-catching change in view of the safe-haven currency’s rise to its highest against the euro in more than six years.The central bank’s apparent stance will confound investors …
Read More »Germany: Annual HICP Rises to 6.0% in November
The annual Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), the European Central Bank’s preferred gauge of inflation, rose to 6.0% from 4.6% in October, compared to analysts’ estimate of 5.4%. MoM, the HICP was up 0.3%, above consensus expectations for a 0.5% drop.
Read More »Gold Rises as Fears of Omicron Boost Its Allure
Gold prices rose on Monday after concerns about the impact of the potentially vaccine-resistant Omicron strain of coronavirus boosted gold’s safe-haven appeal. Spot gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,793.72 an ounce. US gold futures rose 0.4 percent to settle at $1,793.2. Actual demand for gold in major Asian hubs increased …
Read More »Bitcoin Typically Acts As Risk Asset
Bitcoin fell 8% Friday, on the same day, the S&P 500 index retreated by 2.3%, that is to mean the most famous cryptocurrency is not the ideal hedge against volatility in the financial market as may be claimed by its backers.The hedge today was bonds, similar to much of market …
Read More »Why Gold Prices Have Surged?
Gold rose Friday morning in Asia, poised for its worst week in five months on growing bets. The US Federal Reserve will begin to taper and raise interest rates faster than expected to stem rising inflation. Gold futures rose 0.76% to $1,797.80. The yellow metal fell more than 2.8% during …
Read More »ECB Expected To Raise Inflation Forecast Again
EU economy expected to raise inflation forecast again. Central bank policymakers have said that the outlook for price growth in 2023 and 2024 remains unsure The ECB has underestimated how fast Eurozone inflation would rise this year.European Central Bank policymakers expect the central bank to raise its short-term inflation forecasts …
Read More »BoE’s Bailey: Factors Causing Inflation Temporary
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Thursday that the supply chain problems causing inflation should be temporary.“The risk is that inflation expectations become embedded and we have a very tight labour market in the UK. Policy guidance is more hazardous to give in times of elevated uncertainty”, he …
Read More »Bundesbank Warns Of Overblown property Prices
Vice president of Bundesbank, Claudia Buch, said that almost 90% of German households expect property prices to keep increasing.Buch added that her team at the Bundesbank has come up with estimates of about 10% to 30% for price deviations from their fundamentals. Germany’s central bank warned Thursday about skewed valuations …
Read More »