FOMC minutes: Rate hikes later this year

Apr 08, 2015 20:59 pm UTC| Commentary

The minutes from the March FOMC meeting did not shine much new light on the committees thinking relative to what was revealed in the statement, projection materials, and press conference. This should not come as a...

BoK likely to keep rates on hold at Thursday's meet

Apr 08, 2015 18:18 pm UTC| Commentary

Bank of Korea (BoK) cut its policy rate by 25bp to a new record low at its meeting last month. Admittedly, the recent string of weak data has prompted speculation that it will further loosen monetary policy, but BoK is...

Yen is likely to fall a lot further than the euro this year

Apr 08, 2015 17:41 pm UTC| Commentary

With the ECB and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) both implementing large scale QE programmes, and the Fed still likely to announce its first rate hike later this year, both the euro and the yen are likely to depreciate against the...

Outlook for Brent

Apr 08, 2015 17:33 pm UTC| Commentary

BofA Merrill Lynch says in a report:Evidence continues to build for higher Brent (and WTI) prices. The impulsive, 5 wave advance from the Jan-13 low (50.10 in the June contract) and 16yr trendline says the trend has turned...

Germany well-placed for a steady recovery

Apr 08, 2015 17:29 pm UTC| Commentary

The continued pick-up in survey measures of activity suggests that Q4s 0.7% rise in GDP was more than a blip. While growth is unlikely to be sustained at that pace, further steady increases are in prospect.Germany is...

Greece uncertainty clouds euro-zone recovery

Apr 08, 2015 17:01 pm UTC| Commentary

Recent indicators have brought signs of a renewed recovery in the euro-zone economy, reflecting the beneficial effects of lower oil prices and the decline in the euro exchange rate.But the picture continues to be clouded...

US crude oil stocks jump by the highest weekly amount in over a decade

Apr 08, 2015 16:17 pm UTC| Commentary

EIAs weekly US Petroleum Report, released earlier today, shows that stocks of oil surged last week. The amount of crude oil in commercial storage tanks jumped by about 10.9 million barrels to 482.2. This was the largest...