The recent NFP report came short of expectations, with 142k jobs added (expectations were for 164k). However, unemployment did not rise (at 4.2%), and wage growth ticked up to 0.4% — putting more stress on inflationary pressures. In short, this recent report isn’t what markets wanted to see. It shows some weakness, not enough to…
When Bank of Japan’s Governor Kazuo Ueda announced a rate hike of 25 basis points last week, it is hard to believe he expected things would turn out the way they did: The Japanese yen appreciated by nearly 5% against the US dollar, and the Nikkei 225 had its worse day since 1987…
The Federal Reserve convened this week for its last meeting in 2020. The Fed didn’t make any significant changes to its policy and provided accommodating forward guidance and some clarity on its asset purchase program. The Fed expects to purchase 80 billion worth of bonds and 40 billion of MRS a month for…
The Spanish economy could contract by 13% in 2020 (see IMF June report) and up to 15% (according to Bank of Spain’s risk scenario) amid the adverse economic ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the economy continues to struggle, the housing market has yet to show signs of weakness. On the contrary, housing…
The COVID-19 pandemic led the Federal Reserve to slash interest rates to the zero lower bound (ZLB), provide support to the repo market, and purchase treasuries and corporate bonds, among other tools it has utilized. While the response of the Fed has helped shore up liquidity in the financial markets, it may need…