Fed minutes: QE stimulus to end in October July 9, 2014 The US Federal Reserve plans to end its program of quantitative easing in October according to minutes released from meetings in June. US markets dipped briefly on the news but quickly moved higher. The end of the bond buying program which began in September 2012 has already slowed by $10bn each month and the US [...]
Federal Reserve’s chair Janet Yellen stays firm on low interest rates July 2, 2014 Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen yesterday stuck by the US central bank’s loose monetary policy, reiterating her view that regulation should be the key tool used to combat financial stability risks. She argued that interest rates should seldom be used to combat risks to financial stability and that doing so to counter the US housing [...]
Asian markets climb after upbeat Fed comments June 19, 2014 Asian markets are up after positive comments from both the Federal Reserve and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, with the situation in Iraq failing to dampen optimism. The US central bank has indicated that rates will remain low for some time to come after a two-day policy review. The remarks sent the S&P 500 to a [...]
S&P hits record after Fed assures markets on rates and economy June 18, 2014 THE S&P 500 closed at a new record high last night as US stocks rose in the wake of the Federal Reserve striking a doveish tone in its post-meeting statement. The Fed hinted at a slightly faster pace of interest rate increases starting next year, but also suggested long-term rates would be lower than indicated [...]
IMF says Fed could keep rates at zero for much longer June 16, 2014 Fed chair Janet Yellen has suggested that the first US rate hike could come six months after the end of tapering quantitative easing (QE) – this would land in roughly April 2015. But the staff of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) say today that with a muted inflation outlook and full employment still some [...]
Fed board may push for further guidance on unwinding of QE May 21, 2014 A NUMBER of Federal Reserve rate-setters want a further form of forward guidance for the US quantitative easing (QE) policy, giving investors extra information on when the purchased assets might be unwound. Minutes released yesterday from the Fed’s latest policy meeting said some decision-makers thought it “would be useful to provide additional information” on how [...]
Japanese shares climb as Fed continues to taper May 1, 2014 Japanese shares have risen after a solid performance on Wall Street and the Federal Reserve delivered a favourable view of the US economy, despite a major slowdown in the first three months of the year. US GDP growth reached just 0.1 per cent on an annualised basis. Economists had forecast a rise of a little [...]
Asian markets fluctuate before Fed policy decision April 30, 2014 Asian markets switched between gains and losses after earnings reports gave a boost to Wall Street and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) left policy unchanged. However, investors held back in anticipation of the Federal Reserve's decision on monetary policy. The Fed is widely expected to continue tapering of its bond-buying programme. Few investors believed the [...]
The Federal Reserve has finally released minutes from its 2008 meeting February 21, 2014 The minutes from the 16 September 2008 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee have finally been made public. That meeting took place the day after Lehman Brothers went bust. Then Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke sums up the mood pretty well: Obviously, we started late. We have a lot to talk about. Bernanke didn't [...]
A reserved man October 31, 2005 The new nominee for the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve has a background in academia rather than finance and is thought to be weak on inflation. Markets are being urged to wait before rushing to judgement. Can you ever replace a god? On 24 October George W Bush made an attempt, nominating the head of [...]