Inflation back in focus in Japan

May 24, 2015 14:44 pm UTC| Commentary

Bank of Japan (BoJ) upgraded its economic assessment in May 22 meeting due to improvement in consumption and housing investment. This follows its movement of the forecast period for achieving 2% price stability target...

Light data calendar keeps spotlight on Greece in the week ahead

May 24, 2015 14:37 pm UTC| Commentary

Greece will remain the focus this week in the context of a very light data calendar and continued political uncertainty should weigh on the EUR. Barclays Research forecasts further improvement in money growth to 4.9% y/y...

Downside surprises may lead to USD pressure, but only in the near-term

May 24, 2015 14:33 pm UTC| Commentary

A more constructive economic picture aided by cleaner market positioning has helped the USD recover somewhat over the past week. Although the FOMC minutes did talk down the potential of a near-term rate hike, the minutes...

Testing recent USD momentum, but still bullish

May 24, 2015 14:30 pm UTC| Commentary

Disappointing US data and a more dovish Fed have been testing the bullish USD view in recent months and that theme is unlikely to change this week as our forecasts for US data releases are mixed relative to...

Bank of Canada will keep the policy rate unchanged next week

May 22, 2015 18:41 pm UTC| Commentary

There were few surprises this week, as Governor Poloz reiterated his view that Q1 is likely to have marked a low point for the Canadian economy, with growth expected to recover through the remainder of the year.This weeks...

Yellen more convinced Q1 slowdown was temporary

May 22, 2015 18:31 pm UTC| Commentary

In her speech on the economic outlook today, Fed Chair Janet Yellen argued that the slowdown in first-quarter GDP growth was "largely" due to temporary factors, such as the record cold weather in the Northeast and the West...

U.S. inflation looks to be stabilizing

May 22, 2015 18:18 pm UTC| Commentary

U.S. consumer prices came in exactly as expected, up a modest 0.1% in April (3rd increase in a row) or 0.2% below a year ago, the fourth straight sub-zero reading. Excluding food energy, prices were a little stronger,...