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Showing 671 - 680 of 3072 results for "Benjamin"

Chief economist update: An Indian surprise

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 8 OCT 2018
Just when we thought the times of central bank surprises were things of the past, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) brought them back. The RBI kept interest rates unchanged - repo rate at 6.5%, reverse repo rate at 6.25% - at the conclusion of its October ...

Chief economist update: US bond yield jump made FTSE slump

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 5 OCT 2018
The FTSE 100 index fell by 0.4% on September 13 - the day when the Bank of England (BOE) met and announced no change in monetary policy settings, keeping the bank rate at 0.75% (after the 25bps lift in August). While the BOE's move was widely expected ...

Chief economist update: That other Fed policy towards normalcy

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 4 OCT 2018
Latest data updates indicate that the US economic juggernaut continues to power on. The ISM non-manufacturing index shot up from 58.5 in August to a higher than expected 61.6 in September - its highest level on record. In addition, the ADP private sector ...

Chief economist update: Keep one eye open on the housing market

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 3 OCT 2018
Perhaps it's the long weekend holiday - AFL Grand Final holiday on September 28, Labour Day on October 1 - or maybe it's been out-headlined by news of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). But the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) met as usual ...

NAFTA's dead, welcome USMCA

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 2 OCT 2018
"We're going to win so much, you're going to be so sick and tired of winning." US President Donald Trump can add the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in his tally of 'wins' after the United States and Canada struck a last ...

RBNZ on ice into 2020

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 28 SEP 2018
There were some moments so far in 2018 when it perked up against the US dollar but the path of least resistance has been a decline for the New Zealand dollar. The NZ dollar has dropped by 6.8% versus the greenback (to US$0.6628) this year to date and ...

Three down one to go, then another three in 2019

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 27 SEP 2018
And so it came to pass. As expected, the US Federal Reserve lifted the fed funds rate target range by 25 basis points to 2.0%-2.25% following its two-day FOMC meeting on the 25th and 26th of September. US equities rallied immediately after the Fed's ...

Chief economist update: Surplus here we come

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 26 SEP 2018
The US Federal Reserve is poised to announce another 25 basis point taking the fed funds rate to 2%-2.25% when it concludes its September FOMC meeting later today. That wouldn't be a surprise. Another 25 basis point hike in December also wouldn't ...

OPEC is not to blame

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 25 SEP 2018
Saudi Arabia and Russia weren't pleased with US President Trump when they announced no immediate increase in oil production following the OPEC and non-OPEC nations meeting in Algiers on September 23. The decision sent oil prices soaring - Brent ...

Chief economist update: Stability is doing it for Japan

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 24 SEP 2018
Another new set of tariffs will take effect today in the on-going Sino-US trade battle. Yet most equity markets around the world registered gains last week ahead of its implementation. This is because US-China tariff phase two is less onerous than was ...