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Economics

Beyond 6000

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 8 NOV 2017
After three attempts over the past 10 years, the S&P/ASX 200 index finally got there - it broke above the formidable 6000-point resistance level.

Oil's gift to central bankers

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 7 NOV 2017
The news in the Kingdom is still developing and the latest oil price surge could be merely a knee-jerk reaction but if the oil price continues to head north, it could be just the thing that makes central banks' wishes come true.

Changed RBA rate expectations?

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 6 NOV 2017
Could it be that the recent rally in the Australian equity market is due to gradually rising expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia could change its policy stance from steady to greater accommodation sometime soon?

BOE does what it said it would do

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 3 NOV 2017
While the BOE's 2 November decision and its rationale heralds the beginning of normalisation of monetary policy (read, more interest rate hikes), it had an opposite effect on the British pound and the bond market.

Fed does the expected, will do as expected

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 2 NOV 2017
This is a step-up from the "economic activity has been rising moderately this year" phrase observed in previous Fed statements.

The BOJ's boring Halloween

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 1 NOV 2017
The BOJ kept monetary policy settings unchanged at its October meeting.

Two holds and a raise

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 31 OCT 2017
Unlike in America where interest rates were "promised" to be lifted in December, the Bank of England had only been dropping hints that a rate hike is coming soon.

Surefire Melbourne Cup bet

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 30 OCT 2017
We can debate the whys and wherefores of the headline inflation rate but the core inflation measures remain below the lower end of the RBA's 2%-3% target band, indicating that household spending isn't strong enough to generate demand-pull inflation.

ECB schedules taper

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 27 OCT 2017
More important, and unlike many of its peers, growth in wages and salaries in the region is reacting to the improvement in the labour market.

Enter the dragon

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 23 OCT 2017
The roadmap provided at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China indicates there will be more of the same. That is, onwards and upwards for the Middle Kingdom.