Saturday, October 14, 2006

Quick Overview

  • Bank of Japan voted unanimously to keep the overnight call rate target at 0.25 %. BOJ Governor Fukui said that he "cannot rule out the possibility" of another rate hike this year. Market expectation for a rate hike this year has dropped to 25%.

  • Bank of Japan reported producer prices in September rose 3.6 %, the most in 25 years.

  • China’s current reserves surged to a record $988 billion at the end of September, up 28.5% YoY.

  • YoY consumer prices in France were up 1.5% in September

  • U.S. Retail sales were down 0.4% in September. Excluding autos, sales were down 0.5%. The weakness came mostly from lower gasoline prices.

  • The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose from 85.4 to 92.3 in October, more than expected.

  • Argentina may limit wheat exports in an attempt to keep domestic prices down.

  • BBC News reported that Ghana and the Ivory Coast are struggling to contain the spread of swollen shoot virus which is hitting their cocoa crops. The two countries account for over one-half of the world's cocoa production.

  • (Bloomberg) -- Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators placed a record amount of bets the yen will decline against the dollar, according to weekly data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

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