CENTRAL – UNITED STATES

RBA rate hike hopes fade as Aussie bumps past US80c

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 28-Jul-17

The Australian dollar reached a new two-year high of US0.8043 during intra-day trading on 27 July, compared with $US0.76 at the start of the month. The currency rallied after the US Federal Reserve left interest rates on hold, and Charlie Jamieson of Jamieson Coote Bonds says a US rate rise in September is looking increasingly unlikely, while a rise in Australia’s cash rate will also be off the agenda in the near-term. Meanwhile, Westpac estimates that the Australian dollar’s fair value is around $US0.76 to $US0.77.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE, JAMIESONCOOTEBONDS PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF ATLANTA

Fed chief says increasing prices will allow rate rises

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Original article by Nick Timiraos
The Australian – Page: 27 : 14-Jul-17

The general expectation of financial markets is that the Federal Reserve will increase US interest rates again in December 2017. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen has told Congress that it is too soon to suggest that the US inflation rate will reach two per cent in coming years. She added that the central bank will maintain its current stand on gradually lifting the cash rate unless inflation remains persistently below its target of two per cent.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF LABOR, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Record debt levels to keep RBA on hold

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Original article by Myriam Robin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 12-Jul-17

PIMCO Australia Robert Mead notes that a rise in the nation’s household debt-to-income ratio to a record high has coincided with a downturn in household debt in other developed countries. He warns that it will be hard for the Reserve Bank to increase the cash rate in the near-term, given the growth in household debt and residential property prices. With little prospect of a local rate rise for some time, US interest rates could potentially soon return to parity with Australian rates for the first time in 15 years.

CORPORATES
PIMCO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PACIFIC INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY LLC, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

Fed can’t afford to delay rate hikes: Williams

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 21 : 27-Jun-17

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco president John Williams says there should be a third rise in US interest rates in 2017, given that the nation now has low inflation and full employment. He warns that failure to increase interest rates could risk overheating the economy, which could in turn result in higher inflation. Williams adds that the Federal Reserve should also begin reducing its balance sheet, which has risen to $US4.5trn.

CORPORATES
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

Fed hikes interest rates despite declining inflation, sets plan for balance sheet reduction

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Original article by Jeff Cox
CNBC – Page: Online : 15-Jun-17

The US Federal Reserve has increased official interest rates by 0.25 per cent, following its rate rise in March. The central bank’s new target range is one to 1.25 per cent, while its monetary policy statement indicates that it expects inflation to stabilise but remain below two per cent in the near-term. Meanwhile, its GDP growth forecast has been upgraded from 2.1 per cent to 2.2 per cent, while its forecast for the unemployment rate has been revised downward from 4.5 per cent to 4.3 per cent. The Federal Reserve has also advised that it will begin reducing its balance sheet during 2017, although it has offered no guidance on when this will commence.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE

All eyes on Fed’s expected interest rate rise

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 13-Jun-17

Financial market pricing indicates that the US Federal Reserve is almost certain to increase official interest rates in June 2017. Data showing that the US unemployment rate fell to a 16-year low in May will strengthen the case for a rate rise. Meanwhile, market watchers will be seeking guidance from the central bank on its plans to reduce its balance sheet, which has risen to $US4.5trn as a result of quantitative easing measures.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED, CITIBANK LIMITED, NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED, ALPHABET INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, CME GROUP INCORPORATED, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

Fed expects to raise short-term rates soon

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Original article by Nick Timiraos
The Australian – Page: 30 : 26-May-17

Speculation that the US Federal Reserve will increase interest rates in June 2017 has gathered pace following the release of the minutes from its policy meeting for May. The minutes show that a majority of board members feel that the economic outlook may soon justify an increase in short-term interest rates. Futures traders now consider the chances of a rate rise in June to be about 80 per cent. Meanwhile, the central bank has issued a staff briefing which looks at options for reducing its balance sheet, which has risen to $US4.5trn as a result of quantitative easing.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX

Rate hikes deferred by slow US growth

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Original article by Myriam Robin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 1-May-17

The Federal Reserve is tipped to leave interest rates on hold in May 2017, in the wake of GDP data showing that US economic growth slowed to a three-year low of 0.7 per cent in the March quarter. Some 70 per cent of futures traders expect the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy in June. The Reserve Bank of Australia is also expected to leave rates on hold in May, and Paul Brennan of Citigroup says the central bank’s revised quarterly forecasts are unlikely to be unduly affected by data showing that inflation is within its target range.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, THINKMARKETS, REUTERS HOLDINGS PLC, SOCIETE GENERALE SA

Central bank signals more hikes next year

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Original article by Harriet Torry
The Australian – Page: 30 : 16-Dec-16

The yield on 10-year US treasuries rose to 2.523 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated after the Federal Reserve indicated that it is likely to lift the cash rate by 75 basis points in 2017. The central bank had been widely tipped to raise the cash rate by 25 basis points in December 2016, but policymakers had signalled in September that rates were likely to rise just twice in 2017. Federal Reserve officials have cited the outlook for inflation and the improving labour market as factors that prompted only the second rate rise in the last decade. Originally published in "The Wall Street Journal".

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, JP MORGAN CHASE AND COMPANY, WELLS FARGO BANK, BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION, MORTGAGE BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, FIRST PORTLAND MORTGAGE CORPORATION, ALASKA RETIREMENT MANAGEMENT BOARD, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

US hike won’t deter the RBA from following suit

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 28 : 14-Dec-16

The US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy statement is likely to attract more scrutiny than the outcome of its December 2016 meeting, as it is generally expected to lift the cash rate by 25 basis points. Meanwhile, the fall in National Australia Bank’s latest business conditions survey may strengthen the case for the Reserve Bank of Australia to further reduce official interest rates, particularly in the wake of the higher-than-expected decline in GDP growth for the September quarter.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF ST LOUIS, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED