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☆ New Zealand central bank can get inflation under control: RBNZ governor
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WELLINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - New Zealand central bank Governor Adrian Orr said on Thursday he was confident the central bank can get inflation under control as the country battles a tight labour market. Inflation in New Zealand is currently sitting at 7.2%, well above the bank's target of 1% to 3%. Orr said the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has a "laser-like" focus on controlling inflation. A tight labour market saw wage inflation in the third-quarter rise to the highest level since the survey began in 1993. Orr added that the tight labour market was also the biggest constraint on businesses in New Zealand.

☆ If 8% inflation is worrying, 3% could be worse
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But what if inflation doesn’t go back to 2%, and instead sticks somewhere higher, like 3%? Some measures suggest that inflation is coming down, such as the sharp drop in how long it’s taking manufacturers to get deliveries. For a central bank, the nightmare scenario is one where inflation subsides to a level above its target and then plateaus. Some Democrats already argue the Fed’s rate hikes hurt the poor; some Republicans blame Powell for letting inflation run amok in the first place. Rate hikes could trigger a recession, a state that’s painful but has tended to bring inflation down quickly in the past.

☆ RBNZ says global financial stress will test New Zealand's financial resilience
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WELLINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said on Wednesday the country's financial system is as a whole resilient but global financial stress will test this. "The rising global interest rates necessary to curb inflation will test New Zealand's financial resilience," Governor Adrian Orr said in the bank's financial stability review, which is released twice a year. "While our financial system as a whole is resilient, some households and businesses will be challenged by the rising interest rate environment," Orr added. New Zealand's central bank has aggressively hiked interest rates as it has sought to get on top of a red-hot housing market and soaring inflation. The central bank, however, said house prices remain above their sustainable level, and that a further gradual decline would be positive for long-term financial stability.

Oct 31 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said on Monday its annual stress test on the banking sector showed banks were "well placed" to overcome stagflation. The RBNZ's Deputy Governor Christian Hawkesby said while banks' capital buffers would take a hit in a stagflation scenario, where high inflation is paired with negative economic growth, they would remain well above the regulatory minimums. Inflation in New Zealand is tracking just below three-decade highs at 7.2% and the central bank has been aggressively hiking the cash rate to try to dampen it. Gross domestic product rose 1.7% in the June quarter, but increases in the cash rate raise the risk of a contraction. The Central Bank is due to release its twice yearly Financial Stability Report on Nov. 2.

☆ Aggressive rate hikes the name of the game for big central banks
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank delivered a second straight 75-basis-point interest rate hike on Thursday, the latest sign that major central banks are serious about curbing hot inflation. Central banks in the 10 big developed economies have raised rates by a combined 2,165 basis points (bps) in this cycle to date, with Japan the holdout "dove." But the pace of these rate rises is starting to slow - Canada just delivered a smaller-than-anticipated rate hike. That would be the fourth straight rate increase of that magnitude, bringing the policy rate to the 3.75%-4.00% range as part of what has been the sharpest set of U.S. rate increases in about 40 years. Reuters Graphics7) SWEDENSweden's central bank raised its key rate on Sept. 20 by a larger-than-expected one percentage point to 1.75%.

British Pound Sterling and U.S. Dollar notes are seen in this June 22, 2017 illustration photo. The U.S. dollar held at a 32-year peak against the yen and rose from a two-week trough against a basket of major peers, underpinned by expectations of aggressive U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. “Sterling edged lower against its peers after yet another upside surprise in the latest UK inflation data... “Following the budget fiasco, there is also a great deal of uncertainty as to the pace of upcoming Bank of England interest rate hikes," he added. read moreElsewhere, the dollar pushed as high as 149.48 yen for the first time since August 1990 in early London trading.

☆ FOREX Dollar holds near 32-year peak vs yen despite intervention risks; sterling licks wounds
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Kevin Buckland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The dollar pushed as high as 149.395 yen overnight for the first time since August 1990, before last trading at 149.305 in the Asian session. read moreThe dollar index - which measures the currency against six peers including the yen, sterling and euro - added 0.2% to 112.19, after dropping to the lowest since Oct. 6 at 111.76 overnight. Meanwhile, sterling was little changed at $1.1318, licking its wounds after a 0.34% decline in the previous session. Economists in a Reuters poll predict another 75 basis-point rate hike from the European Central Bank on Thursday of next week. The currency last traded 0.08% higher at $0.56905, close to the previous session's two-week high of $0.5719.

☆ Most Asian shares extend rally, markets await UK inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) edged up 0.2%, but further gains were capped by slight falls in Chinese shares. Japan's Nikkei (.N225) advanced 0.4%, Australia's resources-heavy shares (.AXJO) gained 0.4%, while South Korea (.KS11) rebounded 0.5%. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterU.S. S&P 500 futures rose 0.8% and the Nasdaq futures jumped 1.3%. Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) reversed customer losses that had hammered its stock this year and projected more growth ahead, sending shares 14% higher in after-hours trading. Chris Turner, global head of markets at ING, said a quiet week for U.S. data could also see the dollar correction extend a little.

REUTERS/StaffLONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - European stock indexes opened higher on Tuesday, in a revival of risk appetite which analysts attributed to the turnaround in UK fiscal policy. Britain's new finance minister Jeremy Hunt scrapped Prime Minister Liz Truss's economic plan on Monday, which had sapped investor confidence in the UK in recent weeks. MSCI's main European Index (.MSER) was up 1.5%, near its highest in 13 days. The STOXX 600 was up 1%, having also touched a 13-day high, and London's FTSE 100 was up 1.3% (.FTSE). At 0822 GMT, the U.S. dollar index was flat on the day, at 112.05 .

☆ New Zealand Q3 inflation smashes expectations, boosts case for hawkish hikes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Annual inflation ran at 7.2% in the third quarter, sitting just below a three-decade high, Statistics New Zealand said in a statement on Tuesday. Inflation slowed slightly from 7.3% in the second quarter but far outpaced expectations in a Reuters poll for a 6.6% annual rise. "With the RBNZ having the inflation bit between its teeth, all options are likely to remain on the table." Smith said they had changed their OCR forecast and were now expecting a 75-basis-point rate hike in November, and two further 50 bp rate hikes in February and April 2023. Statistics New Zealand added that annual non-tradable inflation - products made in New Zealand for domestic consumption - rose 6.6%, the highest since it began tracking that data in June 2002.

☆ New Zealand third-quarter inflation outpaces expectations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Annual inflation rose 7.2% in the third quarter, slowing from a 7.3% gain in the second quarter and sits just below three-decade highs, Statistics New Zealand said in a statement on Tuesday. The data was above economists’ expectations for a 1.6% rise for the quarter and a 6.7% annual rise, according to a Reuters poll. The New Zealand dollar rose slightly after the data showed inflation was hotter than expected. The main drivers of the 7.2% annual inflation were rising prices for construction, local government taxes and rentals for housing, Statistics New Zealand said in a statement. Statistics New Zealand added that annual non-tradable inflation - products made in New Zealand for domestic consumption - rose 6.6%, the highest since it began tracking that data in June 2002.

☆ Central banks unleash 350 basis points more of rate hikes in inflation fight
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Central banks in the 10 big developed economies have raised rates by a combined 1,965 basis points in this cycle to date, with Japan the holdout "dove", sticking on Thursday with its ultra-low rates policy. read moreThe Fed's new projections showed its policy rate rising to 4.4% by year-end, before peaking at 4.6% in 2023. read moreOn Sept. 7, the BoC hiked its policy rate to 3.25%, its highest level in 14 years. Canada was the first among the world's advanced economies in the current policy-tightening cycle to deliver a 100 bps rate. That implies at least one more 50 bps rate hike at upcoming meetings.

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