Even after the Federal Reserve said it aimed to raise interest rates once more in 2017 and then three times in 2018–and scheduled the drawn down of its balance sheet for an October start, the U.S. dollar has been unable to stage a convincing rally.
At today’s meeting the European Central Bank announced that it would leave interest rates in negative territory and continue to buy debt assets at the current monthly rate. In his post-meeting press conference ECB president Mario Draghi noted that despite an increase in economic growth in the EuroZone to 2.3% year over year in the second quarter, the bank has yet to see a sustained increase in the rate of inflation that would lead to a change in policy.
10:20 a.m.: The euro is trading down today after the latest ZEW sentiment surveys for the Eurozone and Germany both missed expectations. The German report that a stronger euro was hitting exports. The euro traded below the recent $1.18 price against the dollar. 10:40 a.m.: There’s not much leaking out about the Republican plans for a tax cut but one idea apparently being passed around would change the accounting for things like expiring tax breaks in order to give the authors of any tax bill rom for about $450 billion in tax cuts that wouldn’t need to be offset with revenue increases.
At today’s meeting The European Central Bank dropped language saying that interest rates might fall further from its post-meeting statement. In April the bank had said that interest rates would remain at “present or lower levels for an extended period of time.” Today’s statement only says that interest rates would remain at “present levels for an extended period of time.”
On Wall Street they’re calling it Super Thursday and it has frozen financial markets in their tracks.
