BoJ stays easy
December 19, 2023
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–BOJ maintained its easy policy stance. $/yen up about 1.2% at 144.50. USH4 currently trades 124-00 (+24), around 4% yield and close to the highs of the past two sessions.
–Late yesterday WSJ’s Timiraos cited Mary Daly as saying easing might be necessary. “SF Fed President Mary Daly says it’s appropriate to shift to a more balanced focus on the dual mandate.” Unemployment is at 3.7%. It’s strange to be shifting emphasis back to employment in this environment. I had been reviewing some old articles and back in 2019 the Fed thought full employment was 4.1%. (Wash Post link below).
–Not sure if there’s anything here, but (thanks RL) there’s a tweet and a couple of articles about the Fed having added Norinchukin Bank (NY Branch) to the Standing Repo Facility list of counterparties on December 1. Here’s the tweet:
And here’s a snippet showing a pretty dramatic deterioration in unrealized losses:
https://www.nochubank.or.jp/en/ir/results/pdf/cap_results2023_02_02.pdf
–I’m sure it’s all unrelated. Dec 1, Norinchukin added to SRF. Dec 13, dovish FOMC and press conference. Yesterday, Mary Daly says easing is on the table and BOJ maintains dovish policy. Perhaps just something to be aware of. Just remember, it’s not a loss until you sell it. Right, SVB?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/12/11/year-federal-reserve-admitted-it-was-wrong/
