FOMC: All Eyes on the US Central Bank Today – Danske Bank
FOMC: All Eyes on the US Central Bank Today – Danske Bank
Research Team at Danske Bank, suggests that the key event today is the
FOMC meeting, which is set to conclude with merely a statement (no press
conference or projections).
Key Quotes
“We
expect the Fed to maintain the target range at 0.25-0.50% in line with
both consensus and market pricing, see FOMC preview: June hike unlikely
as Yellen emphasises downside risks, 25 April. Although financial stress
has eased and China has stabilised, we think the dovish members are
likely to maintain a cautious approach and indeed, Fed chair Yellen
emphasised downside risks in her last speech. The big question is
whether the Fed will keep the door open for a June rise or not: as the
pickup in inflation has not 'proved durable' and growth has slowed in
Q1, we think it will be too early for the Fed to do so today.
In
the euro zone, we will get data for money supply and bank lending in
March, which we expect to continue the latest positive trend. Besides
being a key indicator for economic growth, we note that bank lending is
now an important factor for the ECB's TLTRO II loans, as it determines
whether banks will have a negative or zero interest rate on the loans.
Also
watch out for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand meeting, albeit both we
and consensus look for rates to be kept unchanged at 2.25% tonight.”
