Sydney Morning Herald 9/29/26

Australian borrowers could face a run of rate hikes after RBA governor Michele Bullock warned an economic downturn may be needed if politicians and businesses failed to shake the nation’s productivity malaise.

The bank lifted rates to a 15-year high of 4.6 per cent on Tuesday and its monetary policy board struck a hawkish tone flagging more increases could be on the way if inflation figures to be released on Wednesday remained “unacceptably high”. While split on previous decisions, the board was unanimous in backing a fourth rate rise this year.

Bloomberg 9/24/26

The Swiss franc dipped to the lows of the
day versus the euro after the SNB kept its policy rate at 0% as
expected and changed its wording on FX intervention:

*SNB: WILLINGNESS TO INTERVENE IN FX MARKETS IF NEEDED
*SNB DROPS ‘INCREASED WILLINGNESS’ WORDING FROM FX
STATEMENT

Bloomberg 9/29/26

Australia’s central bank resumed raising
interest rates on Tuesday, judging it couldn’t wait any longer
to respond to rising energy costs and resilient domestic demand
that threaten to intensify inflationary pressures.
The Reserve Bank’s board lifted the cash rate to 4.6% from
4.35%, taking rates to the highest level in
about 15 years. The nine-member policy committee voted
unanimously to deliver its fourth hike this year, saying firms
are experiencing cost pressures and either increasing prices or
looking to do so.

Financial Review 9/16/26

Washington | The Federal Reserve raised interest rates and flagged further increases in borrowing costs in coming months, with new US central bank chief Kevin Warsh joining a unanimous decision that effectively acknowledges the Trump administration’s inability so far to control inflation.

New policy projections showed 16 of 18 policymakers anticipate at least one more quarter-percentage-point hike by the end of this year, with only two of them seeing rates remaining stable from here. Warsh apparently again did not submit a rate projection.

Wall Street Journal — WASHINGTON 9/16/26

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates Wednesday for the first time in three years, a sharp reversal that began taking back cuts it made last year and implicitly undercut the White House’s insistence that inflation isn’t a concern.

The increase, approved unanimously, will raise the benchmark federal-funds rate range by a quarter point to between 3.75% and 4%. The vast majority of officials penciled in one more hike this year in interest-rate projections released after their meeting.

Bloomberg 9/17/26

The Bank of England held interest rates at
3.75% while warning that a hike may be needed if inflationary
pressures intensify as a result of conflict in the Middle East.
Six rate-setters chose to leave rates unchanged, including
Governor Andrew Bailey, as the Monetary Policy Committee split
along the same lines as the last meeting in July.
In prepared remarks, Bailey said the global energy shock
has so far had a limited effect on prices and wages in the UK.
“But the longer this volatility persists, the bigger the impact
it will have on inflation, and the more likely it is we will
need to raise Bank rate,” the governor added.

Bloomberg Economics 9/2/26

The Bank of Canada’s rate hold Wednesday was widely expected, but the hawkish tone of the statement reflecting a new assessment of risks amid the trade war with the US. The central bank is comfortable remaining accommodative for now, with the standoff creating a new tariff shock that could add to labor-market volatility.

• The Governing Council held the overnight rate target at 2.25% for a seventh straight meeting.
• The statement noted that “with the Middle East conflict still ongoing and little progress reopening the Strait of Hormuz, upside risks to the Bank’s inflation forecast have increased.” That’s a material change from the July statement, with the central bank now explicitly questioning when energy prices will normalize.

Dow Jones – SYDNEY 8/11/26

The Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged on Tuesday but continued to warn that inflation remains too high, especially against the backdrop of war in the Middle East.

The RBA left the official cash rate on hold at 4.35%, in line with economists’ expectations. It raised the OCR three times earlier this year, with the impact of those decisions still flowing through to the economy.

The RBA’s nine-member policy-setting board voted unanimously to keep interest rates on hold.

“The board remains focused on ensuring that high inflation does not become embedded,” the board said in a statement.

Bloomberg 7/31/26

The Bank of Japan held its policy rate
steady and signaled the possibility of a move in September after
government officials took the rare step of wading back into the
curren

Bloomberg 7/30/26

UK government bonds rallied after Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey sought to dampen speculation that the central bank was preparing to raise interest rates soon.

• The yield on two-year gilts fell 10bps to 4.34%, the biggest daily fall since June 12
• Traders have trimmed bets for rate rises with markets pricing 32 bps of hikes through year-end, down from 38bps earlier in the day
• “Please do not leave this room thinking that the Bank of England is edging toward a hike because there is nothing in what I said or any of us have said along those lines,” Bailey told reporters after the BOE kept rates steady

Politico US 7/29/26

The Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to keep interest rates steady in a fractured decision that showed growing support within the central bank for a rate hike to fight elevated inflation.

Three officials — Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan — dissented from the move, arguing that the central bank should have raised borrowing costs instead by a quarter of a percentage point.

Bloomberg 7/30/26

The Bank of England kept interest rates steady at 3.75%, as UK officials sought to balance the threat from resurgent US-Iran tensions against signs that domestic price pressures are easing more quickly than predicted.

The Monetary Policy Committee voted six-three in favor of leaving rates unchanged, with Chief Economist Huw Pill and external members Megan Greene and Catherine Mann voting for a quarter-point increase, minutes from its meeting showed on Thursday. Only Pill and Greene had supported immediate action in June.

Bloomberg 7/13/26

Money market pricing on Monday suggests traders boosted their wagers for a July quarter-point rate increase after a spate of fresh US strikes on Iran. The pricing reflected a 50% possibility of a hike, from less than 40% earlier in the session, as Fed Governor Christopher Waller said policymakers may need to raise rates if underlying inflation continues to signal broad price pressures.

Wall Street Journal 7/13/26

Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller said Monday an interest-rate hike should be on the table if this week’s inflation data show price pressures remaining firm, his clearest signal yet that he could back a rate increase this summer.

Waller cited the rise in “core” inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, and, notably, said the rise predated the spike in energy prices this March from the Iran war. He said he was “determined to avoid repeating” the Fed’s 2021 mistake of responding too late to rising prices. “If we get another hot reading on core inflation this week, then the [Fed] will need to consider tightening monetary policy in the near term,” he said.

Bloomberg 7/15/26

The Bank of Canada held interest rates steady for a sixth consecutive meeting as policymakers see the economy rebounding and oil price-driven inflation fading.

Officials led by Governor Tiff Macklem kept the policy rate at 2.25% on Wednesday, matching expectations of economists in a Bloomberg survey and traders in overnight swap markets.

“After a year of weakness, Canada’s economy is showing signs of improvement,” the bank said in its monetary policy report. “Growth is expected to pick up, and inflation eases gradually from its recent peak. Uncertainty is still high.”

Bloomberg 7/23/26

European Central Bank officials are prepared to raise borrowing costs in September unless the euro-zone inflation outlook improves markedly, people familiar with the situation said.

Based on today’s information and data, in particular on the Middle East conflict and its economic fallout, it’s likely that another quarter-point increase will be needed to contain consumer-price pressures, said the people, asking not to be identified because discussions on the matter are private.

They stressed that nothing has been decided and the situation can change quickly, especially if there’s progress toward a peace deal or a more severe economic downturn materializes, a stance in line with the institution’s “meeting-by-meeting” approach.

Bloomberg 7/31/26

* Ueda’s somewhat hawkish comments spurred traders to boost
their rate hike bets. Chances of a September increase have risen
to about 40% versus 21% the day before, overnight index swaps
show. Japan’s Topix index closed 1.3% higher, while Japanese
bond futures were little changed.

Wall Street Journal 6/17/26

Federal Reserve officials signaled Wednesday that their next move may be to raise interest rates, not cut them, a striking reversal at Kevin Warsh’s first meeting as chairman and a sign of how sharply the inflation outlook has turned.

The Fed held its benchmark rate steady, in a range of 3.5% to 3.75%, in a unanimous vote. But officials’ quarterly economic projections told the story of the shift: Nine of 19 officials penciled in at least one rate increase by year’s end, up from none in March. Just one foresaw a cut, down from 12.

Investors had braced in recent weeks for a higher-for-longer posture from the Fed, but this was sharper and reflected a committee inching from a watchful hold toward readiness to raise rates.

Bloomberg 6/16/26

The Bank of Japan raised its benchmark
interest rate to the highest since 1995 and pledged more hikes
to come, fueling speculation of another move before the end of
the year.

Bloomberg 6/16/26

Australia’s central bank kept open the
possibility of further policy tightening on Tuesday after
leaving its key interest rate unchanged, as Governor Michele
Bullock argued that inflation could still go either way.
The Reserve Bank’s nine-member board unanimously held the
cash rate at 4.35%, its first pause of the year, in response to
signs that a trio of hikes are beginning to weigh on the
economy.