The Latest Breaking News from Monetary Policy

Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks rallied Tuesday after China pledged to adopt a looser monetary policy to revive the stuttering economy, while Seoul rebounded after days of losses fuelled by the brief declaration of martial law by South Korea's president.

The retreat came on a tough day for Asian markets despite another record on Wall Street, though Hong Kong bounced in the afternoon after China said it would adopt a looser approach to monetary policy.

Unrelated to past cycles, global central banks are easing monetary policy despite strong economic growth, high asset prices, and elevated inflation, highlights Bob Elliott, the chief investment officer at Unlimited Funds. Elliott also presents the underlying data in a thread on X (formerly Twitter) that reiterates these conditions.

On Thursday night, after a whirlwind day in Canberra, the Senate finally passed the federal government’s long-delayed amendments to the Reserve Bank Act.

Long-stalled Reserve Bank reforms have finally got the go-ahead, allowing the formation of separate monetary policy and governance boards.

The U.S. Fed has cut the short-term Fed Funds Rate by 75 basis points since September 2024 and has told markets that more monetary policy easing is on the horizon. Meanwhile, longer-term rates continue to ignore the short-term rates as they climb to higher levels.

Clare Lombardelli said some recent UK economic data showed possible signs of weaker growth.

December S&P 500 E-Mini futures (ESZ24) are up +0.20%, and December Nasdaq 100 E-Mini futures (NQZ24) are up +0.09% this morning as investors looked ahead to a raft of U.S. economic data that could provide insights into the Federal Reserve’s decision-making on monetary policy.

December S&P 500 E-Mini futures (ESZ24) are up +0.04%, and December Nasdaq 100 E-Mini futures (NQZ24) are down -0.09% this morning as investors looked ahead to a raft of U.S. economic data that could provide insights into the Federal Reserve’s decision-making on monetary policy.