Page 50 - Fomc News Today

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened slightly lower against the US dollar this morning as demand for the local currency moderated on the back of a stronger greenback, an economist said.

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds in the latest week, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting $3.247 billion of outflows, of that $1 billion was high-yield. ETFs are still seeing inflows.

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit continued to open lower against the US dollar as the greenback strengthened following the release of the United States (US) Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes, said an analyst. 

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds as the Investment Company Institute reported $4.5 billion of outflows in the week ending March 30.

The Minutes from the March 16th FOMC meeting were a bit stale, as almost all Fed speakers have been hawkish lately.

The Federal Reserve plans to shrink the balance sheet by $95 billion a minute, minutes from the March (FOMC) policy meeting revealed.

IS it the wrong time for aggressive United States interest rate hikes, as they could be hiking into stagflation or even recession?

The Federal Reserve is striking a more hawkish tone one week after the FOMC raised interest rates by 25 basis points for the first time since 2018.

Outflows continued, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting investors shed $1.503 billion from municipal bond mutual funds in the week, following outflows of $2.136 billion in the previous week. High-yield saw small inflows.

Muni performance has been strong as of late, and spreads have actually corrected after a month of gradual widening.