Global Bond Rout Puts Australia’s Central Bank on Front Line
Bloomberg 2/25/2021 Michael Heath and Emily Barrett
(Bloomberg) Bond traders keep probing the limits of central banks’ patience, and nowhere is that clearer than in Australia, where policy makers are struggling to defend their yield target.
The Reserve Bank of Australia bought A$5 billion ($4 billion) of bonds Thursday, matching the record last March when it began quantitative easing. That eventually brought the targeted three-year yield down, but only after it hit a two-month high. A selloff that began in New Zealand also widened to Treasuries and Japanese debt, as the world’s sovereign bonds head for their worst month since April 2018.
(Bloomberg) Bond traders keep probing the limits of central banks’ patience, and nowhere is that clearer than in Australia, where policy makers are struggling to defend their yield target. The Reserve Bank of Australia bought A$5 billion ($4 billion) of bonds Thursday, matching the record last March when it began quantitative easing. That eventually brought the targeted three-year yield down, but only after it hit a two-month high. A selloff.
Global Bond Rout Puts Australia’s Central Bank on Front Line
Bloomberg 2/25/2021 Michael Heath and Emily Barrett
(Bloomberg) Bond traders keep probing the limits of central banks’ patience, and nowhere is that clearer than in Australia, where policy makers are struggling to defend their yield target.
The Reserve Bank of Australia bought A$5 billion ($4 billion) of bonds Thursday, matching the record last March when it began quantitative easing. That eventually brought the targeted three-year yield down, but only after it hit a two-month high. A selloff that began in New Zealand also widened to Treasuries and Japanese debt, as the world’s sovereign bonds head for their worst month since April 2018.
Hong Kong Gives HK$120 Billion Boost to Economic Recovery
Bloomberg 2/24/2021 Eric Lam
(Bloomberg) Hong Kong gave consumers a boost with spending vouchers and loans for the unemployed, while hitting investors with a planned tax hike on stock trading.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan outlined HK$120 billion ($15.5 billion) of fiscal support in his budget Wednesday to spur consumption and ease joblessness in an economy that’s slowly recovering after two years of recession. To boost revenue, he proposed raising the stamp duty on trading to 0.13% from 0.1%, sparking a selloff in equities.
Chan said the focus of the budget is on stabilizing an economy hit by political and social unrest in 2019 and then the coronavirus pandemic last year. After a record contraction of 6.1% last year, the economy will grow in a range of 3.5%-5.5% in 2021, he said.
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