1) 35 central banks hiked interest rates 89 times this year
Central banks are pushing for rate hikes in many countries amid economic recovery and rising inflation rate. Romania, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru are among the countries that raised their policy rates this week. There are a total of 89 interest rate hikes since January 2021 from 35 central banks across the globe.
2) ECB bond purchase could end as early as next September
The European Central Bank (ECB) could stop buying bonds as early as next September if inflation looks to have sustainably returned to the official target, Governing Council member Robert Holzmann said.
“So the elimination of the condition and therefore the end of the programme could – depending on the inflation development – happen in September or at the end of the year,” he said.
3) Dollar hit 16-month high amid rising inflation rate
The dollar rose on Thursday to a 16-month high a day after the announcement of the strongest inflation rate in more than three decades by the U.S. government at 6.2% growth YoY in October.
4) OPEC cut global oil demand forecast in 4Q21
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Thursday cut its forecast of global oil demand for the fourth quarter of 2021 as high energy prices curb the recovery from COVID-19 and delay the timeline for a return to pre-pandemic levels of oil use until later in 2022. OPEC expected oil demand to average 99.49 million barrels per day (bpd) in 4Q21, representing a drop of 330,000 bpd from the previous forecast last month.
