The Federal Reserve's “tea leaves” are under close scrutiny, and Bernanke's statements at the end of the two-day FOMC meeting will shed light on the vexed issue of stimulus withdrawal. But for now, the markets continue in the ups and downs of anticipation, and today was a positive day: the MSCI Asia Pacific regional index is up 1%, driven by Japan, where the Nikkei is comforted by the slight depreciation of the yen , which is climbing from 94 to 95.
The Japanese Ministry of Finance intends to restart the issuance of inflation-linked bonds, to intercept those savings that are (microeconomically) worried by a return of inflation; return that would instead be (macroeconomically) beneficial. However, the issue is of a modest amount (it is a question of testing the market), and is equal to 600 billion yen. The euro is still above 1,33 and gold is still between 1380 and 1390 $/ounce.
Oil, on the other hand, decidedly strengthened, remained above 97 $/b, confirming less concern about the fate of the real economy in general and of the demand for crude oil in particular.
