Market Information Thursday 1 August 2019

The Federal Reserve (Fed) reduced its policy interest rate for the first time in more than ten years. The Fed decided to decrease the official rate with 25 basis points to a bandwidth of 2.00% and 2.25%. The policy committee states that the US economy has been performing well, however there are concerns about inflation and economic growth. The policy committee does not exclude any further decrease of its policy interest rate.

Eurostat reports that the unemployment rate in the Eurozone in June decreased to 7.5%. In May, the unemployment rate was 7.6%. The unemployment rate in the Eurozone has not been this low since July 2008. In the European Union, the unemployment rate in June was 6.3%.

Additionally, Eurostat reports that inflation in the Eurozone in July decreased to 1.1% on an annual basis. In June, inflation was 1.3%. The inflation rate in June is the lowest inflation reported since the beginning of 2018. The inflation reported was according to the expectations of economists.

According to market researcher Institute for Supply Management (ISU), the activity in the industry in and around the American city Chicago decreased in June compared to the month before. The purchasing managers index decreased from 49.7 in June to 44.4 in July.

The 6M Euribor decreased with 1 basis point to -0.36% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap decreased with 4 basis points to 0.01% compared to previous business day.

In the attachment, today’s market data on money and capital market rates as well as other rates are presented.