Fed Bank Offers Halloween Treat 

The Federal Reserve cut its target funds rate by 25 points between 1.5% to 1.75% at the last of its cycle. Halloween did arrive one day earlier.

Fed Bank Chairman Jerome Powell implied the bank would pause the cuts until the American economy further declines. If developments emerge, the Fed will respond accordingly.

The US Dollar went up to 98.00 as the highest point since October 17 but slipped back 0.3% at 97.37. Chile canceled the APEC Summit scheduled this November due to social unrest and protest in the country.

US President Donald Trump and Beijing counterpart Xi Jinping set to meet in Chile for a ceremonial Phase One signing. Both countries haven’t announced a change in plans or the location.

The USD/CNY exchange lowered by 0.17% at 7.0423.

Meanwhile, the USD/HKD exchange inched 0.04% lower at 7.8369. Multiple reports about the Hong Kong protests took its part in the city’s economic recession.

In Europe, GBP/USD gained 0.19% at 1.2920 when the British Parliament agreed to hold a snap election in December.

Down under, the Australian dollar rose against its American counterpart when it jumped 0.22% at 0.6917 from an earlier low.

Bank of Japan’s Second Halloween

Japan experienced its second but mild Halloween this year when the Bank of Japan maintained its present interest rate policies. However, this was only if their 2 percent inflation goal encounters backlash.

The BOJ voted to keep short-term interest rates at -0.1%, and their long-term rates remain at around 0.

The Japanese central bank lowered its inflation forecast for fiscal 2020 and 2021. They shifted the former from 1.1% to 1.3% while the latter changed from 1.5% to 1.6%.

Their exchange market is starting to decline. The CNY/JPY pair went up by 0.07 at 15.4328, and the USD/JPY exchange went down 0.2% to ¥108.66.

Fortunately, the Yen went up against the Korean Won by almost 0.1% at 10.7062.

Reports claim the BOJ is running out of policy tools to hit its inflation target.