During this week's central-bank meetings, the US FOMC left the federal funds rate unchanged, the ECB also held rates steady, and the Bank of Japan decided to maintain its current policy stance. The Reserve Bank of Australia raised rates, while reports emerged that ECB President Lagarde would leave office.
At this week's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the federal funds rate, the policy rate, was left unchanged at 3.75–4.0%, its first hold in two meetings. At the previous meeting in September, the FOMC had raised rates by 0.25 percentage points, but decided against an additional hike.
The European Central Bank (ECB) also decided to leave its policy rate unchanged, maintaining its tightening stance to contain inflation. It was announced that President Lagarde would leave office on 7 February 2027. Some analysts believe political uncertainty will increase in light of France's presidential election next spring.
The Bank of Japan decided by majority vote at its monetary policy meeting to maintain its current policy stance, saying that underlying inflation was at a level consistent with the 2% target. It also referred to a policy of accelerating the pace of ETF sales.
In Australia, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised its policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.85% on 3 November. The September consumer price index had accelerated to 4.3% year on year, marking a phase in which efforts to contain inflation are intensifying.