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Bank of England Interest Rate Announcements and the Foreign Exchange Market

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Melvin

    (BlackRock)

  • Christian Saborowski

    (World Bank and Department of Economics, University of Warwick)

  • Michael Sager

    (Department of Economics, University of Warwick and Wellington Management)

  • Mark P. Tayor

    (Warwick Business School and Centre for Economic Policy Research)

Abstract

Since 1997, the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has met monthly to set the UK policy interest rate. Using a Markov-switching framework that incorporates endogenous transition probabilities, we examine intraday, five-minute return data for evidence of systematic patterns in exchange rate movements on MPC policy announcement days. We find evidence for non-linear regime switching between a high-volatility, informed trading state and a low volatility, liquidity trading state. MPC surprise announcements are shown to significantly affect the probability that the market enters and remains within the informed trading regime, with some limited evidence of market positioning just prior to the announcement.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Melvin & Christian Saborowski & Michael Sager & Mark P. Tayor, 2010. "Bank of England Interest Rate Announcements and the Foreign Exchange Market," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 6(3), pages 211-247, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:ijc:ijcjou:y:2010:q:3:a:7
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ehrmann, Michael & Talmi, Jonathan, 2020. "Starting from a blank page? Semantic similarity in central bank communication and market volatility," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 48-62.
    3. Rosa, Carlo, 2013. "Market efficiency broadcasted live: ECB code words and euro exchange rates," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 38(PB), pages 167-178.
    4. Besma Hamdi & Sami Hammami, 2018. "The Crisis of Sovereign Debt in the Euro Zone: Effect on the Banking Sector," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(3), pages 822-832, September.
    5. Georgios Chortareas & Menelaos Karanasos & Emmanouil Noikokyris, 2019. "Quantitative Easing And The Uk Stock Market: Does The Bank Of England Information Dissemination Strategy Matter?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 57(1), pages 569-583, January.
    6. Donato Masciandaro & Davide Romelli & Gaia Rubera, 2021. "Monetary policy and financial markets: evidence from Twitter traffic," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 21160, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    7. Lukas Menkhoff & Mark P. Taylor, 2007. "The Obstinate Passion of Foreign Exchange Professionals: Technical Analysis," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(4), pages 936-972, December.
    8. Ehrmann, Michael & Osbat, Chiara & Stráský, Jan & Uusküla, Lenno, 2014. "The euro exchange rate during the European sovereign debt crisis – Dancing to its own tune?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(PB), pages 319-339.
    9. Guo, Junjie & Guo, Yumei & Miao, Shan & Pang, Xin, 2021. "An investigation of semantic similarity in PBOC’s communication on RMB volatility," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 441-455.
    10. Hoda SELIM, 2010. "Fear of Floating and Exchange Rate Pass-Through to Inflation in Egypt," EcoMod2010 259600151, EcoMod.
    11. Carlo Rosa, 2012. "How "unconventional" are large-scale asset purchases? The impact of monetary policy on asset prices," Staff Reports 560, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    12. S. Rubun Dey & Christopher J. Neely, 2010. "A survey of announcement effects on foreign exchange returns," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 92(Sep), pages 417-464.
    13. Christopher J. Neely, 2011. "A survey of announcement effects on foreign exchange volatility and jumps," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 93(Sep), pages 361-385.
    14. Cyril May & Greg Farrell & Jannie Rossouw, 2018. "Do Monetary Policy Announcements Affect Exchange Rate Returns and Volatility of Returns? Some Evidence from High‐Frequency Intra‐Day South African Data," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 86(3), pages 308-338, September.
    15. Donato Masciandaro & Davide Romelli & Gaia Rubera, 2020. "Tweeting on Monetary Policy and Market Sentiments: The Central Bank Surprise Index," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 20134, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    16. Brzeszczyński, Janusz & Kutan, Ali M., 2015. "Public information arrival and investor reaction during a period of institutional change: An episode of early years of a newly independent central bank," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 727-753.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange

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