Foreign exchange market intervention and price discovery

This paper studies the role of foreign exchange market intervention in the price discovery process of the USD–JPY market. Using the tick-by-tick bid and ask quotes from the Electronic Broking Services (EBS), we find that Japanese official intervention affects the relative contributions of bid and ask quotes to price discovery of the USD–JPY exchange rate. The empirical results show that bid quotes usually respond to information more promptly than ask quotes, as measured by information share on a daily basis. The asymmetry in price-discovery efficacy of bid and ask quotes, however, declines in magnitude on days in which Japanese monetary authorities intervene in the USD–JPY market.     

Do Financial Market Variables Show Indicator Properties Relative to Exchange Rate Returns?

This paper assesses the contemporaneous indicator properties of financial market variables relative to movements in six major developed country currency pairs. As indicator variables changes in various relative asset prices, short-term portfolio flows and currency options data are used. We find that changes in equity index differentials, short-term speculative flows and risk reversals on currency options prices exhibit consistent indicator properties for several currency pairs. Since 1999, changes in short-term interest rate differentials have gained importance as indicators. The best indicator variables explain over 50 per cent of monthly returns of the USD/EUR and GBP/USD exchange rates and over 60 per cent of the appreciation and depreciation episodes of the USD/EUR and JPY/EUR currency pairs. JEL no. F31, F32, G15, C35     

Central bank intervention and exchange rate volatility: Evidence from Japan using realized volatility

This paper presents new empirical evidence on the effectiveness of Bank of Japan's foreign exchange interventions on the daily realized volatility of USD/JPY exchange rates using high frequency data. Following Huang and Tauchen (2005) and Barndorff-Nielsen and Shephard, 2004, Barndorff-Nielsen and Shephard, 2006, we use bi-power variation to decompose daily realized volatility into two components: the smooth persistent and the discontinuous jump components. We model exchange rate returns, the different components of realized volatility and the central bank intervention using a system of simultaneous equations. We find strong support that interventions by Bank of Japan had increased both the continuous and the jump components of daily realized volatility. This suggests that the interventions by Bank of Japan had increased market volatility which not only caused short-lived positive jumps, but were also persistent over time. We did not find any evidence that interventions were effective in influencing the exchange rate returns for the entire sample period.     

Application of the Tobit model with autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity for foreign exchange market interventions

In this empirical study, we apply the Tobit-GARCH model to investigate the intervention function of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) in the JPY/USD exchange market. The proposed model has the advantage of handling intervention data with both a majority of zero observations and conditional heteroscedasticity. Thus, the model provides better estimates of the intervention function than such conventional models as the standard Tobit, OLS, Probit, and traditional GARCH models. Results show that the intervention behavior of the BoJ is affected more by its half-year long-term target than its previous-day short-term target, and the BoJ generally follows the policy of “leaning against the wind”. The US-JP interest rate spread was never a trigger of BoJ's interventions during the sample period. The BoJ did not respond to the domestic stock index by the sales-intervention of the JPY, even when the economy was sluggish during the lost decade (1992–2004). However, its intervention behavior was significantly affected by U.S. interventions and was significantly persistent across some of the periods.     

Re‐pegging the renminbi to a basket: issues and implications

On 19 June 2010, the Chinese authorities announced that the renminbi (RMB) was henceforth to be managed with reference to a currency basket. Yet, it has subsequently quite closely followed the USD, although having appreciated gradually by 7.7 per cent up to the time of writing. The details of the composition of the basket have not been announced. Despite having appreciated against the USD, the RMB became first significantly weaker against a broad trade‐weighted basket, and the EUR and the JPY, and this situation held until September 2011. China has announced at international forums that the RMB exchange rate regime will be reformed further. We discuss here what a transparent basket peg could mean for China. To reduce the overall volatility of the RMB exchange rate, the weight for the EUR should be significantly increased, with the special drawing right basket being one option for practical implementation. This would also have a positive impact on the EU. China's currency reform has possible implications for its USD‐dominated asset holdings. Reducing them could trigger a further depreciation of the USD. The potentially costly consequences call for new rules for the global financial architecture. However, China's economic expansion will inevitably lead to a diminishing international role for the USD.     

FX intervention in the Yen-US dollar market: a coordination channel perspective

The coordination channel has recently been established as an additional means by which foreign exchange market intervention may be effective. It is conjectured that strong and persistent misalignments of the exchange rate are caused by a coordination failure among fundamentals-based traders. In such situations official intervention may act as a coordinating signal, encouraging traders to engage in stabilizing speculation. We apply the framework developed in Reitz and Taylor (Eur Econ Rev 52(1), 55?C76 2008) to daily data on the yen-US dollar exchange rate and on Federal Reserve and Japanese Ministry of Finance intervention operations. The results provide further support for the coordination channel of intervention effectiveness.     

Volatility expectations and asymmetric effects of direct interventions in the FX market

In this paper, I investigate the effects of central bank interventions (CBI) on ex-ante exchange rate volatility. I measure volatility expectations by implied volatilities estimated from at-the-money currency options prices. Using a Markov switching model, I estimate the effects of CBI which depend on market conditions. The results suggest that the effects of CBI depend on the prevailing volatility regime. It is found that CBI on the DEM–USD market were not necessarily destabilizing after the Louvre Agreement when expected volatility was relatively high.     

Asymmetries and state dependence: The impact of macro surprises on intraday exchange rates

This paper investigates the possible asymmetric response of 5-min intraday JPY/USD exchange rates to macroeconomic news announcements during 1999–2006 when the Japanese money market interest rate was effectively zero. This period provides a unique institutional setting when interest rates may rise but not decline, thereby constraining both endogenous policy reactions to news and private market expectations. Asymmetric responses to news, to the extent that they are important in exchange rate markets as they are in equity markets, would seem particularly likely to be evident during this period. We consider several ways asymmetric responses may be manifested and linked to macroeconomic news during this unusual period. We assess whether the intraday exchange rate responds differently depending on whether the news is emanating from Japan or the US; we consider the state of the business cycle; and we distinguish between “good” and “bad” news.     

A structural break in the effects of Japanese foreign exchange intervention on yen/dollar exchange rate volatility

We study the impact of Japanese foreign exchange intervention on the volatility of the yen/dollar exchange rate since the early 1990’s in a GARCH framework with interventions as exogenous variables. Using daily intervention data provided by the Japanese Ministry of Finance, we show that the effect of interventions varies over time. From 1991 up to the late 1990’s, Japanese foreign exchange intervention is associated with an increase in volatility of the yen/dollar exchange rate. After the year 1997, Japanese foreign exchange intervention correlates with reductions in exchange rate volatility. This can be explained by the fact that Japanese foreign exchange intervention remained quasi unsterilized in the liquidity trap.

The informational content of implied volatility: Application to the USD/JPY exchange rates

This paper tests the information content of the Japanese Yen Implied Volatility Index (JYVIX) regarding the future volatility of USD/JPY exchange rates. We find that JYVIX contains significant information about future volatility, and it even has incremental predictive power over the traditional GARCH-Type models. Implicitly, JYVIX as a looking-forward index provides better forecasts on conditional volatility rather than realized volatility. Our analysis further shows that the forecastability of the GARCH-Type model combined with JYVIX is more credible than these individual models. Specifically, the EGARCH model combined with the exogenous variable JYVIX outperforms all prediction models. Our findings provide a better prediction approach to the volatility of USD/JPY exchange rates, which has far-reaching significance for risk management in Asian economies.     

Modeling coordinated foreign exchange market interventions: The case of the Japanese and U.S. interventions in the 1990s

During the past thirty years, central banks often intervened in foreign exchange markets. Sometimes they carried out foreign exchange market interventions on a unilateral basis. However, central banks often coordinated their foreign exchange market interventions. We develop a quantitative reaction function model that renders it possible to study the factors that made central banks switch from unilateral to coordinated interventions. We apply our model to the intervention policies of the Japanese monetary authorities and the U.S. Federal Reserve in the yen/U.S. dollar market during the period 1991–2001. To this end, we use recently released official data on the foreign exchange market interventions of the Japanese monetary authorities. JEL no. F31, F33, G14, G15     

The rise of Renminbi in Asia: Evidence from Network Analysis and SWIFT dataset

The rise of Renminbi (RMB) is one of the significant changes of the international monetary system since the 2008 global financial crisis. Through its economic influence in trade and direct investment, China has promoted the international use of RMB in both the global market and the regional market of East Asia. This paper documents the progress of RMB internationalization with the settlement currency information from the SWIFT dataset. Specifically, we conduct a network analysis to study the spillover effects among USD, EUR, GBP, JPY and RMB. From October 2010 to February 2018, the influence of RMB is found to be minimal in the global market, but dominant within ASEAN+3, especially for transactions related with real economy. These results indicate that RMB has become an influential regional currency, but it remains far from a truly international currency with global prominence.     

Central bank intervention and exchange rate dynamics: A rationale for the regime-switching process of exchange rates

By proposing a stochastic intervention model of exchange rate determination, this paper provides an alternative rationale for the success of the Markov-switching model in explaining exchange rate dynamics. One extreme case is a pure floating rate model while the other extreme one is a driftless random walk model. The relation between the exchange rate and the future fundamentals under a non-intervention state is looser than the one under a pure floating exchange regime. This article also provides a method for detecting a central bank's interventions when intervention data are not available. Applying the stochastic intervention model to the monthly NT$/US$ exchange rates in 1989M1–2004M6, we find that it outperforms both the pure floating rate model and the random walk model in terms of the likelihood value and the diagnostic test of heteroscedasticity. In addition, with the constructed intervention state index in this article, the estimation of the stochastic intervention model is found to be consistent with the hypothesis that the regime switches of exchange rates are due to a central bank's (non-)interventions. J. Japanese Int. Economies 21 (1) (2007) 64–77.     

Effects of the Bank of Japan's intervention on yen/dollar exchange rate volatility

This paper examines the effects of the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) intervention on the volatility as well as the level of the yen/dollar exchange rate. Specifically, the conventional GARCH model proposed by Bollerslev [Bollerslev, T., 1986. Generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity. J. Econometrics 31, 307–327] and the component GARCH model proposed by Engle and Lee [Engle, R.F., Lee, G.G.J., 1999. A long-run and short-run component model of stock return volatility. In: Engle, R., White, H. (Eds.), Cointegration, Causality and Forecasting. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, UK, pp. 475–497], where the volatility consists of short-run and long-run components, are estimated using the BOJ's and the Federal Reserve system's (Fed's) official intervention data. Results based on the component GARCH model provide new evidence on the effects of the BOJ's intervention on the volatility of the yen/dollar exchange rate. The BOJ's intervention only reduces the short-run volatility component from the late 1990s to 2003, while it does not have an impact on volatility (both the short- and long-run volatilities) at all in the early 1990s. The stabilizing effect of the BOJ's intervention in the late 1990s and the first few years of the 2000s is not enhanced by the Fed's coordinated intervention. J. Japanese Int. Economies 20 (1) (2006) 99–111.     

人民币汇率形成机制的实证研究(2006～2011)

本文在构建两个关于人民币汇率形成机制假说的基础上,利用TARCH模型和篮子货币模型实证研究了人民币汇率的形成机制,得出了人民币汇率交易价格的市场化程度偏低和人民币汇率依旧是钉住美元进行调节的两个结论。据此,我们认为人民币汇率形成机制改革方向应该是减少对外汇市场交易的干预和参照篮子货币调节汇率。     

Testing for cointegration with threshold effect between stock prices and exchange rates in Japan and Taiwan

This paper empirically investigates the exchange rate effects of the New Taiwan dollar against the Japanese Yen (NTD/JPY) on stock prices in Japan and Taiwan from January 1991 to Mach 2008. Our study employs the newly threshold error-correction model (TECM) elaborated by Enders and Granger [Enders, W., Granger, C.W.F., 1998. Unit-root tests and asymmetric adjustment with an example using the term structure of interest rates. Journal of Business Economics & Statistics 16, 304–311] and Enders and Siklos [Enders, W., Siklos, P.L., 2001. Cointegration and threshold adjustment. Journal of Business Economics & Statistics 19, 166–176], assuming the nature of the relationship between the variables is on the basis of non-linearity. The empirical evidence suggests that there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between NTD/JPY and the stock prices of Japan and Taiwan during the time period investigated. However, an asymmetric threshold cointegration relationship only exists in Taiwan’s financial market. Furthermore, we extend our research by taking into account the effect of the U.S. exchange rate specifically on Taiwan’s financial market. This research also finds a long-term equilibrium and asymmetric causal relationships between NTD/USD and the stock prices of Taiwan. In addition, the results of TECM Granger-Causality tests show that no short-run causal relationship exists between the two financial assets considered for both countries’ cases. However, in the long run a positive causal relationship running from either the Japan or U.S. exchange rate to the stock prices of Taiwan strongly argues for the traditional approach.     

Heterogeneity in the persistence of relative prices: What do the Japanese cities tell us?

This paper employs diverse measures of persistence to analyze the convergence speed of intercity relative prices in Japan using consumer price subindices during 1970–2002. Regardless of the persistence measures, the median estimated half-lives are found to be less than two years in the vast majority of CPI items considered, which is compatible with economic models based on price rigidities. However, there exists a large heterogeneity in the persistence not just between tradable and nontradable items as is widely known, but within the categories of tradables or nontradables. The heterogeneity is substantive across cities in each CPI item as well. Our findings are robust to a subsample analysis though it points toward a presence of structural change around 1985. We conjecture that the extent of heterogeneity across CPI items is linked to the degree of tradability and market structure, while physical distance and relative city size may play some roles in the heterogeneity across cities. J. Japanese Int. Economies 21 (2) (2007) 260–286.     

Central Bank Intervention and Heterogeneous Exchange Rate Expectations: Evidence from the Daily DEM/US-Dollar Exchange Rate

In this paper we propose a generalisation of the noise trader transmission mechanism to examine the impact of central bank intervention on exchange rates. Within a heterogeneous expectation exchange rate model intervention operations are supposed to provide support for chartist or fundamentalist forecasts, which forces portfolio managers to adjust their foreign currency positions. The empirical examination of the hypothesis is done by applying a Markov regime-switching approach to daily DEM/US-dollar exchange rates and intervention data of the Deutsche Bundesbank and the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1992. It is shown that chartists profits rose whenever these central banks intervened on the foreign exchange market. This is not true for those who follow a fundamentalist approach.JEL Classification Numbers: F31, C32, E58, G15     

What has foreign exchange market intervention since the Plaza Agreement accomplished?

We review the conduct and scale of official intervention by monetary authorities in the U.S.A., Japan, and West Germany since the Plaza Agreement. Relative to trading volume and the stock of internatonally traded assets denominated in foreign currencies, intervention is small-scale and sporadic, hence at best limited to transitory effects. It does not appear to reduce volatility of daily exchange rates. Monetary authorities gamble that they will not suffer losses on their foreign currency holdings. Evidence in favor of sterilized foreign exchange market intervention as a way of conveying information to the private sector is far from convincing. Since changes in relative monetary growth rates are sufficient to alter bilateral exchange rates, monetary authorities can achieve their exchange rate preferences with domestic monetary policy, but at the cost of possible distortionary effects on monetary growth rates, domestic interest rates, and international capital flows.     

Impact of Macroeconomic Announcements on Foreign Exchange Volatility: Evidence from South Africa

This study focuses on scheduled macroeconomic news announcements and evaluates their impact on the volatility of the South African rand (ZAR) and US dollar (USD) exchange rate using high frequency data. The following asymmetries are studied: news items by geographical location, no‐news vs. surprise news announcements and positive vs. negative news announcements. We make the following findings in our empirical study: (i) After the release of a news announcement, the level of foreign exchange volatility rises. This is independent of whether the news item surprised the market or not. (ii) Both South African and US news items significantly impact USD/ZAR volatility, suggesting that the news items are being used to formulate investor expectations regarding the future prospects of the currency pair. (iii) Negative news appears to have a greater impact on exchange rate volatility relative to positive news. This result is also state dependent, as investors tend to behave differently to news depending on the economic climate at that point in time. Investor cognitive biases give rise to the asymmetric news effects on exchange rate volatility. Finally, investors do not always act in rational manner, especially when faced with multiple news items that are contradictory to each other.