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Interest rate volatility contributed to higher mortgage rates in 2022
The Federal Reserve aggressively tightened monetary policy in 2022, responding to high and persistent inflation. The resulting borrowing cost increase for households and firms was generally anticipated. However, fixed-rate mortgage interest rates were especially sensitive to the policy regime change.
Discussion Paper
The Cleared Bilateral Repo Market and Proposed Repo Benchmark Rates
As described in a recent statement and blog post, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY), in cooperation with the Office of Financial Research (OFR), is considering the publication of several new benchmark rates for overnight Treasury general collateral repurchase agreement (repo) transactions in order to enhance market transparency and efficiency by improving the quality and breadth of repo market information available to the public. This note sheds light on another important segment of the overnight repo market – the segment of the bilateral repo market cleared by FICC – based on ...
Discussion Paper
How Competitive are U.S. Treasury Repo Markets?
The Treasury repo market is at the center of the U.S. financial system, serving as a source of secured funding as well as providing liquidity for Treasuries in the secondary market. Recently, results published by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) raised concerns that the repo market may be dominated by as few as four banks. In this post, we show that the secured funding portion of the repo market is competitive by demonstrating that trading is not concentrated overall and explaining how the pricing of inter-dealer repo trades is available to a wide range of market participants. By ...
Expanded central clearing would increase Treasury market resilience
The smooth functioning of markets for Treasury securities is critically important to the U.S. economy. The federal government relies on the sale of Treasuries to finance essential services, and the Federal Reserve uses Treasury markets to implement monetary policy.
Discussion Paper
The Dynamics of the U.S. Overnight Triparty Repo Market
The overnight segment of the triparty repurchase agreement (repo) market plays a pivotal role in the normal functioning of the U.S. financial system by acting as an important source of secured short-term funding and supporting the liquidity of key fixed income markets, including U.S. Treasury and agency securities. This over-the-counter market accounts for over $1 trillion in daily transactions and provides a unique venue in which a diverse set of market participants invest their cash as well as obtain short-term funding.
Commodity Financing Markets Shaken by Russian Invasion; Monitoring for U.S. Financial Stress
While volatility in commodity markets is not unusual, rapid and correlated price increases across many different types of commodities at once is much rarer.