This morning we have heard a number of central bankers hold speeches. European Central Bank members, Coeure and Mersch, were the first to take the stage, then it was the turn for Clarida, who spoke in Zurich, hence the speech during the European session. Below are their comments:

ECB governing council member, Benoit Coeure

• We are committed to continuing QE for as long as necessary
• This is to reinforce the accommodative impact of our policy rates
• Could consider expanding access to ECB balance sheet

Coeure’s comments have the most flesh to chew in for forex traders. He said that “we” are committed to continue QE for as long as necessary. This seems pretty dovish, but depends on who he refers to by “we”. As we know, some ECB members, especially the Germans, don’t want further easing. As he goes on, he aims to reinforce the accommodative impact and they could consider expanding the balance sheet, which are also dovish comments.

ECB governing council member, Yves Mersch

• Central banks need well-defined, narrow mandates
• Independent monetary policy has brought important benefits to the economy
• Remains essential for us to continue fulfilling our mandate of price stability

Mersch doesn’t offer much in regards to the monetary policy. He is mainly concentrated on the central banks mandates. But, the second and third points do sound a bit dovish, since they might be directed to the Germans in the EU, telling them that the ECB is doing its own thing independently, referring to the monetary easing by the ECB in the previous meeting.

Fed vice chair, Richard Clarida, in Zurich

• Current framework has benefit of flexibility
• Advantage of current framework is that it provides the Fed with flexibility to assess a broad range of factors and information in choosing policy actions
• It is highly unlikely that in the next downturn, US 10-year yields will fall by the ~390 bps observed between June 2007 and July 2016

He is sort of hawkish on the bond yields. Remember that 2-year and 10-year bond yields were converging until a few months ago. But, he is content with where the FED is right now, which gives them room to maneuver both sides.