(Reuters) – The bond market is in a “bubble,” particularly sovereign debt, Guggenheim Partners global chief investment officer Scott Minerd warned on Thursday, and he said that efforts by the Federal Reserve to head off a recession by cutting interest rates wi... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Global equity markets rose on Monday on signs that major economies would look to prop up stalling growth with fresh stimulus measures, easing pressure on bonds and dampening demand for perceived safe-havens such as gold. Hopes of government ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump and top White House officials dismissed concerns that economic growth may be faltering, saying on Sunday they saw little risk of recession despite a volatile week on global bond markets, and insisting their tr... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British working-age households are growing more cautious about making major purchases amid concerns about Brexit and a possible recession, a monthly consumer survey showed on Monday. The IHS Markit Household Finance Index dropped to a three-... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s announcement of key interest rate reforms over the weekend has fueled expectations of an imminent reduction in corporate borrowing costs in the struggling economy, boosting share prices on Monday. The People’s Bank of China... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s central bank is expected to keep interest rates on hold on Aug. 15 while signaling that a hike will likely follow later this year amid solid growth, above-target inflation and currency weakness, a Reuters poll of economists showed. De... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – 1/ READY FOR A SCARY EURO ZONE GDP SHOW? Fears of a major downturn in euro zone powerhouse Germany grew this week following “scary” industrial output figures for June and reports due over the coming week that will hold those concerns up to t... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – It has become a jarring and frequent contradiction. President Donald Trump blames the Federal Reserve for putting the U.S. economy at risk while data shows an economy in “reasonably good” shape, as the head of the central bank recently s... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China is unlikely to face serious consequences from the Trump administration’s decision to label it a currency manipulator given the apparent lack of G7 and IMF support for the move, former and current U.S. and G7 officials said. The U.S... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury yields rose on Friday amid confusion over the United States policy on trade with China, while political turmoil in Italy compounded investor concerns, capping a volatile week in the bond market. Treasury yields fell for a sec... More »
(Reuters) – Traders and analysts are considering whether U.S. bond yields would fall below zero as a record amount around the world sank into negative territory this week. The question has become a talking point, and less hypothetical, this week as the U.S. 30... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Global shares eased on Monday and the dollar hit a two-month high against a basket of currencies as markets counted down to a likely cut in U.S. interest rates this week, with much riding on whether the Federal Reserve signals yet more are t... More »
LONDON, (Reuters) – Britain’s housing market picked up modestly in June with a stronger-than-expected rise in mortgage approvals, but consumer lending growth slowed to a fresh five-year low, Bank of England figures showed on Monday. Brexit worries have weighed... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s economic growth slowed to 6.2% in the second quarter, its weakest pace in at least 27 years, as demand at home and abroad faltered in the face of mounting U.S. trade pressure. While more upbeat June factory output and retail sales o... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Surprisingly upbeat economic soundings from China lifted the global markets mood on Monday, pushing world shares toward an 18-month high and steering the Aussie dollar and copper upwards. Investors were waiting for a torrent of second-quarte... More »
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Mathematician Alan Turing, who helped Britain win World War Two with his code-cracking but committed suicide after being convicted for homosexuality, will appear on the Bank of England’s next 50-pound banknote, the BoE said on M... More »
(Reuters) – India’s slowing economic growth, water shortage and regulatory hurdles have taken its business sentiment in June to the lowest level since 2016, a survey by market research firm IHS Markit showed on Monday. The aggregate of private-sector companies... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors pumped money into bonds and equities in the week to Wednesday with U.S. stock funds adding $1.7 billion, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Friday, as markets tried to weigh hopes for major central bank stimulus against economic... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve will likely reduce key U.S. borrowing costs by a quarter point at its upcoming July 30-31 policy meeting with the chance of a 50 basis-point decrease, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said on Wednesday. The U.S. c... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission lowered its estimates on Wednesday for euro zone growth and inflation, saying uncertainty over U.S. trade policy posed a major risk to the bloc. In its quarterly economic forecasts, the European Union’s executive ar... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Croatia has submitted a formal bid to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM-2), an early stage on the path to membership of the euro currency, the head of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers said on Monday. The move could... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan on Monday cut its assessment on factory output for two of the country’s nine regions and warned that more companies were feeling pinched by the U.S.-China trade war than three months ago. But the central bank maintained its ... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s central bank could cut its benchmark policy rate for the first time in four years if the U.S. Federal Reserve delivers a widely expected cut in late July, analysts say, as Chinese policymakers step up support for the slowing econom... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian shares were a sea of red on Monday after strong U.S. job gains tempered expectations the Federal Reserve will deliver a large rate cut, while the Turkish lira hovered near two-week lows on worries about central bank independence. Share... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – External demand is likely to rebound from its current soft patch in the latter half of this year, a senior Bank of Japan official overseeing the Kinki region in western Japan said on Monday. Domestic demand in the region, including capital ex... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – A shrewd negotiator who has run the IMF but has little monetary policy experience, Christine Lagarde will face the challenge as the European Central Bank’s new chief of having to revive the euro zone economy with a largely depleted policy... More »
DALIAN, China (Reuters) – China’s economy is likely to hit its growth target this year provided a bitter trade dispute with the United States does not worsen, and hence will not need “very big” stimulus measures to prop up growth, a central bank adviser said o... More »
LONDON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Stocks rallied and bonds retreated on Monday as the United States and China agreed to restart trade talks, leading investors to pare wagers on aggressive policy easing by the major central banks. The dollar firmed on the safe-haven ye... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Euro zone lending growth held steady in May while a broader money supply indicator, which often foreshadows future activity, grew faster than expected, data showed on Monday, easing pressure on the European Central Bank to provide more st... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Factory activity shrank in most Asian countries in June as the simmering U.S.-China trade conflict put further strains on the region’s manufacturing sector, keeping policymakers under pressure to deploy stronger steps to avert a global recess... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A now record-setting run of U.S. economic growth enters its 121st month on Monday, sustained by a decade of low interest rates and massive Federal Reserve intervention that helped put 22 million people back to work. But the real economic... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Central banks grappling with fast-changing financial technology and companies like Facebook (FB.O) moving into finance will aim to work together more closely through an innovation hub approved on Sunday by the Bank for International Settleme... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s $1 trillion wealth fund can invest again in miner Rio Tinto and retailer Walmart after their exclusions from the fund’s investments on ethical grounds were revoked, the board of the central bank said on Tuesday. The fund can also resu... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Profitability across the euro zone bank sector is low and weakening growth could further dampen the sector’s prospects, European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Tuesday. Negative ECB rates are not the cause of the weak... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s finance ministry said on Monday it would look at whether the regulation regime around mini-bond investments, used to raise funds for small businesses, is up to scratch following the collapse of investment firm London Capital & Fina... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The Turkish lira, bonds and shares gained on Monday after the opposition dealt a stinging blow to President Tayyip Erdogan by winning control of Istanbul in a re-run mayoral election on Sunday. Turkish assets have lost value since March am... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The dollar was on the back foot on Monday after sustaining its biggest weekly drop in four months last week as traders remained cautious about the prospects of trade talks between the United States and China at this week’s G20 summit. The gr... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Viral Acharya has resigned six months before the scheduled end of his term in office, citing personal reasons, the central bank said on Monday, confirming a media report. Acharya’s departure was no... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s central bank is expected to keep its benchmark policy rate steady on Wednesday for a fourth straight meeting, a Reuters poll showed, despite slowing growth and the way many Asian central banks have shifted toward easing policy. I... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Politicians need to quickly coordinate regulatory responses to new risks from technology companies like Facebook moving into finance, though banks won’t be squeezed out anytime soon, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said on Sunda... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ news program that he has the power to demote Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell but has not threatened to do so. “I didn’t ever threaten to demote him,” Trump said.... More »
(Reuters) – Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of DoubleLine Capital and the most widely followed bond investor, said the Federal Reserve’s dovish turn in its policy statement on Wednesday took its lead from the bond market. The Fed is doing “what the bond mark... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Bank Indonesia is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate steady at a policy review on Thursday, but it may begin to follow other Asian central banks by cutting later this year, a Reuters poll showed. All but three of 22 analysts surve... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank will “certainly” debate heightening overseas risks at a rate review this week, underscoring concerns among policymakers about the economic fallout of a U.S.-China trade war. The tra... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s central bank believes it will likely have to cut interest rates further from the current record low of 1.25% in order to push down unemployment and revive growth in wages and inflation. Minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s ... More »
(Reuters) – Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive officer of DoubleLine Capital, said on Thursday the odds of the United States sliding into a recession in the next six months have risen to 40-45% and the odds were 65% within the next year. Gundlach, who oversees ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank can deliver more monetary stimulus if necessary, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The BOJ will ease further if the momentum toward its 2% inflation target is lost, Kuroda said in an in... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s ruling parties could expose the nation to market shocks and put its savings at risk if they were not ready to compromise with the European Union over their budget plans, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told Corriere della Sera newspaper... More »
BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s retail inflation likely accelerated to a seven-month high in May on rising food prices, but it is expected to remain well below the Reserve Bank of India’s target, giving it room to ease policy further, a Reuters poll found. The R... More »
(Reuters) – The head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, steps down at the end of October and the 19 euro zone countries are now looking for his replacement. The shortlists of likely candidates are almost exclusively male. It is one of several top jobs... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – After almost three years of successfully predicting a global economic revival, world bond markets are furiously flagging the risk of yet another recession, as well as low inflation for a generation. Spooked by the escalating U.S.-China trade... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors plowed a record $12.3 billion into investment grade bond funds and ditched equities over the past week, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Friday, as worries over trade tensions and the world economy reinforced a run for safe-ha... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Factory activity contracted in most Asian countries last month as an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing raised fears of a global economic downturn and heaped pressure on policymakers in the region and beyond to roll out m... More »
BENGALURU, (Reuters) – India’s manufacturing sector expanded at its quickest pace in three months in May on improved output and new orders, according to a private business survey which also showed a pick up in hiring. The survey found increased optimism about ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Great Recession ended a decade ago this month, but for the U.S. Federal Reserve the fallout has posed an era-defining choice: Either jolt Americans to expect higher inflation, or keep the printing press ready for the next economic sl... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Monday the global economic outlook is highly uncertain, and there are downside risks due to trade friction, China’s slowing economy and Britain’s negotiations to leave the European Union. “There ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors have added to their global equity holdings for the first time in 2-1/2 months and continued to pile into bonds, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Friday, as worries about the U.S.-China trade spat sent shudders through financia... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar held near a one-month high on Wednesday after minutes from the May Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed officials agreed that their current patient approach to setting monetary policy could remain in place “for some... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – Italy is firmly committed to preserving financial stability while also relaunching investments, Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said on Monday. “The ‘Def’ document clearly states Italy’s will to meet commitments on public deficit and debt,” Tr... More »
PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech government will stick to plans for a 40 billion crown ($1.73 billion) central government budget deficit in 2020, unchanged from its 2019 target, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said as draft preparations near an end. The Czech Republic... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Surprisingly retained by Australians in a national election over the weekend, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s center-right government now needs to find a fast way out of a worrying slowdown in an economy that has been recession-free since 19... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors are neither extremely bullish nor bearish, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s gauge of market sentiment, as they weigh the impact of trade tensions between the United States and China. Investors pulled $19.5 billion out o... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Euro zone banks are turning away from cross-border activity, putting at risk the bloc’s banking union and raising the risk of dangerous fragmentation, European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Thursday. With national ru... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – China’s yuan was set for its worst daily fall in nine months on Monday as trade negotiations between the U.S. and China ended after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods. Currency moves in response to the latest trade hostil... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s economy risks damage if Brexit is delayed beyond its latest Oct. 31 deadline because companies would continue to hold back on investment, Bank of England deputy governor Ben Broadbent was quoted as saying on Monday. “It’s pretty cl... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s central bank has not intervened in the trading of the baht to gain a trade advantage with the United States, an assistant governor said on Monday, amid speculation that Washington may soon add the country to a currency watch list... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Global equities have seen outflows of $20.5 billion in the past week as “trade deal trauma” pushed more money into bonds, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Friday, the latest sign of how growing global trade tensions are roiling financia... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Millions of A$50 ($35) banknotes in Australia have an embarrassing typographical error that was overlooked by the country’s central bank before they were printed and circulated. The goof first became known on Thursday when a listener on radi... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s economy expanded more slowly than expected in the first quarter of this year, as investment dropped ahead of elections and campaign spending failed to sustain growth momentum. Southeast Asia’s largest economy grew 5.07 percent i... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s central bank said on Monday it will cut reserve requirement ratios (RRRs) to release about 280 billion yuan ($41 billion) for some small and medium-sized banks, in a targeted move to help companies struggling amid an economic slowdo... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Federal Reserve policymakers have no reason to change U.S. interest rates anytime soon but will startle global markets by resuming rate hikes rather than pivoting to cuts, according to a leading Wall Street money manager. Scott Minerd, who... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – A new round of tariffs between the United States and its main partners would only cause a “modest decrease” in the pace of economic growth in the euro zone, according to research by the European Central Bank. The study simulated a two-way... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s central bank will keep interest rates on hold on Thursday, a Reuters poll showed, though some economists say a rate cut to bolster economic growth is coming – and one sees a possible trim next month. All 23 analysts in the poll ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – It looks like something has to give in global markets. Stocks and bonds around the world have rallied atypically together since the start of the year, rewarding investors both bullish and bearish on the direction of global growth. The main... More »
CAIRO (Reuters) – Sudan’s central bank on Sunday strengthened the Sudanese pound to 45 pounds to the dollar from 47.5, state news agency SUNA reported. It said the measure coincided with the sharp rise in the price of the pound against the dollar on the parall... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s sovereign wealth fund will pay about $98 million dollars to extend the term of its ownership in a portfolio of New York properties and to acquire a few new, the fund said on Wednesday. “The partnership between Norges Bank Investment M... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Short positioning on European equities was the “most crowded trade” for the second straight month in April, a survey of fund managers by Bank of America Merrill Lynch found. Investors called bearish positions on Europe a crowded trade once a... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An internal European Central Bank model indicates the euro zone’s economic growth could slow further in the second quarter, suggesting the projected recovery may be delayed even further, two sources familiar with the discussion said on F... More »
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – The European Central Bank considers that risks to the euro zone financial stability from a no-deal Brexit are “limited” and have been broadly addressed, ECB board member Benoit Coeure said on Friday. But he repeated the ECB’s call on fina... More »
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Euro zone countries have taken steps to prepare for a no-deal Brexit but are still hoping that this scenario will not occur, the chairman of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers said on Friday. Mario Centeno told a news conference... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said on Monday it was understandable for markets to be nervous when the yield curve flattened, though he was still confident about the U.S. economic growth outlook. In what many see as ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Bank of Japan board member Yutaka Harada on Monday defended the central bank’s massive asset-buying program dubbed quantitative and qualitative easing (QQE), saying the policy has helped create jobs and boost productivity. “The biggest contri... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s core inflation rate eased to a nine-month low in February, reinforcing expectations that the central bank will keep monetary policy unchanged when it meets next month. The core inflation rate was 1.5 percent on a year-on-year ... More »
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s central bank is likely to maintain interest rates at its meeting on Thursday, a Reuters poll showed on Monday, although some analysts predicted a cut ahead of expected fuel price increases this summer. Eight out of 12 economists polle... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – With downside risks looming and uncertainties rife, the U.S. Federal Reserve is prudent to wait for more economic data before deciding whether its next move will be to raise rates, or cut them, Chicago Fed Bank President Charles Evans sai... More »
ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) – Various companies in Mexico, including Uber Technologies Inc., have shown interest in using a new mobile payments system developed by the country’s central bank that seeks to promote financial inclusion, the head of the bank said o... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Global equity funds saw massive outflows this week, a sharp reversal from last week’s inflows as pessimism over economic growth gripped investors once again, driving them instead to search for yield in credit and buy safer assets like bonds.... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone banking watchdogs said banks planning mergers should make sure they could be wound down in a crisis, a warning likely to resonate with executives seeking to merge German giants Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank. The two lenders confi... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Having spent three years and more than 2.6 trillion euros ($3 trillion) trying to boost economic growth across the euro zone, the European Central Bank’s mixed record may open the door for a high-spending, radical alternative. With populist ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Collapsing asset price volatility has turned ‘carry trading’ into one of investors’ top plays of 2019. Many reckon the run is far from over. This strategy sees investors borrow in currencies where interest rates are low to invest in countrie... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors plowed $14.2 billion into global equity funds this week, the largest amount in a year as investors jumped on to 2019’s stock market rally, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Friday, citing flow data provider EPFR. An index of gl... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The Turkish economy contracted a sharper than expected 3.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, its worse performance in nearly a decade, in the clearest sign yet that last year’s currency crisis is tipping it into recession. Turkey, a m... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A $10 billion wipeout over the last week has compounded the worst start to a year for equity flows since 2008, Bank of America Merrill Lynch strategists said on Friday. Citing data from flow-tracker EPFR, BAML’s analysts calculated that just... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank’s fourth round of cheap long-term loans targeted at banks may steer euro zone lenders away from a cliff edge in funding. But it is a symptom of, rather than a cure for, the bloc’s economic malaise that appears to... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank changed tack on its tightening plan on Thursday, pushing out the timing of its first post-crisis rate hike until 2020 at the earliest and offering banks a new round of cheap loans to help revive the euro zone eco... More »
VILNIUS (Reuters) – Euro zone banks will not be able to use a new longer-term lending facility from the European Central Bank to extend mortgages, Lithuanian central bank chief Vitas Vasiliauskas said on Friday. The ECB delayed its first post-crisis rate hike ... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European Central Bank President Mario Draghi caught even dovish rate-setters off guard by pushing on Thursday for unexpectedly generous stimulus after forecasts showed a large drop in economic growth, four sources familiar with the discus... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank will appoint someone to become the euro zone’s second-most senior banking watchdog “in the coming weeks”, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday. The post of vice chair of the ECB’s Single Supervisory Mechan... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Following is the text of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s statement after the ECB’s policy meeting on Thursday: Based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, we have conducted a thorough assessment of the economic and... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, on Monday recommended investors hold more U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) as the Federal Reserve is expected to refrain from raising short-term interest rates in the coming ... More »
