SINGAPORE/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Low yields at home are sending some previously shy European investors into Asia’s credit markets, money managers say, lured by the promise of higher returns and a hope that rebounding economies can hold defaults at bay. Unlike i... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – The euro zone economy has experienced a strong recovery in the third quarter even though the most recent incoming data in August have been less robust, European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Tuesday. “In the third quart... More »
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s official interest rates and the average cost of servicing its public debt have never been lower, but investors are becoming worried that the government could face a funding crisis next year. The premium that investors demand to le... More »
1/WALL STREET WATCHES WASHINGTON U.S. lawmakers negotiating a fresh dose of stimulus have reached an impasse. Trillions of dollars injected by the Federal Reserve and huge government spending increases have stemmed coronavirus-linked economic damage, fuelling ... More »
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand’s Finance Minister Grant Robertson said on Monday that the new wage subsidy scheme is forecast to cost about NZ$510 million ($333.80 million) and cover 470,000 jobs. The scheme was announced last week after New Zealand locked... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks fell on Friday as data out of China, the euro zone and the United States put a lid on expectations for a sustained global rebound, with traders already worried about a delay in U.S. fiscal stimulus. A review of the U.S.-China trade ... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. equity, municipal and taxable bond funds posted inflows in the week ended on Wednesday, while money market fund saw outflows, according to Lipper. U.S. equity funds registered $5.6 billion in inflows in the week ended on Wednesday, according t... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Investor morale in the euro zone rose for a fourth consecutive month in August but the low reading suggests that the coronavirus-hit economy is still in recession in the third quarter, a survey showed on Monday. Sentix’s index for the euro z... More »
MILAN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – When COVID-19 plunged Italy into lockdown, it was decision time at the Verampio power station. The control room, which runs a fleet of hydroelectric plants across the Piedmont region, hard hit by the pandemic, had to be secured to k... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The former head of China’s securities regulator has raised concern about banks addressing funding shortages by ramping up issues of short-term interbank debt instruments that have in the past attracted regulatory scrutiny. Xiao Gang, forme... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – European shares rose on Monday as industrial activity in China gained strength, another sign of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic that added to hopes the global economy would also return to health. The broader Euro STOXX 600 rose 0.6%, ... More »
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation fell to 4.2% in July from 5.6% in June, the central statistics agency CAPMAS said on Monday. Month on month inflation increased to 0.4% in July from 0.1% in June mainly on the back of an increase ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The United States should implement another support package to ensure workers can stay safely at home while the novel coronavirus continues to spread, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said in an interview with CBS News released on Sunday... More »
BOSTON/CHICAGO, August 3 (Reuters) – A decline in U.S. Treasury yields over recent weeks has investors eyeing the approach of an unusual phenomenon – the entire U.S. yield curve sinking below 1%. Policymakers are looking to position the country to recover once... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The survival of J.C. Penney Co Inc hangs on whether the department store chain can reach a complex deal within days to sell itself to an alliance of retail mavens and distressed-debt investors. The 118-year-old retailer blew through a Frid... More »
(Reuters) – U.S.-based equity funds in the week ended Wednesday posted $1.05 billion in outflows, according to Lipper. Taxable bond funds attracted $9.37 billion, the sixteenth straight weekly inflow, while U.S. money market funds shed $17.44 billion in the la... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Gold soared to an all-time high on worsening ties between the United States and China, a sinking dollar and ultra-low interest rates on Monday, while stock markets faltered before a deluge of corporate earnings. Europe’s main stock markets w... More »
LONDON/BENGALURU (Reuters) – Gold’s record rally is moving tantalisingly close to the psychologically key $2,000 level, powered by investors seeking cover from COVID-19’s global economic toll, as reflected in dollar weakness, faltering stocks and U.S.-China tr... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top aides to U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday they agreed in principle with Senate Republicans on a $1 trillion coronavirus relief package — the party’s opening offer in negotiations with Democrats less than a week before enhan... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Euro zone companies continued to tap bank credit at a brisk pace in June even as the economy reopened after three months of coronavirus-related lockdown, data from the European Central Bank showed on Monday. Lending to non-financial corpo... More »
CAIRO/LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) – The threat of conflict in Libya, water security worries and a flatlining tourist sector risk upending a nascent rally in Egyptian bonds, bankers and economists say. The North African country has attracted a wave of foreign invest... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – The danger to the euro zone economy from the coronavirus pandemic is not yet over, European Central Bank board member Fabio Panetta told La Repubblica, adding that he saw no need to make any tweaks to the bank’s massive asset purchase progra... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Returning to the office will bring new challenges for banks and brokerages seeking to enforce good conduct by staff, after the bulk of their employees worked from home during the coronavirus pandemic, a financial markets industry body said o... More »
(Reuters) – U.S.-based stock funds in the week ended Wednesday saw $3.3 billion of inflows, according to Lipper. Taxable bond funds attracted $11.1 billion, the fifteenth straight weekly inflow, while U.S. money market funds drew $20.4 billion in the latest we... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Signs emerged that leaders of northern European Union countries were willing to compromise on a 1.8 trillion euro ($2 trillion) coronavirus stimulus plan on Monday as talks in Brussels extended to a fourth day. Divided and slow to respond ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – EU leaders reported some progress on Monday after three days of haggling over a coronavirus stimulus plan, sending the euro to a four-month high and Italy’s borrowing costs to lows not seen since March. An attempt to reach a compromise faile... More »
MUMBAI/BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) said on Monday it expected to resolve about 57% of its near trillion rupee ($13.35 billion) debt pile even as the pandemic delayed the resolution process in some of the gr... More »
GDANSK/WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s industrial output PLIPY=ECI rose by 0.5% in June, better than the 6.9% decline forecast by analysts, who said the statistic office data suggest the economy may overcome the coronavirus crisis faster than initially expected. T... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – The German parliament’s financial committee will hold an extraordinary meeting on the Wirecard (WDIG.DE) scandal on Wednesday next week and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is expected to be there, a Social Democrat (SPD) lawamker said on Monday... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain does not reject the setting of conditions on the disbursement of European Union funds to help countries recover from the coronavirus pandemic, nor strong governance to oversee their distribution, Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The euro and euro zone bond markets held out hope European Union leaders would strike a deal on a recovery fund for the bloc’s pandemic-ravaged economy on Monday, but the region’s stock markets took a cautious turn lower as talks paused. The... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) on Friday raised its bid for rival UBI Banca (UBI.MI) by 18%, adding a cash sweetener to secure investor backing for its plan to create the euro zone’s seventh-largest banking group. In mid-February, just befo... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors pumped money into riskier bonds and equity funds, BofA’s weekly fund flow statistics showed on Friday, as unprecedented stimulus measures helped offset worries about rising COVID-19 case numbers in the United States. The policy sup... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A growth spurt in the balance sheets of the world’s biggest central banks has crested in recent weeks, drawing warnings from investors that any signs of backpedaling on stimulus will jolt financial markets and strangle economic recovery. The... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank will use its stimulus firepower fully even as the euro zone economy shows some signs of rebounding from its pandemic-induced recession, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Thursday. Tackling the biggest econo... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank expects a pending European Union stimulus scheme to favour grants over loans in the funding mechanism it uses to help kick-start the bloc’s economies, bank president Christine Lagarde said on Thursday. Leaders of... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Euro zone banks maintained relatively easy access to credit for firms in the second quarter with the backing of government guarantees, but they will likely tighten credit standards in the following three months, the European Central Bank ... More »
(Reuters) – Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd, the blank check company backed by billionaire investor Bill Ackman, has increased the size of its initial public offering by $1 billion to $4 billion, the largest ever IPO by a special purpose acquisition compa... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – World equity benchmarks hit a five-month peak and perceived safe -havens such as the dollar and U.S. government bonds dipped on Monday as investors turned to second-quarter earnings for signs that corporate profits will recover from the ec... More »
TORONTO (Reuters) – The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart on Monday as stock markets globally climbed and ahead of an interest rate decision this week from the Bank of Canada, with the loonie recovering from a 10-day low on Friday. Worl... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The German economy is rebounding from a pandemic-induced slump after hitting bottom last month, a real-time indicator developed by the country’s central bank showed on Monday. Launched in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, the Bundesbank’s... More »
(Reuters) – AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc said on Monday it had reached an agreement with bondholders to reduce its debt by up to $630 million, as the theater industry suffers from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. Major theater operators in the United States ... More »
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia has asked four countries to delay debt repayments, it said on Monday as it announced more pessimistic economic and budget forecasts for 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is negotiating with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France and I... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British minister Oliver Dowden will make a statement to parliament on Huawei some time after 1130 GMT on Tuesday, the opposition Labour Party said on Twitter. Britain is set to ban Huawei from Britain’s 5G network in a landmark decision that... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will place a “huge priority” on national security when considering Chinese telecoms firm Huawei’s role in the country’s 5G network, justice minister Robert Buckland said on Monday. “National security comes first … and I know that the... More »
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s Reliance Industries said on Sunday Qualcomm Inc’s investment arm will buy a 0.15% stake in its digital unit Jio Platforms for 7.3 billion rupees ($97.1 million). The partnership will help Jio Platforms, the unit that houses Relian... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. equity funds in the week ended on Wednesday drew $609 million, the first inflow in four weeks, according to Lipper. U.S. taxable bond funds attracted $12.6 billion, the 13th straight weekly inflow, while money market funds saw $4.7 billion com... More »
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Euro zone bond yields held their ground on Thursday with investors’ main focus expected to be any new developments on the European Union’s recovery fund, which aims to help the region’s economy recover from the coronavirus crisis. Hopes a... More »
ROME (Reuters) – The Italian government approved a package of measures on Tuesday aimed at cutting the complicated red tape that has long been blamed for crimping growth in the euro zone’s third-largest economy. The “simplification decree,” approved after week... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Global stock markets rallied to four-week highs on Monday as investors counted on a revival in Chinese activity to boost global growth, even as surging coronavirus cases delayed business re-openings across the United States. MSCI’s All-Count... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British finance minister Rishi Sunak will try to restart the country’s economy by giving homebuyers a tax break and cutting value-added tax for pubs, restaurants and other hospitality firms, The Times newspaper reported. Sunak is due to anno... More »
(Reuters) – The final days of the best quarter for the benchmark S&P 500 since 1998 were not enough to keep investors from pulling $4.6 billion out of U.S.-based stock funds in the week that ended Wednesday, according to Lipper data released on Thursday. The S... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. equity funds that were able to best weather the global economic upheaval from the coronavirus pandemic this year are turning to healthcare, e-commerce and electric vehicle stocks as they look ahead to 2021. Few expect a quick economic... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank is lowering the bar for bank mergers in the euro zone, hoping to encourage an elusive wave of consolidation in a sector plagued by low profits and unresolved issues inherited from the last financial crisis. In a ... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s central bank governor said it was encouraging commercial banks to lend more to sustain businesses during the coronavirus crisis. Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) Governor Ahmed al-Kholifey was speaking at a virtual econo... More »
VIENNA (Reuters) – An Austrian lawyer has filed a criminal complaint against Wirecard’s (WDIG.DE) former Chief Executive Markus Braun and Chief Operating Officer Jan Marsalek at a court in Vienna, accusing them of market manipulation and serious fraud. The Vie... More »
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Funds that rode the market’s rally to generate the highest second-quarter returns included those invested in assets such as mining stocks, energy and technology. Global financial markets staged an impressive rebound in the second qu... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – European shares picked up on Tuesday after a weak start, extending the optimism of the Asian session, and oil prices steadied as investors looked for signs of an economic recovery in the second half of 2020. The MSCI world equity index, whic... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Indian government will extend a free foodgrain distribution scheme for 800 million people amid the ongoing pandemic until the end of November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a national address on Tuesday. Modi said thousands of liv... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German regulators twice looked into tightening the supervision of collapsed payments firm Wirecard and discussed it with the German and European central banks but no action was taken, a person with direct knowledge of the talks told Reute... More »
BRUSSELS/MADRID (Reuters) – Finance ministers of Spain, Ireland and Luxembourg are in the running to chair meetings of the powerful Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, with euro zone officials saying it is likely to be a close race between the Spanish an... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Famed for snapping up glitzy real estate and stakes in troubled international banks during the global financial crisis, sovereign wealth funds are investing more at home, a trend set to accelerate in the wake of the economic carnage wrought ... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – A string of positive economic indicators in the euro zone confirm that a recovery is on its way but the bloc may still need years to reach pre-crisis levels of activity, European Central Bank policymaker Klaas Knot said on Thursday. “I wo... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – BlackRock’s Investment Institute said on Tuesday it was “warming up” to European assets following what it called the eurozone’s “impressive” efforts to tackle the coronavirus. The research arm of the world’s biggest fund manager said two fac... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – Bank of the Philippine Islands Chief Executive Cezar Consing said it was clear that a certificate purporting to be for a Wirecard deposit was “spurious” and reiterated that no cash from the German payments firm had entered the bank. Wirecard... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Emmanuel Macron will travel to the Netherlands on Tuesday to try to break Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s resistance to the European Union’s 750 billion euro aid package that the French president wants to see approved at an EU summit in Jul... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Square Capital, a unit of payments company Square Inc, said on Monday it has issued more than $820 million worth of loans to small businesses to help them weather the economic shutdown brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Square, founde... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve said on Monday it had opened registration for lenders interested in participating in its Main Street Lending Program, launching arguably the most complex program undertaken yet by the U.S. central bank to help keep the ... More »
(Reuters) – The Federal Reserve on Monday launched its latest life raft for U.S. businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. Administered by the Boston Fed, the Main Street Lending Program will offer up to $600 billion in loans through participating lenders t... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday he would talk to Congress about proper oversight of $660 billion in small business economic relief, after previously resisting calls to reveal who received the funds. Mnuchin tweeted ... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – United Airlines (UAL.O) said on Monday it is pledging its MileagePlus frequent flyer program for a new $5 billion loan aimed at further buffering its liquidity, even as its cash burn rate slows thanks to a steady improvement in demand. So f... More »
NEW YORK, June 10 (Reuters) – U.S. money market fund assets decreased by $24.84 billion to $4.668 trillion in the week ended June 9, the Money Fund Report said on Wednesday. Taxable money market fund assets decreased by $24.31 billion to $4.534 trillion, while... More »
SYDNEY/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong will lead a $5 billion rescue of Cathay Pacific Airways (0293.HK), which like other airlines has been hit by a global travel slump triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. The government’s involvement in the recapitalisatio... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British businesses have borrowed nearly 35 billion pounds ($44 billion) under three emergency credit programmes for companies hit by the coronavirus crisis with demand strongest for a 100% state-backed scheme for the smallest firms. After a ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – G7 government bonds? Check. Gold? Check. But that may not be enough as the coronavirus crisis accelerates a hunt for a wider pool of assets to better balance investment portfolios during stressful times. Corporate and Chinese government debt... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The United Kingdom’s COVID-19 death toll neared 52,000 on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally of official data sources that highlighted the country’s place as one of the worst hit in the world. New data for England and Wales brought the to... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank is contemplating whether to extend a request to banks to hold off on dividend payments and share buybacks, and hopes to provide more clarity in July, Andrea Enria, its chief bank supervisor said on Tuesday. The E... More »
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s economy looks like it has started to pick up after the impact of the novel coronavirus and measures to halt its spread, Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Tuesday. “If you summarize, there are a number of indicators tha... More »
(Reuters) – S&P Global Ratings said it has revised Japan’s outlook to stable on increased uncertainty around debt stabilization. The ratings agency said stable outlook reflects its view that until fiscal 2023, relatively large fiscal deficits will continue in ... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A plunge in household spending and investment pulled down euro zone gross domestic product in the first quarter as the COVID-19 pandemic struck, but the fall was slightly smaller than first estimated, the European Union’s statistics office... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Stock market bulls were forced to a halt on Tuesday and high-flying currencies like the euro and Australian dollar lost altitude, as a weeks-long risk rally ran into some turbulence. It all seemed so sudden. Asian equities had scored their n... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – About 64,000 more people than usual have died in the United Kingdom during this year’s coronavirus pandemic, an expert from the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday. Epidemiologists say excess mortality – deaths from all causes tha... More »
(Reuters) – Online used car seller Vroom Inc raised $467.5 million in its U.S. initial public offering, the company said on Monday, as the IPO market picks up momentum after the COVID-19 pandemic placed many debuts on hold. Vroom priced its IPO at $22, above t... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank expects the euro zone to suffer a deep recession this year, with losses only partly made up in 2021 as pandemic-related restrictions weigh on output for an extended period. In what ECB President Christine Lagarde... More »
(Reuters) – The European Central Bank beefed up its bond-buying programme on Thursday in its latest effort to support a euro zone economy pummelled by more than two months of shutdowns to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Following are highlights of ECB Pres... More »
(The author is editor-at-large for finance and markets at Reuters News. Any views expressed here are his own) By Mike Dolan LONDON (Reuters) – Many households have built up a stash of savings during the coronavirus lockdowns of the past three months — and how ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The coronavirus crisis may have dealt a lethal blow to the idea that the euro could one day replace the dollar as the world’s preferred currency, by exposing euro zone frailties and cementing the U.S. Fed’s role as global lender of last reso... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – Northern Trust Corp’s decision to liquidate a $1.8-billion prime money market fund was seen as an outlier event by industry analysts on Wednesday, but one that could portend more problems depending on how the economy fares. Money has rushed ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. banking regulator announced on Wednesday it had finalized work on a long-running effort to change community lending standards for banks. The new rule from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is an update to require... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The United Kingdom’s COVID-19 official death toll has reached nearly 43,000, underlining the country’s status as the worst-hit in Europe and raising more questions about Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the crisis. New official fig... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – The auto industry represents a significant share of Italy’s economy and it is right to support those who create jobs, Deputy Economy Minister Laura Castelli said when asked about Fiat Chrysler’s (FCHA.MI) request for state-backed loans. The I... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors are bearish on stocks, especially riskier assets, and expect a slower economic recovery as the risk of a second wave of infections from the novel coronavirus persists, a BofA fund manager survey showed. World stocks have bounced ba... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – After a 78-day delay, China’s parliament begins its annual session this week and is expected to unveil stimulus measures to spur an economy battered by the coronavirus as leaders grapple with problems from surging unemployment to worsening ... More »
(Reuters) – U.S.-based stock funds posted $3.2 billion in inflows in the week ended on Wednesday, according to Lipper. U.S. taxable bond funds attracted $10.35 billion, the fifth straight weekly inflow, while money market funds drew $20.3 billion, Lipper data ... More »
NEW YORK/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Negative interest rates in the United States were once unimaginable. The coronavirus has changed that. While the Federal Reserve has all but ruled it out, the sweeping economic and financial-markets impact of the pandemic has for... More »
SYDNEY/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian shares tumbled on Tuesday on growing worries about a second wave of coronavirus infections after the Chinese city where the pandemic originated reported its first new cases since its lockdown was lifted. European markets were... More »
(Reuters) – U.S.-based stock funds posted $10.8 billion in outflows in the week ended ON Wednesday, according to Lipper. U.S. taxable bond funds attracted $11.9 billion, the fourth straight weekly inflow, while money market funds draw $32.8 billion, the tenth ... More »
(Reuters) – J. Crew Group Inc filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday with a plan to hand over control to lenders, adding to a list of brick-and-mortar retailers pushed to the brink by widespread store closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The New Y... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Like the myriad approaches governments are taking to tackle the coronavirus crisis, the way the world’s top banks are calculating their potential losses also differs widely, with puzzling outcomes for investors. These discrepancies are roote... More »
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Hezbollah’s leader hailed the Lebanese government’s crisis plan as a “big, important step” on Monday and said any talks with the IMF must not blindly surrender the country to terms it can not bear. In a televised speech, Sayyed Hassan Nasral... More »
