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) – 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 »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank is expected to give banks fresh long-term loans known as TLTROs to keep credit flowing to companies in the euro zone, in the hope that an already marked economic downturn will not be exacerbated by a sudden crunc... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Two months after ending its massive stimulus scheme, the European Central Bank faces growing pressure to address how it will protect the euro zone economy from a protracted slowdown. Thursday’s policy meeting, news conference, and updated ec... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. personal income fell for the first time in more than three years in January and consumer spending dropped by the most since 2009 in December, putting the economy on a weak growth path early in the first quarter. The economic outlook... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank has downplayed a global slowdown for months, but it will finally take a tentative step next week to prop up the euro zone economy, signaling fresh stimulus to keep banks lending. With a global trade war already b... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – High-grade euro zone debt remains scarce even though the European Central Bank has stopped its huge purchases of new bonds, intensifying concerns that banks will face future collateral shortages and highlighting the need for safe assets. The... More »
BENGALURU (Reuters) – Global funds recommended a bigger safety buffer in February, with cash holdings raised to their highest in more than three years and equity allocations cut to the lowest in nearly two, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday. Many top equity in... More »
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – Latvia violated European Union law by barring from office its central bank governor, who is also a European Central Bank policymaker, the European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday in a widely expected decision. Ilmars Rimsevics was susp... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Major banks are still not ready for a ‘no-deal’ Brexit as they grapple with delays in licences for new European Union businesses, staffing problems and snags in redrafting contracts. Despite thousands of staff working on preparations for mor... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell worked hard to strengthen ties with Congress during his first year as head of the U.S. central bank, doubling the pace of meetings with lawmakers over his predecessors and courting Democrats and Rep... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – A key euro zone banking supervision role is set to go unfilled for an indefinite time after ECB chief Mario Draghi failed to pick a successor in an unprecedented impasse at the crucial euro zone institution, sources familiar with the matt... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors pumped record high volumes of cash into emerging markets shares and bonds in the past week, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) said on Friday amid expectations U.S. monetary policy could lead to a weaker U.S. dollar. Flows into b... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. central bankers are done raising domestic interest rates amid signals from Asia and Europe that global economic growth is sputtering, according to RBC Wealth Management’s lead fixed-income strategist. America’s nearly 10-year domestic... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Small-cap stocks were among the biggest losers during the stock market’s rout late last year as investors worried about high leverage, but they have outperformed in 2019’s rebounding market, with shares of debt-laden companies leading the ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ebbing global growth and shaky financial markets threw the U.S. Federal Reserve off course in early 2016, and it took nearly a year for officials to regain confidence growth would continue and convince investors they would again raise in... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Barclays economists said on Wednesday they reduced their outlook on U.S. economic growth in the first quarter to an annualized rate of 2.5 percent from an earlier projection of 3.0 percent as a result of the historically long partial feder... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Global investors plowed money back into stocks and bonds this week as they regained their appetite for risk, boosted by dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Equity funds drew inflows of $6.2 billion, their biggest in ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – France’s response to “yellow vest” protests could be a turning point for euro zone bond markets if it kicks off an era of increased public borrowing in the bloc and loads additional debt on to a market already nervous over the removal of ECB... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – European shares rose on Wednesday driven by the export-oriented autos and tech sectors as optimism grew that the United States and China could avoid a full-blown trade war that would further brake a slowing global economy. The pan-European ST... More »
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Uncertainties about the global economy mean Sweden’s central bank needs to move cautiously in tightening policy after its first hike in more than seven years, minutes of its December meeting published on Wednesday showed. Last month, the ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Worried by prospects of a pause in the U.S. interest rate hike cycle, the Bank of Japan is shifting focus towards a risk that it may be forced to deploy more stimulus this year to stop sharp yen rises from derailing an economic recovery, sour... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – Hedge fund giant Bridgewater Associates’ flagship Pure Alpha Strategy posted a double-digit gain in 2018 when many other funds lost money after being caught off guard by the late-year market collapse. The Pure Alpha Strategy, which has been ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices rebounded on Friday, recovering slightly from heavy losses this week, but remained close to the lowest levels in over a year as rising U.S. inventories and concern over global economic growth rattled markets. Brent crude oil LCOc1... More »
LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – After an unexpected rally that carried the dollar to 18-month peaks and saw it end 2018 as investors’ top trade, the currency faces challenges in the coming year. They include an expensive valuation, a flagging equity boom, waning c... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Most financial market credit officers surveyed by the Federal Reserve in November said their big clients were exposed to emerging markets but were scaling back bets emerging market assets would rise in value, the U.S. central bank said o... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. Federal Reserve faces no risk of losing his job and President Donald Trump is happy with his Treasury secretary, a White House official said in an apparent attempt to calm Wall Street nerves frayed by Trump’s critici... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. fund investors battered bond markets with the biggest withdrawals in seven weeks and snatched the most cash from foreign stocks since mid-2015 as the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates, Investment Company Institute (ICI) data showed... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC confirmed on Friday it is in a bear market for the first time since 2008, underscoring fears that the longest bull run in history for U.S. stocks could soon be over. The index finished the day down 21.9 per... More »
(Reuters) – Following are five big themes likely to dominate thinking of investors and traders in the coming week and the Reuters stories related to them. 1/ CURVE-BALLS With major parts of the U.S. economy visibly slowing, the Treasury market has reacted in a... More »
(Reuters) – The onset of a U.S. recession could take longer than usually thought after key points of the Treasury yield curve invert, as a surge in U.S. short-dated debt issuance has altered the dynamics of the Treasury market and other indicators show an econ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors pulled billions from bonds and stocks this week as U.S. bond movements triggered fears over global growth and a trade tussle between the United States and China heated up, strategists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Friday... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – BlackRock Inc’s (BLK.N) Rick Rieder is buying longer-term bonds because softening inflation could force the U.S. Federal Reserve to pause interest rate hikes, the top fixed-income investor told Reuters this week. Rieder, who is chief inves... More »
(Reuters) – The Bank of Canada will next raise interest rates early next year, and twice again by the end of 2019, according to economists polled by Reuters who say the central bank needs to be careful with the pace of tightening. As recently as late October t... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Americans’ demand for credit declined over the previous year as expected, as mortgage interest rates rose, while the percentage of approved applications also ticked lower compared to a year ago, a survey from the New York Federal Reserve s... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony to Congress’s Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday has been postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date, the committee said Monday. Powell was slated to discuss the economic outlo... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Top BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) bond investor Rick Rieder halved exposure in recent months to a once-major bet in his portfolios on emerging markets on concerns including that the dollar could move higher, he told Reuters on Friday. “I still wou... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will adopt a more vigorous fiscal policy to help tackle external uncertainties without resorting to strong policy stimulus, state radio said on Monday, citing the cabinet. Slowing economic growth has sparked a heated debate among gove... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The yen trimmed early gains on Monday as traders consolidated positions after reports the central bank was debating moves to scale back its massive monetary stimulus ignited a brief rally in the Japanese currency. With investors wary of buyi... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The dollar strengthened broadly on Monday and neared a six-month high against the Japanese yen as investors bought riskier assets, encouraged by signs that trade tensions have yet to hurt economic momentum. As the second-quarter corporate ea... More »
ANKARA (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan appointed his son-in-law as Turkey’s finance minister on Monday hours after he was sworn in with sweeping new executive powers, promising a “strong government and a strong Turkey”. The lira TRYTOM=D3, which has lost ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. job growth increased more than expected in June as manufacturers stepped up hiring, but steady wage gains pointed to moderate inflation pressures that should keep the Federal Reserve on a path of gradual interest rate increases. Non... More »
TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s dollar will climb over the coming year, a Reuters poll showed, but forecasters are less bullish than they were a month ago as escalating trade uncertainty competes with expected Bank of Canada interest rate hikes. The poll of more ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors have sharply increased their use of hedging strategies, signaling concerns that the intensifying trade battle between the United States and China might hit economies from Germany to South Korea. Money managers say that mounting bar... More »
SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgaria aims to join the EU’s banking union on the same day it enters the “waiting room” for euro zone membership, where it must spend at least two years before joining the single currency, its prime minister said on Friday. Boyko Borissov s... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Equity funds suffered their second-largest weekly outflows ever this week, with $29.7 billion pulled out of risky assets, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) strategists said on Friday as fears about rising U.S. protectionism continue to we... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s top central bankers held an unusual vote during their policy deliberations this week – to decide which country is most likely to win the World Cup taking place in Russia. Switzerland – which achieved an unexpected draw against five... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel exchanged views with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Monday, her spokesman said, as part of her regular informal meetings with leaders of European institutions. Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seib... More »
LONDON/BEIJING (Reuters) – Factory growth in major manufacturing hubs showed signs of cooling last month as companies braced for potential damage from rising global trade tensions while also grappling with accelerating inflation and a strong dollar. U.S. Presi... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – May was a manic month for markets but brace yourself for June. An unprecedented summit between North Korea and the United States is back on the agenda, and there are other events on the radar to potentially convulse world markets — from Turk... More »
(This May 25 story corrects first name of Capital Markets Authority CEO to Paul, not Peter, paragraph 29) By Maggie Fick and Omar Mohammed NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya built a reputation as a pioneer of financial inclusion through its early adoption of a mobile m... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The dollar hit a five-month high on Monday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declared the U.S.-China trade war “on hold” following their agreement to suspend threatened tariffs. Against a basket of its peers, the dollar rose above... More »
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Potential policy changes under a government being formed in Italy are creating a lot of nervousness but it is necessary to wait to see what is put in practice, ECB governing council member Ewald Nowotny said on Monday. “It is something that ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The prospect of a more spendthrift government in Italy, already one of the euro zone’s most indebted economies, has had only a mild impact on Italian government bonds — leaving many market pundits puzzled. Even after news in the past 24 hour... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan said he plans to take greater control of the economy after presidential elections next month and the central bank will have to take note of what the president says and act accordingly. His comments helped pushed the... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Damaging revelations of widespread misconduct in Australia’s banking sector could hurt house price growth and household spending, the country’s central bank said on Tuesday in a fresh signal that rates will stay at record lows for some time.... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. fund managers are barreling into the energy sector by making broad bets on anything connected with oil, finally convinced that gains in crude prices – on track for their fourth consecutive quarterly gain, the longest such stretch for ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A resurgent dollar and higher borrowing costs are smashing through Argentina and Turkey’s currencies like a wrecking ball and raising the likelihood more broadly that emerging markets’ three-year long interest rate cutting cycle is at an end... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s central bank is expected to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a policy meeting on Thursday, a day after the country holds a general election, a Reuters poll showed. Eleven economists polled by Reuters were unani... More »
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina likely stopped a run on the peso with a massive rate hike and lower fiscal deficit target on Friday, though high inflation and large amounts of debt are lingering risks, economists said. Treasury Minister Nicolas Dujovne told... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Following are five big themes likely to dominate the thinking of investors and traders in the coming week and the Reuters stories related to them. WHAT’S THE PRICE 1/The Federal Reserve has acknowledged U.S. inflation has perked up, adding t... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar held steady against a basket of currencies on Friday, having retreated from four-month highs on profit-taking, with the focus on whether U.S. jobs data will provide the spark for another push higher. The dollar has erased all i... More »
(This version of the May 3 story was refiled to removes extraneous words in Credit Suisse title in paragraph 11) By Danilo Masoni MILAN (Reuters) – The recent recovery in the dollar has raised hopes that currency turbulence for European corporates will now sub... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – To deal with a familiar combination of falling currencies and uncertainty about economic growth, Asian central banks are reverting to their classic policy playbook. They are intervening in currency markets while concurrently injecting cas... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. job growth likely accelerated in April after a weather-related slowdown in the previous month, with the unemployment rate expected to drop to near a 17-1/2-year low of 4.0 percent. The Labor Department’s closely watched employment r... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – As speculation about interest rate rises and policy ‘normalization’ in the euro zone, Japan, Britain and China falls away rapidly, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s now lonely monetary tightening has suddenly supercharged the dollar. The revival of... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – World stocks are set to notch up a positive month for the first time since January, as a slew of positive earnings from U.S. technology firms and marquee M&A deals help soothe memories of February tremors. A seemingly successful Korean summi... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Lending to euro zone households and companies accelerated in March while a broader indicator of money circulating in the currency bloc, which often foreshadows future activity, slowed sharply, data from the European Central Bank showed on... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Business is coming in so fast and workers are in such high demand at AOW Associates Inc, an Albany, New York-based construction firm, that its chief financial officer hired a guy six weeks ago for a job that didn’t exist. “We keep our pr... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s central bank kept policy steady on Friday but ditched a timeframe it had set for hitting an inflation target, in a surprise move analysts say is aimed at keeping market expectations for more stimulus in check. The Bank of Japan at its... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian shares rose on Friday after U.S. equities were buoyed by a rebound in technology stocks, while markets in Seoul were underpinned by optimism as leaders of North and South Korea held their first summit in over a decade. MSCI’s broade... More »
SINGAPORE/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asia’s most externally vulnerable economies – India, Indonesia and the Philippines – have just taken a one-two punch. U.S. 10-year Treasury bond yields US10YT=RR hit 3 percent this week, a level long touted as one to watch for p... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy likely slowed in the first quarter as growth in consumer spending braked sharply, but the setback is expected to be temporary against the backdrop of a tightening labor market and large fiscal stimulus. Gross domestic pr... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Business activity across the euro zone was still growing as the second quarter began, but at a more modest rate than around the turn of the year, a survey showed on Monday. The euro zone unexpectedly was one of the best-performing major econ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil eased on Monday on rising U.S. borrowing costs and the prospect of further output rises after another increase in the weekly rig count, although the overall picture for crude remained bullish. Brent crude futures were down 49 cents at $7... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The ECB meets on Thursday against a backdrop of concern about a global trade spat and a softening in euro zone economic data that could potentially hamper the central bank’s plans to unwind its extraordinary monetary stimulus. In March, the ... More »
(Reuters) – Bank of America (BAC.N) reported a 34 percent rise in first-quarter profit on Monday, topping Wall Street estimates, as the lender benefited from higher interest rates and growth in loans and deposits. Revenue rose at three of BofA’s four major bus... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump accused Russia and China on Monday of devaluing their currencies while the United States raises interest rates. “Russia and China are playing the Currency Devaluation game as the U.S. keeps raising interest ra... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The dollar weakened on Monday and headed towards a two-week low against a basket of rivals on growing signs of relief that a U.S.-led strike on Syria would not escalate further at a time when concerns over a trade war has rattled global mark... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar bounced against the yen on Tuesday, with broader risk appetite improving after a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping promising to cut import tariffs eased concerns about a trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The massive tax cuts signed into law in December, which Republicans said would pay for themselves, will balloon the U.S. deficit in years ahead, the Congressional Budget Office said on Monday, possibly hobbling President Donald Trump’s f... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank should be “cautious” and avoid tightening its ultra-loose monetary policy too fast to avoid derailing a rebound in euro zone inflation, the ECB’s outgoing vice president Vitor Constancio said on Monday. “Inflatio... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Euro zone inflation appears to have disconnected from growth and remains subdued even as the currency bloc’s economy expands rapidly, European Central Bank chief economist Peter Praet said. “However, the ongoing economic expansion is expe... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The recent widening of the spread between the three-month London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) and three-month overnight index swap rate (OIS) would add a total of $16 billion in borrowing costs for businesses and families, J.P. Morgan an... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Spooked by brewing trade tensions and a broad reversal in technology shares, global investors have cut their equity exposure to a four-month low this month while reducing their holdings of U.S. stocks to the lowest in nearly two years. Reute... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – European investors have raised their bond allocations in March while keeping their equity exposure at six-month lows, in a month marked by a sharp tech sector selloff and brewing trade tensions that threatened to dent world economic growth. ... More »
BENGALURU (Reuters) – U.S. fund managers switched recommended global portfolios slightly more in favor of bonds in March, in part on concerns trade barriers between the world’s two biggest economies may escalate to a broader trade war, a Reuters poll found. Wh... More »
European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi holds a news conference at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, March 7, 2018. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank dropped a long-standing pledge on Thursday to increa... More »
European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi and Vice President Vitor Constancio arrive for a news conference at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, March 7, 2018. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski FRANKFURT, (Reuters) – The European Central Bank dropped a ... More »
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang claps hands as he delivers his speech during the opening session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 5, 2018. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj BEIJING (Reuters) – China aims to expand i... More »
Masazumi Wakatabe and Masayoshi Amamiya, the government’s nominees for next Bank of Japan deputy governors, attend a confirmation hearing in the lower house of parliament in Tokyo, Japan, March 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan mu... More »
Traders work at Frankfurt’s stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, February 6, 2018. Picture taken with a fisheye lens. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski LONDON (Reuters) – The revival of Germany’s grand coalition should aid stability and keep the euro zone’s plans for ti... More »
FILE PHOTO: Gold bars at the Austrian Gold and Silver Separating Plant ‘Oegussa’ in Vienna, Austria, March 18, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) – Rising inflation has put gold back on the radar for investors looking to protect themselv... More »
FILE PHOTO – Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol speaks during a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, November 30, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea has reappointed current central bank chief Lee Ju-yeol for another term on Friday, a mov... More »
Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda attends a lower house budget committee session at the parliament in Tokyo, Japan, February 13, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s central bank chief said on Friday it would consider ending ultra-loos... More »
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., March 1, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson NEW YORK (Reuters) – There is little doubt on Wall Street that U.S. corporate profits are on track to rise at a heal... More »
FILE PHOTO: Benoit Coeure, board member of the European Central Bank (ECB), is photographed during an interview with Reuters journalists at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, May 17, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Europ... More »
A security guard speaks on her mobile phone at the head office of the ABLV Bank in Riga, Latvia February 18, 2018. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank stopped all payments by Latvian lender ABLV Bank on Monday as its liquidity ... More »
