Bloomberg Mark Carney’s final decision at the Bank of England (BOE) is on a knife edge, and the governor hasn’t done anything to ease the tension. While the Canadian, who hands over the reins to Andrew Bailey in March, has mostly held investors’ hands before crucial policy meetings, this time he’s allowing them to figure it out for themselves by ...
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Abe’s first pick in BOJ board rejig to test inflation resolve
Bloomberg Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s upcoming choice of candidate to join the Bank of Japan (BOJ) board could shed light on the leader’s current thinking on the importance of achieving a stubbornly difficult inflation goal. Abe’s nomination to replace Yutaka Harada is scheduled to take place on Tuesday morning, according to a document seen by Bloomberg. The choice will ...
Read More »Switzerland’s central bank is stomaching stronger franc for now
Bloomberg Sight deposits at the Swiss National Bank increased only marginally last week, suggesting President Thomas Jordan and his colleagues aren’t taking much action to counter the strengthening franc. Iran-US tensions and fears about the spreading Coronavirus has lifted the haven franc this year. Earlier on Monday, it breached the 1.07 per euro mark to touch a fresh three-year high. ...
Read More »â€˜Demand for Treasuries will prove short-lived’
Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co strategists are betting that the surge in demand for Treasuries thanks to fears about the deadly coronavirus will prove short-lived, sticking with a call to sell longer-dated bonds. Among the Wall Street bank’s other takeaways from the latest market-outlook reports: the outbreak of the disease is a “clear negative†for emerging Asian currencies, while for ...
Read More »Credit Suisse orders HK staff  to work from home
Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group SA has told its staff in Hong Kong not to come into the office for at least 14 days if they’ve just visited mainland China, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News. Employees who’ve visited the mainland in the past two weeks should discuss with their division manager and HR before returning to work after ...
Read More »Thai baht is brought back to earth after winning year in Asia
Bloomberg The Thai baht has gone from being Asia’s top-performing currency in 2019 to dead last in January. Finishing in the middle of the pack may be the best that can be expected this year as the central bank and a host of other forces line up against it. The currency’s 9% surge in the 12 months through December was ...
Read More »Changing weather to push Rwanda inflation: Central bank
Bloomberg Changing weather patterns are pushing up food prices and will drive inflation in Rwanda for the first few months of this year, central bank Governor John Rwangombwa said. Unexpectedly heavy rains in the second half of 2019 caused some crop damage and food inflation reached 23.8% in December, the highest in almost three years. “Because of the bad rains ...
Read More »Fed seen holding rates steady, ending bill purchases by June
Bloomberg Federal Reserve policy makers will keep interest rates on hold this year and next, and will wind up their efforts to boost excess bank reserves by June, economists said in a Bloomberg survey. In the January 21-23 poll, the mean forecast from 28 respondents predicted no move in the federal funds rate until at least 2022, the same as ...
Read More »Nordic Banks heading into the darkest phase of negative rate cycle
Bloomberg If you want to know what long-term negative interest rates are doing to banks, watch Denmark in the coming months. Danes have lived with subzero rates longer than anyone else, after the central bank resorted to the policy in 2012 to defend its currency peg. But according to the country’s financial watchdog, it’s only now that the real cost ...
Read More »SBI chief says Yes Bank won’t be allowed to fail
Bloomberg The head of India’s biggest lender said he’s certain “some solutions will emerge†to steady Yes Bank Ltd, which has been on a prolonged quest to raise new capital. “Yes Bank is a significant player in the market with an almost $40 billion balance sheet,†State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Rajnish Kumar told Bloomberg Television in Davos. “I ...
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