Banking

Bloomberg Malaysia’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, giving itself policy space to act in coming months if the global economy worsens. The central bank held its overnight rate at 3% at its final meeting for the year, as predicted by 16 of the 25 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The remaining nine had expected a 25 basis-point cut. ...

Bloomberg Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda stepped into the global debate about whether governments need to do more heavy lifting to support their economies, saying that the ultra-low interest environment created by Japan’s central bank makes fiscal spending more powerful. Kuroda said the BOJ wasn’t planning to add to its stimulus in tandem with some form of government spending ...

Bloomberg A combination of mixed macroeconomic data and stretched investor sentiment suggests it’s time to sell risk assets, according to HSBC Holdings Plc. “Fundamentally, the macro data does not justify the recent outperformance of risk assets,” wrote strategists including Max Kettner in a note to clients. “We think risk assets are ripe for a pullback in the coming weeks.” The ...

Bloomberg Brazil’s central bank refrained from providing guidance on its easing cycle beyond its next policy meeting in December, opting instead to signal it will remain cautious in efforts to add stimulus to a weak economy. A benign consumer price outlook should allow for another rate cut “of the same magnitude” next month, the central bank board wrote in the ...

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc, stung by losses in Uber Technologies Inc and WeWork, has a message for investors in growth stocks: profit matters. After years of pursuing revenue growth at all costs, driven by cheap money, markets are increasingly focusing on whether companies can translate top line expansion into profitability, Chief Executive Officer David Solomon said in a wide-ranging ...

Bloomberg Federal Reserve policy makers are satisfied with the stance of monetary policy even if President Donald Trump isn’t. In a series of appearances last week, central bank officials hammered home the message that policy is on hold after three cuts in interest rates this year. “We have a favourable outlook for the economy,” Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said ...

Bloomberg Almost two years after Latvia’s central-bank governor was detained in a bribery probe, he’s getting the chance to prove his innocence in the courtroom. Ilmars Rimsevics, who also sits on the European Central Bank’s policy-setting panel, is attending his first hearing. He denies the charges against him, which carry a prison term of more than 10 years. Rimsevics’s case ...

Bloomberg As long-term negative interest rates reshape life in the Nordic region, its biggest bank is trying to reinvent one of its most important business areas. Nordea Bank Abp says it’s rethinking how it does market making — a service that helps investors carry out securities trades and ensures liquidity — in an effort to adapt to long-term negative rates. ...

Bloomberg South Africa’s rand and bonds rose after the country clung to its last investment-grade credit rating. The currency gained 1.7% to 14.7853 per dollar, the most on a closing basis in more than three weeks, and paring its loss since the end of June to 4.7%. The yield on rand-denominated government bonds fell the most since early 2018 and ...

Bloomberg The World Bank could provide as much as $5 billion to Democratic Republic of Congo over the next five years if its new government commits to raising more revenue, fighting corruption and opening up its economy. The financing would be a welcome boost for Congo’s new president, Felix Tshisekedi, who has promised a bold series of costly social programs, ...