Banking

US banks weak after worst reversal in 3 years

Bloomberg US financials are still nursing their June hangover. The Financial Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund is trading to the downside yet again in early trading, weighed down by Citigroup and Bank of America. The drop follows the KBW Bank Index’s dramatic day that delivered the biggest intraday reversal — from up as much as 2.1 percent to ending in ...

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Australia holds rate as currency drop offers export support

Bloomberg Australia left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low on Tuesday as the currency’s recent decline aids the economy by offering exporters some insulation against global trade ructions. Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe kept the cash rate at 1.5 percent, as expected by all economists and where it’s stood since August 2016. The Australian dollar this week ...

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Europe banks exploit loophole in key rule to cut $145bn in trades

Bloomberg Some of Europe’s biggest banks may have found a perfectly legal way to exploit a weakness in one of the finance industry’s most loathed rules. Euro-area and Swiss lenders cut their short-term borrowings by tens of billions of dollars just before the end of each quarter, improving their reported financial health, only to build them up again in the ...

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Indonesia favours rupiah stability above growth in rate move

Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank is showing its willingness to sacrifice economic growth for currency stability in its latest aggressive move on interest rates. Bank Indonesia surprised economists with a bigger-than-forecast 50 basis-point hike, on top of two rate increases in May aimed at halting a currency rout. That takes the benchmark rate to 5.25 percent, with analysts betting there’s more ...

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Deutsche Bank targets Indian market

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG, which is in the throes of a global restructuring involving thousands of job cuts, is zeroing in on an Asian market where an unprecedented bad-loan clean-up offers the potential for a credit bonanza. In India, where bankruptcy law changes have injected urgency into efforts to restructure $210 billion of stressed assets, Deutsche Bank sees an opportunity ...

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UniCredit to sell $3.5bn of loans in cleanup

Bloomberg UniCredit SpA is selling at least 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) of non-performing loans in different deals, while extending a partnership to manage troubled corporate debt as part of its cleanup strategy, according to people with knowledge of matter. The Italian bank is reviewing final offers for 700 million euros of unsecured loans in a disposal project dubbed Narciso ...

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NZ central bank’s chairman blocks media from briefing on reforms

Bloomberg Reserve Bank of New Zealand Board Chairman Neil Quigley has blocked media from attending a presentation he will deliver on reforms at the central bank. Quigley is speaking on Tuesday at an Institute of Directors luncheon in Hamilton on “Governance and Decision-Making at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.” The event is open to institute members for NZ$50 ($34) ...

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BofA looks to capitalise on AI in currency research

Bloomberg Bank of America (BofA) is jumping on the AI bandwagon. For the first time, the bank’s currency strategists are using machine-learning programs — which enable computers to comb through vast amounts of data to draw inferences and make predictions on their own — to tell clients what to buy and sell. They began producing AI-based research last month, as ...

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PBOC panel signals shift to growth, market stabilisation

Bloomberg China’s central bank said it’ll keep economic development steady and stabilise market expectations, and reiterated a more cautious tone on debt containment. The People’s Bank of China will keep a close eye on domestic and global economic developments and step up “forward-looking policy fine-tuning,” according to a statement released after a meeting a day earlier of the monetary-policy advisory ...

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BOJ cuts bond purchases third time in June

Bloomberg The Bank of Japan reduced debt purchases for a third time in June, taking advantage of the recent stability in bond yields and the yen. The BOJ lowered buying in the five-to-10 year segment by 20 billion yen ($181 million) to 410 billion yen at a regular operation. The yen — which has in the past shown a tendency ...

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