Janet Yellen denies predicting rate hikes after comments roil Wall Street May 5, 2021 US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has downplayed comments that rate hikes may be needed to stop the economy overheating as Joe Biden’s spending plans boost growth. Yellen yesterday said that she sees no inflation problem brewing, after her previous comments deepened a sell-off in tech stocks and pushed longer-dated Treasury yields higher. What has Yellen [...]
City A.M. TV: Daily Market Snapshot April 30, 2021 Its been a fascinating month for global equity markets in April. Three key themes have dominated: i) a weak US dollar (and strong currencies elsewhere); ii) a strong US company reporting season (with that replicated in other parts of the globe); & iii) a Fed meeting and a reiteration, once again, of the Fed’s super [...]
US inflation data beats expectations as Americans spend their Covid stimulus cheques April 13, 2021 US inflation rose 2.6 per cent year-on-year in March, ahead of analyst expectations of a 2.5 per cent rise, as more of Washington’s fiscal stimulus filtered down into the real economy. It’s a jump from the 1.7 per cent inflation rate measured last month. The month-on-month rate in March was a 0.6 per cent jump [...]
Biden willing to compromise on plans to hike US corporate tax April 8, 2021 US President Joe Biden said last night he is open to compromise on his $2tn (£1.45bn) infrastructure plan amid fiery criticism from businesses over a proposed $2.5tn increase in corporate taxes. Biden faced furious backlash from Republicans, large corporations and members of his own Democratic Party to elements of the proposal he laid last week including major [...]
City A.M. TV: Daily Market Snapshot (video) March 22, 2021 City A.M. TV: Daily Market Snapshot (video)
BoE keeps rates steady and dampens expectations of imminent change March 18, 2021 The Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.1 per cent and its bond-buying programme at £895bn, thereby diminishing expectations of changes in the immediate future, with the next announcement not until 6 May. The BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep rates at record-low levels. Analysts expected today’s decisions to be [...]
Bulls in control after dovish Fed as attention shifts to Bank of England today March 18, 2021 European stock markets had a dull session yesterday as traders played it safe ahead of the closely-watched Fed update. Rates were kept on hold, meeting forecasts. The economy is now projected to grow by 6.5 per cent in 2021, up from the 4.2 per cent forecast issued three months ago. David Madden, market analyst at [...]
Before the Bell: The Fed will give its latest policy verdict today March 17, 2021 There have been growing concerns that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is linked to blood clots, which is why several European countries have halted distributing the vaccination. Multiple governments have taken the decision to suspend the rolling out of the vaccine but at the same time, the WHO and the European Medicines Agency support the vaccine. European [...]
US braces for higher inflation amid pandemic recovery, warns Fed February 17, 2021 The US is trialling ways of bracing the American public for higher inflation rates as a fresh presidency attempts to heal an economy crippled by the ongoing pandemic, according to the Federal Reserve. Minutes released today from a lengthy policy meeting held by the US central bank last month revealed that Fed officials were prepared [...]
Exclusive: Andy Bell warns ‘we’ll all feel the pain of negative interest rates’ December 3, 2020 As the Bank of England mulls the introduction of negative interest rates AJ Bell’s chief executive has told City A.M. customers will suffer as a result. The central bank has already slashed interest rates to a record low of 0.1 per cent to support lending through the pandemic. “We’ve discussed how we’d deal and cope [...]