Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open September 21, 2016 Markets are already cheering the US Federal Reserve and Mylan's chief executive is set to answer questions on the latest drug pricing scandal. Here's what you need to know before the US open at 2:30pm. The US pre-market is climbing ahead of the open, betting the Fed will not move to hike interest rates when it [...]
European Central Bank’s new ideas team still hasn’t had an idea September 21, 2016 Fed up with having to do the heavy lifting of the Eurozone recovery, the European Central Bank (ECB) has been upping the ante for governments to turn up to the party. President Mario Draghi makes a song and dance of the need for "national governments" to implement "structural reforms" to haul the Eurozone out of miserly [...]
Are government bonds too expensive? September 20, 2016 Government bond yields could have passed their nadir, investment banks and bond analysts have suggested, with borrowing costs rising and the outlook for major economies in flux. As the US Federal Reserve has hesitated on raising rates, the Brexit vote threw the financial markets into brief turmoil and the Eurozone has shown only tentative signs [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open September 20, 2016 Theresa May has been buttering up Wall Street following the Brext vote and drug giant GlaxoSmithKline has a new chief executive. Here's what you need to know before the US open at 2:30pm London time. The US futures markets are pointing higher ahead of the open. The S&P is up by 0.38 per cent, the Nasdaq [...]
Two banks are betting on the US raising interest rates tomorrow September 20, 2016 The world's most important central bank meets tomorrow to decide whether to raise interest rates for only the second time since the financial crisis. This week is realistically the US Federal Reserve's last chance to change rates before the US election. While the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will meet just one week before the 8 [...]
Opec is like a latter-day Ratpack act: It doesn’t need new material to move the market September 20, 2016 How many stories are there in town at the moment? What are the current obsessions for traders who, now that September is here, are routinely swinging the equity market over one per cent on a daily basis? To my mind, after a seemingly endless succession of sessions in July and August without a one per cent [...]
Danny Willett demonstrates Ryder Cup form at Italian Open as showdown with United States looms September 19, 2016 Most of Europe’s players enjoyed their last taste of competitive action at the weekend before we all pack our bags and head for Hazeltine and the Ryder Cup in a few days’ time. There is no input from Europe captain Darren Clarke in the players’ scheduling decisions; it is entirely up to them how they [...]
Eight years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, FutureBrand’s Tom Adams says that perceptions of banks’ brands are improving September 19, 2016 Eight years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, FutureBrand’s global head of strategy Tom Adams reflects on how the public perceives financial services organisations. In 2014, when his global brand consultancy first began polling professionals in 17 countries to see how they perceived the firms in PwC’s list of global top 100 companies by market capitalisation, [...]
US inflation just about beat economists’ expectations last month September 16, 2016 US consumer price growth came in slightly better-than-expected last month, according to official data released today. The Labour Department said today that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2 per cent last month after it remained unchanged in July. In the 12 months to August, the CPI swelled 1.1 per cent after increasing 0.8 per cent in [...]
US interest rates: Weak data boosts case for another delay from the Fed September 15, 2016 The US has posted another uninspiring set of economic data, suggesting the slowdown in the world's most important economy is set to continue. Official figures on the manufacturing sector, retail sales and factory prices all came in below expectations this afternoon, just days before the US Federal Reserve is scheduled to vote on whether to [...]