What you need to know before the US open March 21, 2014 US stock futures have climbed higher, putting Wall Street on track for a good week, despite ongoing geopolitical worries and an interest rate-related fright from the Fed. Things have been escalating between Russia and the West. Obama’s targeted some of Putin’s nearest political and business allies, and the EU’s imposed sanctions on more individuals, in [...]
This week’s 3 must-see charts March 21, 2014 How global tightening will affect emerging market stocks, the Federal Reserve's fuzzy guidance, and Italy's flailing growth rates. We bring you some of our favourite analysts’ picks of the most important graphs this week. Julian Jessop, chief global economist at Capital Economics Fears that US monetary tightening will prompt a collapse in emerging market (EM) [...]
What you need to know before the open March 21, 2014 Despite a stronger finish yesterday, markets are expected to remain cautious today, still recovering from Janet Yellen’s surprise suggestions on Wednesday that interest rates could go up sooner than expected. Better than forecast weekly jobless claims and manufacturing activity in Philadelphia in March gave equities something of a boost yesterday. European markets will most likely [...]
London Report: Failed vaccine test for Glaxo pricks the FTSE March 20, 2014 BRITAIN’S top equity index fell yesterday, hit by a drop in drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline and a hint from the Federal Reserve that US interest rates may rise sooner than previously expected. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index, which rose 14.4 per cent in 2013 and came close to a 13-year high in January, closed down 30.69 [...]
New York Report: Upbeat data helps to drive Wall St higher March 20, 2014 US stocks rose yesterday, after a batch of economic data pointed to an improving economy and investors reassessed Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s comments that had fueled speculation of an earlier-than-expected rate hike by the central bank. After several weeks of soft economic data attributed by many investors to harsh winter weather conditions, labor market data [...]
What you need to know before the US open March 20, 2014 It seems investors haven’t quite recovered from Janet Yellen’s press conference yesterday. In it she hinted that US interest rates could begin rising sooner than expected. S&P 500 futures and US Treasury futures are both lower, in the wake of yesterday’s selloff. European bond markets are still taking a hit on the message, pushing up [...]
What you need to know before the open March 20, 2014 Following a broadly favourable Budget yesterday, then something of a curveball from Janet Yellen – her suggestions about the course of interest rates unsettling markets, European bourses are expected lower today, tracking Asian and US counterparts. Markets sold off sharply on talk that the Fed could raise rates by the spring of next year, and [...]
Yellen says Fed may raise rates by spring 2015 March 19, 2014 THE Federal Reserve will probably end its massive bond-buying programme this coming autumn, and could start to raise interest rates around six months later, Fed chair Janet Yellen said yesterday. US stocks fell after the statement with the Dow closing 0.7 per cent lower at 16,222.17. The Fed had pledged not to raise rates until [...]
New York Report: Interest hike fears hurt US March 19, 2014 US stocks fell yesterday after comments from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen raised the possibility of an earlier- than-anticipated increase in interest rates. The central bank dropped the US unemployment rate as its definitive yardstick for gauging the economy’s strength and made clear it would rely on a wide range of measures in deciding when [...]
US markets exercise caution ahead of Yellen speech March 19, 2014 US markets crept lower today at the open, following weaker European counterparts. Investors are awaiting the new inflation and growth forecasts from the Fed’s Open Market Committee, with Janet Yellen holding her first press conference (6.00pm GMT) since taking over as chair last month. Despite some recent weaker economic data, the Fed isn’t expected to [...]