Bank of England minutes reveal risks of further pound gains March 19, 2014 Members of the UK's interest rate setting committee voted unanimously against any policy change in March. The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) chose to keep rates at their historic lows of 0.5 per cent, with asset purchases also unchanged. Minutes of the MPC reveal that sterling could strengthen further as the UK's economy [...]
What you need to know before the open March 19, 2014 Europe is expected to open mixed this morning after Vladimir Putin said yesterday that he’ll respect the sovereignty of Ukraine, going no further than recognising Crimea as part of Russia. Foreign secretary William Hague’s accused Russia of a “land grab”, calling the situation the most serious test of European security this century. Of course, we’ve [...]
Asian markets calm ahead of Fed policy review March 19, 2014 Asian markets are having an indecisive day ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy review. Investors are keeping a close eye on the Ukraine situation but tensions appear to have cooled for the time being after Vladimir Putin's comments that Russia did not intend to annexe any other parts of Ukraine. However, Western leaders have promised [...]
New York Report: Wall St pushes stocks close to a record high March 18, 2014 US STOCKS climbed for a second straight session yesterday, with the S&P 500 within striking distance of its record after comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin lessened anxiety that tensions over Ukraine could escalate even further. Gains were broad, with nine of the 10 primary S&P 500 sector indexes higher for the day. An S&P [...]
Could Portugal be the next Germany? March 18, 2014 “Portugal is on track to repeat Germany’s successful conversion from the unsustainable sick man of Europe to a competitive and balanced growth champion.” A note this morning from Christian Schulz, senior economist at Berenberg, says that Portugal is the new Germany. The bank thinks that after a contraction of 3.2 per cent in 2012 and [...]
What you need to know before the US open March 18, 2014 US markets are expected to open lower today. European counterparts have headed higher, but investors will be looking towards comment from Fed chair Janet Yellen tomorrow, as the bank puts forward its latest monetary policy decision. It’s expected to continue with its tapering programme. There are also have the latest inflation figures to digest. US [...]
Asian markets rally as investors shrug off sanctions March 18, 2014 Asian markets are rising as tensions in the Crimea cooled and investors failed to be significantly deterred by the limited US and EU sanctions imposed on Russia. The EU and the US imposed asset freezes and visa restrictions for a small number of Russian officials. However, markets will be keeping a close watch on the [...]
Sweet tweets as El-Erian waves Pimco goodbye March 17, 2014 FORMER Pimco chief executive and co-chief information officer Mohamed El- Erian may have left the world’s largest bond giant behind, but it seems the finance whizz has already found a potentially bigger audience. El-Erian, who is chief economic advisor at Allianz, joined Twitter only yesterday – and promptly racked up more than 10,000 followers. Using [...]
US factories rebound from winter freeze March 17, 2014 US INDUSTRIAL output hit a record high in February, official figures showed yesterday. The upbeat numbers reassured economists that the disappointing figures of recent months were caused by the bad winter weather, rather than any underlying slowdown in the world’s largest economy. Industrial output increased by 0.6 per cent in February, according to data from [...]
New York Report: US stocks rise as tensions in Crimea ease March 17, 2014 US STOCKS climbed yesterday, with the S&P 500 bouncing from its worst weekly drop in the past seven, as concerns eased over the situation in Crimea, while economic data indicated the economy was improving after a winter slowdown. The 97 per cent vote in Crimea in favour of quitting Ukraine was condemned as illegal by [...]