What you need to know before the open – 19/12 December 19, 2013 So the Fed is going to start tapering its $85bn asset purchase programme. From January, it'll buy $75bn of mortgage and Treasury bonds each month – a modest cut, but one that caught markets off-guard last night, with many calling it wrong. Equity markets saw an immediate sharp sell-off, although that quickly reversed on the [...]
Fed shocks stocks into taper rally December 18, 2013 THE US Federal Reserve shocked markets last night by announcing a tapering of its enormous monthly stimulus programme – yet stocks jumped thanks to the modest size of the cut and a notably dovish accompanying statement. From January, the Fed will purchase $75bn of mortgage and Treasury bonds each month, down from the current rate [...]
Ben’s last rally December 18, 2013 The Fed’s board members now think that unemployment will drop slightly more in 2014, to as low as 6.3 per cent. Bernanke expects that tapering will continue in “moderate steps” through most of next year”. The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) now expects that low rates will remain in place until unemployment falls “well [...]
FedEx bullish for the full year December 18, 2013 FedEx raised its full-year earnings forecast yesterday but its quarterly results missed forecasts. It sees full-year earnings per share growth between eight and 14 per cent above last year, up from its previous forecast of between seven and 13 per cent. FedEx earned $500m, or $1.57 a share, in the second quarter ended 30 November, [...]
London Report: Supermarkets help to push FTSE down amid thin trading December 18, 2013 THE UK’s main equity index steadied in thin trade yesterday, with investors cautious before what is seen as a tight policy decision by the US Federal Reserve, and with a sell-off in retailers putting a lid on any gains. Strong US data, including yesterday’s forecast-beating housing starts, has fuelled expectations that the Fed could scale [...]
New York Report: Wall St surges on Fed move December 18, 2013 US stocks staged an explosive rally yesterday, driving the Dow and the S&P 500 to all-time closing highs after the Federal Reserve announced it would start to unwind its historic stimulus. While the Fed’s move came as a surprise to many in the market, it confirmed that the US economy was on firmer footing and [...]
Storm delays United victory December 18, 2013 A HAILSTORM stopped Manchester United’s Capital One Cup quarter-final at Stoke last night before goals from Ashley Young and Patrice Evra set up a last-four clash against Sunderland. Players were called off for 10 minutes when the downpour prompted referee Mark Clattenburg to halt play half an hour into the match, with the score 0-0. [...]
What you need to know before the open – 18/12 December 18, 2013 Today is the day the Fed's Open Market Committee makes a decision on whether to trim back its quantitative easing programme. The tapering debate has rattled on for almost eight months now, with uncertainty persistently subduing the markets. Robust economic data has left many questioning the likelihood of a December (as opposed to a March [...]
London Report: Supermarket slump sees FTSE fall again after Monday’s lift December 17, 2013 BRITAIN’S main equity index fell yesterday, with big supermarket groups hit by fresh signs of a loss of market share, while uncertainty over future US monetary policy also weighed on the market. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down by 0.6 per cent, or 36.01 points, at 6,486.19 points, retreating after a 1.3 per cent [...]
New York Report: US markets dip amid Fed meet December 17, 2013 US STOCKS closed slightly lower yesterday, with investors reluctant to make big bets before the results of a Federal Reserve meeting that could give some clarity as to when its policy-setting committee will begin trimming its stimulus. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 9.31 points, or 0.06 per cent, to close at 15,875.26. The Standard [...]