Fed governor Bernanke testifies to the House Committee February 27, 2013 Watch live on C-SPAN3. Questions are not known beforehand, so answers can affect the markets. It is worth watching the dollar alongside this session.
FTSE up on Fed boost February 27, 2013 THE blue chip index rallied this morning, gaining around 0.3 per cent in early deals, as strong sentiment from the US Fed boosted trading. Last night US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke leapt to the defence of its unprecedented QE programme. A slew of positive earnings updates from large-cap companies also lifted investor sentiment. In [...]
Gold price jumps as Fed chief defends QE policy February 26, 2013 THE PRICE of gold rebounded sharply last night after US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke leapt to the defence of its unprecedented quantitative easing programme. The yellow metal jumped around 1.3 per cent to hit $1,614.11 an ounce in the early hours of this morning. Gold is often seen as a hedge against inflation, which [...]
Italian election dumps country into stalemate February 26, 2013 ITALY was thrown into political stalemate yesterday as elections delivered a hung upper chamber in the country’s parliament. Pier Luigi Bersani, whose centre-left coalition won a majority in the lower chamber, has the unenviable task of either bringing maverick anti-establishment figure Beppe Grillo into the fold or forming a unity government with Silvio Berlusconi’s bloc. Since [...]
Fed comments soothe jitters on Wall Street February 26, 2013 NEW YORK REPORT US stocks rebounded from their worst decline since November yesterday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke defended the Fed’s bond-buying stimulus and sales of new homes hit a four and a half year high. The S&P 500 had climbed six per cent for the year and came within reach of all-time highs [...]
Bernanke says Fed’s balance sheet isn’t the biggest February 26, 2013 In replying to Senator Shelby about the size of the Fed's balance sheet, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said "there are other central banks whose balance sheets have been this large, such as Japan." Perhaps he's not choosing a great example there. Bernanke suggested that the Fed has thought through how to unwind QE without damaging long-term [...]
Rolex wins title of consumer superbrand for a second year February 24, 2013 LUXURY watch-maker Rolex has come top of an annual chart of consumer “superbrands” for the second year running, leaving Apple and Microsoft trailing in second and third place, a poll published today shows. The iPad and iPhone-maker jumped 16 places to clinch second place, missing out on the top spot to Rolex. Over 2,900 British [...]
Wall Street on edge over talk of end to QE February 24, 2013 US investors face another Washington-imposed deadline on government spending cuts this week, but the cut-off not generating the same level of fear as two months ago when the “fiscal cliff” loomed large. Investors in sectors most likely to be affected by the cuts, like defence, seem untroubled that the budget talks could send stocks tumbling. [...]
Cyclical stocks drop after Fed warns over QE February 22, 2013 LONDON REPORT BRITAIN’S blue chip shares posted their biggest one-day loss since July yesterday on concerns the Federal Reserve could end its stimulus programme sooner than expected, removing a driver of the recent equity rally on both sides of the pond. The FTSE 100 closed down 103.83 points, or 1.6 per cent, at 6,291.54, dropping [...]
Fed minutes suggest QE3 could end soon February 21, 2013 THE Federal Reserve last night hinted its current third round of quantitative easing (QE3) may come to an end earlier than planned, trigging a sell-off in US stock markets. Minutes of the last Fed meeting show there is growing unease within the organisation over last September’s pledge to keep buying $85bn of assets a month until there [...]