US consumers’ thrift prompts recovery fears July 16, 2012 MARKETS took a hit across the pond yesterday after data revealed that US retail sales have sunk for three straight months, prompting fears over the strength of the recovery. Despite the old adage to never underestimate the American consumer, retail sales last month fell 0.5 per cent – disappointing analysts who had predicted a small [...]
US MARKET DATA POINTS TO A SUMMER OF CHALLENGES July 16, 2012 TODAY we’ll hear more from Ben Bernanke, as the chairman of the US Federal Reserve delivers his semi-annual monetary policy report to the Senate Banking Committee. He’ll follow this up tomorrow by addressing the House Financial Services Committee. He is likely to remind policymakers that fiscal issues must be addressed, and that they cannot rely [...]
LIBOR CRISIS SPREADS July 15, 2012 LLOYDS became the latest UK bank to be dragged into the ongoing Libor scandal over the weekend, after the New York Fed made public emails sent by Barclays staff to the US authorities that accuse Lloyds of entering false Libor submissions in mid-2007. A swathe of previously unseen documents also show Bank of England governor [...]
Returns diminish as central banks act July 15, 2012 FIVE years on from the start of the financial crisis, have markets become immune to central bank action? Three recently unveiled another batch of stimulus: the Bank of England increased its asset purchase programme by £50bn; the European Central Bank cut its marginal lending rate, cut interest rates by 25 basis points and, perhaps most [...]
Terry prepares for D-Day in race row case July 12, 2012 FORMER England captain John Terry will learn today whether he has been found guilty of what was yesterday termed “straightforward racial abuse” of QPR footballer Anton Ferdinand during a match last year. A week-long trial and months of claim and counter-claim, which have already seen Terry stripped of the national armband and Fabio Capello resign [...]
US job market upturn illusory warn analysts July 12, 2012 NEW JOBLESS claims dipped to a four-year low last week in the US, according to yesterday’s estimates from the Department of Labor. Dropping 24,000 in the week ending 30 June, initial claims last week reached just 350,000, adjusted for seasonal trends. But analysts warned the seasonal adjustment applied to the data disguised a jump of [...]
Bank of Japan rejects easing as it projects healthy GDP growth July 12, 2012 JAPAN’S economy is growing relatively strongly and does not need any help from a looser monetary policy, its central bank announced yesterday, marking a stark contrast with the downbeat tone of other major central banks. In the week after the European Central Bank and Bank of England loosened policy to combat the sovereign debt crisis [...]
Miners and banks pin back FTSE July 12, 2012 The FTSE 100 was dragged down by weak commodity stocks and banks in early trading as investors cut their exposure to riskier assets on uncertainty over whether the US Federal Reserve will launch more stimulus measures. Minutes from last month’s Fed meeting showed the world’s biggest economy would have to worsen further before the central [...]
Traders remain unconvinced by Fed’s QE3 talk July 11, 2012 SENIOR officials at the US Federal Reserve considered voting for more quantitative easing (QE3) last month, its minutes revealed last night, yet investors across the pond remained unimpressed. Despite a number of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) appearing to lean towards expansion of its balance sheet, stocks in New York fell while the dollar [...]
Fifth straight day of decline for the Dow July 11, 2012 THE DOW and the Nasdaq lost ground yesterday as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June meeting showed policymakers are open to the idea of more economic stimulus, but that conditions might need to worsen first. The S&P 500 ended unchanged, breaking a four-day losing streak, after paring losses into the close. Technology and industrials led [...]