After a week dominated by questions over whether Donald Trump will be able to push his economic agenda through Congress, here are the questions FT markets reporters are asking in the final trading week of March. Will investors keep faith in Trump’s ability to drive tax cuts? That is the question facing equity markets after the White House failed to muster the support needed in the House […]
By Lucia Mutikani | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON New orders for U.S.-made capital goods unexpectedly fell in February, but a surge in shipments amid demand for machinery and electrical equipment supported expectations for an acceleration in business investment in the first quarter. Manufacturing is recovering from a prolonged slump, driven by the energy sector, bucking a slowdown in the broader economy. The Federal Reserve last week described business investment […]
It’s a little weird to think of India and China as buddies. There has been at least a half-century of rank hostility between the two most populous nations in the world, ostensibly kicking off when India gave the Dalai Lama refuge, post the Chinese invasion of Tibet. A short but debilitating border war in 1962; claimed occupation of territories by both sides; China’s alliance with Pakistan and […]
A rush by emerging market governments to sell debt before the US Federal Reserve further raises interest rates this year has propelled issuance in Asia to record levels since the start of January, new data shows. Swelled by a $3bn Indonesian bond launched on Thursday, the total value of sovereign bonds sold in Asia, excluding Japan, reached $8.2bn in the year so far, up from $6.5bn in […]
Platinum is a very expensive metal and it is therefore one of the bottlenecks hindering the growth of renewable energy. Platinum is used as the catalyst in electrolysers that store electric energy as chemical compounds, and it also plays an important role in fuel cells, catalytic converters and many chemical processes used in industry. A group of Aalto University researchers led by professors Tanja Kallio and Kari […]
The Fed’s most recurring lament over the past 8 years, ever since the Financial crisis, is that there has been no measurable inflation in the US economy when using such conventional indicators as CPI, even though according to recent measurements by PriceStats real inflation, not the BLS’ seasonally-adjusted, goalseeked and politically convenient mutant, is now running at a blistering 3.6%, the highest in five years. That […]
Last year, Donald Trump won the election for president by bemoaning the disappearance of the American factory and pledging to bring back manufacturing from other countries. Now in power, he might have to start worrying about the decline of another traditional pillar of the US economy — the American shopping mall. Fears that the rise of online shopping will lead to substantial dislocation in the retail sector […]
Not everything is Donald Trump’s fault. And by the same token, not everything that goes right in the world can be attributed to him. It can be difficult to remember this, particularly in the US where domestic politics is crowding out almost everything else from the news, and where most people are inclined to view the news through stridently pro- or anti-Trump lenses. Mr Trump seems so […]
Marriage is a sacred bond and a firmly binding promise based on mutual love, compassion and, in some cases, tolerance, worshippers will hear on Friday. God said: “And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquillity in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed, in that are signs for a people who give thought.” (Ar-Room: […]
US stock funds suffered their largest redemptions since the Brexit vote in June as Donald Trump’s push to reform healthcare floundered ahead of an expected vote in Congress in the biggest test yet of his young presidency. The quarrel among Republicans over the politically charged healthcare legislation has increased market volatility and flamed investor fears that the US president may struggle to pass tax reforms later this […]
MOSCOW — It’s 2017, and the new Cold War is in full swing. The West is winning, for now. U.S. sanctions have impoverished Russia. But the two sides are poised at a critical juncture. The Russians have come up with new technology to drill for gas that could send their economy skyrocketing again, putting the West on the back foot. And so, the CIA sends President Donald […]
Investors rushed to participate in Volkswagen’s return to European bond markets on Thursday, with the German carmaker’s first benchmark issue following the emissions scandal attracting huge demand. The €8bn euro-denominated bond attracted €24bn of orders by late afternoon, when books were closed ahead of final pricing. Bankers said the deal was launched with a spread 15 basis points tighter than initial indications. “There was a lot of […]
BlackRock and Pimco are refusing to take part in the first bond sale by a Portuguese bank in more than a year, because of a legal battle with the country’s central bank over losses sustained in 2015. Caixa Geral de Depósitos, the state-owned Portuguese bank, is this week courting investors in London and Paris, as it seeks to sell a €500m subordinated bond, in what would be […]
The optimistic but eerie calm that had settled over the US stock market since the US election ended abruptly this week, as the longest streak of trading days without a 1 per cent decline in more than two decades finally snapped. Equities clawed back some of their losses on Wednesday but investors remain on edge. The post-election stock market rally has been largely powered by hopes the […]
Newfound volatility and jitters ahead of a key healthcare vote in Washington have sapped enthusiasm for corporate bonds, forcing several companies to pay up to borrow through debt capital markets and sending others to the sidelines to await market calm. Goldman Sachs and Santander were forced to offer more attractive new issue premiums to draw investors amid the subdued market conditions, as several recent bond offerings sold […]
By Nick Kounis of ABN Amro Euro Rates Watch – Will the TLTRO spark carry trades? The last of the ECB’s TLTRO-II operations is expected to have a big take up, with the market expecting EUR 125bn, and some forecasts as high as EUR 300bn From a rates perspective, what matters is whether these funds will trigger flows into the bond or swap markets as banks set […]
Photo A ceremony on Wednesday for the reopening of the tomb of Jesus in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Credit Pool photo by Sebastian Scheiner Thousands of Christian pilgrims and members of the clergy gathered at a modest shrine in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday to celebrate the completion of a monthslong effort, hundreds of years in the making: The restoration and repair of […]
Just when it seemed the follow through from yesterday’s selloff would continue, algos may have found the only catalyst they need to press the bid: in his overnight note, Dennis Gartman writes “we actually ventured to the short side of the market, buying bearish derivatives and by 1:00 in the afternoon, doubling those positions and carrying them “home” through the close of trading.” Here is the key […]
A technical problem at NYSE Arca, the Big Board’s listing venue for exchange traded funds, stymied the end of the trading day on Monday, hindering the closing auction for 341 securities, NYSE said on Tuesday. In a letter to clients on Tuesday, NYSE attributed the problem to a new version of software. Trading on the exchange has recommenced normally. “I am contacting you personally to emphasise that […]
Stock markets suffered their worst falls since the election of Donald Trump as Wall Street worries about the prospects for the US president’s pro-business agenda triggered a rush for financial havens. US markets led the declines, with the benchmark S&P 500 index tumbling 1.2 per cent — and breaking a run of 109 trading days without a drop of 1 per cent or more. The Dow Jones […]
Wednesday 02:35 GMT Overview Asian equities sank in the wake of the S&P 500’s biggest fall in more than five months as investors fretted that US President Donald Trump’s pro-growth policies could take longer than expected to come to fruition. Hot topic The S&P 500 closed down 1.2 per cent on Tuesday, dragged lower by financial stocks. It was the first time since October 11 that the […]
US banks recorded their steepest slide since the wake of the June Brexit vote as the Treasury yield curve flattened and investors remained concerned that Donald Trump’s policy initiatives might take longer to pass than previously thought. The S&P 500 banks index dropped 3.9 per cent, marking its steepest fall since June 27, according to Bloomberg data. America’s largest lenders were under pressure as Bank of America […]
TOKYO Asian shares hit 21-month highs on Tuesday while the dollar and U.S. bond yields were on the backfoot on the prospect of a less hawkish than previously expected Federal Reserve policy trajectory. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.3 percent in its eighth consecutive day of gains with tech-heavy Seoul and Taipei shares .KS11 .TWII hitting two-year highs while Hong Kong’s Hang […]
When Tim Armour graduated from Middlebury College, a liberal arts institution in Vermont, he faced a conundrum. He could either accept a graduate programme slot at a West Coast investment group, or go and run a windsurf shop in Florida. Because he loved to windsurf but did not want to turn down a more sensible job, he asked the asset manager whether he could put off the […]
