FX traders had a slightly delayed reaction to news that UK PM Theresa May will trigger Article 50 next Wednesday but Cable is now sliding on the headlines. However, with speculative positioning already at record lows, many are asking “why would a long-term trader sell the pound now?” As Bloomberg’s Mark Cudmore notes, it’s a question worth asking, because it seems that the vast majority of potential […]
When the European Commission published a “white paper” this month on the future of Europe, something was missing. Two weeks earlier Pierre Moscovici, EU economy commissioner, had told an audience in Athens that the blueprint would include “ambitious ideas” for “deepening of the economic and monetary union” — code for overhauling the system of budget rules and policy co-ordination that underpins the single currency. Instead, amid warnings […]
Monday 06:10 GMT Overview The US dollar continued its slide in the wake of last week’s widely expected decision by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, while Asian stocks were mixed. European bourses are expected to open with a soft bias, with spreadbetters predicting the UK’s FTSE 100 will be unchanged but Germany’s Dax to drop 30 points to 12,065. US index futures suggest the S&P […]
It has been almost five years to the day since Mahmood Hashim Al Kooheji took over as head of Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, restructuring several investment interests and making other changes to whip the fund into shape after years of losses. It followed a term at Gulf Air in which he managed the national carrier’s controversial restructure that saw 15 percent of its staff, around 600 […]
Foreign investment capital has surged into Chinese domestic bonds over the past year, intensifying pressure for the inclusion of China’s $9.3tn bond market in dominant market indices that direct some of the world’s biggest fund flows, fund managers and analysts said. A year since China took meaningful steps to further open its bond market to international capital, inflows from foreign institutions rose 53 per cent to Rmb732bn […]
By Caroline Valetkevitch | NEW YORK NEW YORK Small-cap stocks benefited from a dovish lining to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates this past week, but strategists warn it will take more to make these pricey stocks outperform their larger brethren in the long haul. The Fed on Wednesday raised rates by a quarter of a percentage point, as expected, but did not flag […]
Despite another turbulent few days in British politics, the pound is ending the week on a firmer footing. Sterling brushed off the latest bout of Brexit nerves and further worries about a break-up of the UK, closing near $1.24 on Friday. Its revival was aided by a dovish Federal Reserve and a hawkish Bank of England. However, there are still plenty of currency-watchers who see further trouble […]
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who served as the eurozone’s chief dealmaker during some of the bloc’s biggest crises, may become a high-profile casualty of his national elections, with his Labour party unlikely to remain in government after losing three-quarters of its seats. The drubbing means Mr Dijsselbloem, who has served as eurogroup president for more than four years, may have to relinquish the post before […]
Friday 13:30 GMT What you need to know ● Dollar index nudges up after hitting five-week low● Short term US bond yields inch higher● Global stocks at record as Wall St gains ground● Oil prices firmer after volatile week● Gold advances towards $1,230 an ounce——————- Hot topic Has the buck bounce run its course? The dollar index (DXY) — a measure of the greenback against a basket […]
It is fitting that just a few hours until the Fed’s second rate hike in two quarters, and one day after Goldman downgraded global stocks to Neutral for the next 3 months, not to mention with the results of the anticipated Dutch election due shortly, that global stocks as well as S&P futures are higher, while crude oil has finally managed to stage a rebound as the […]
By Kevin Yao and Ryan Woo | BEIJING BEIJING China’s Premier Li Keqiang reassured investors on Wednesday that the world’s second-largest economy is strong and not at risk of a hard landing, while stressing Beijing’s support for globalization and free trade at a time of rising protectionism. Li also reiterated that China does not want a trade war with the United States, and urged talks with Washington […]
China plans to introduce a bond trading link between Hong Kong and the mainland by year-end, according to premier Li Keqiang. Dubbed “Bond Connect”, the programme would operate alongside the existing Stock Connect system that allows international and mainland investors their only direct access to each others’ markets. On Wednesday, the Chinese premier said: “We are preparing to implement for the first time this year a bond […]
Wednesday 02:40 GMT Overview A rally in crude oil prices that erased the losses of the previous session failed to bolster energy stocks in Asia, as bond and currency traders also shunned major moves ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rates decision later in the day. Hot topic Crude was climbing in Asia after a slide on Tuesday. Brent, the international benchmark, was up 1.3 per […]
Tuesday 15:10 GMT What you need to know ● Pound under pressure amid Brexit and Scottish secession worries● Sterling drops below $1.22 and euro edges up towards 88p● S&P 500 down 0.5 per cent as sliding oil hits energy stocks● Treasury yields little changed ahead of Fed decision——————- Hot topic The UK pound is back under pressure as traders become concerned that Edinburgh’s demand for a another […]
The pound took a tumble on Tuesday after politicians paved the way for Article 50 to be triggered this month, leading analysts to warn that Brexit was still not priced in to the value of the UK currency. Sterling fell as much as 0.9 per cent in Tuesday morning trading to just above $1.21, its weakest level since Theresa May, prime minister, promised a parliamentary vote on […]
The Gulf’s healthcare industry is expected to receive the highest volume of investments in 2017 among non-oil sectors as GCC countries seek to further diversify their economies, according to a new survey. CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, said its annual Middle East Societies Market Sentiment survey also forecse an increase in hospitality and tourism investment. It said in a statement that in Saudi Arabia, […]
By James Pomfret | NANSAN, China NANSAN, China Within earshot of mortar fire echoing from beyond a ring of hills, a sprawling relief camp in Southwestern China is swelling steadily after fighting erupted last week between a rebel ethnic army in Myanmar and government troops just across the border. In a recent Reuters visit to the rugged area in southwestern Yunnan province, aid workers and those displaced […]
Stock photo The price of Bitcoin plummeted after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) denied a request to bring Bitcoin to the financial market, highlighting how the value of the virtual currency can change within minutes. In February, the virtual currency’s value reached an all-time high of over $1,300 with investors taking a punt on rumors SEC would allow the first Bitcoin ETF. An exchange-traded fund […]
Zain Group held its annual Ordinary General Assembly in a gathering that constituted a quorum of 66.79% and approved a cash dividend of 35 fils Vice-Chairman Bader Al Kharafi: “Investments in emerging technologies will diversify our revenue streams.” New Board of Directors elected for three years; Scott Gegenheimer given new role as CEO of Operations Advertisement Kuwait – 12 March, 2017 Zain Group, a leading mobile telecom […]
Here are the main questions facing investors and markets as a new trading week beckons. What will the Federal Reserve say?Sometimes words matter more than action. A quarter percentage point tightening is all but baked in after the February jobs report, when 235,000 jobs were created — eclipsing market expectations. Of greater importance is whether Fed officials indicate a willingness for a faster rate of tightening in […]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a landslide victory in state elections in the bellwether state of Uttar Pradesh, an affirmation of his enduring popularity midway through his term. The Hindu nationalist BJP won 324 of 403 state assembly seats in India’s most populous state, a magnitude of victory not seen in state polls there since 1980. The decisive mandate in a […]
By Trevor Hunnicutt and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss | NEW YORK NEW YORK The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday denied a request to list what would have been the first U.S. exchange-traded fund built to track bitcoin, the digital currency. Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have been trying for more than three years to convince the SEC to let it bring the Bitcoin ETF to market. CBOE […]
Burkhard Varnholt last week paid €14 for lunch for two people at a smart restaurant in Berlin. “The euro is so cheap,” says Credit Suisse’s deputy chief investment officer. It is cheap because of one factor: Marine Le Pen. In normal circumstances, the euro would be trading a lot higher on the back of the eurozone’s record current account surplus, an unemployment rate at its lowest in […]
Hopes for a new way to trade bitcoin were dealt a blow on Friday when US regulators rejected an application that would have let the Winklevoss twins launch an exchange traded fund tracking the digital currency. The Securities and Exchange Commission said it would not allow Bats Global Markets to list shares of the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust based on concerns that “significant markets for bitcoin are unregulated”. […]
