Author: News Room

Key News Asian equities were mixed on light pre-holiday volumes, as Hong Kong and India posted small gains, Japan and Korea were down more than 1%, and the Philippines and Thailand were closed. Yesterday US-China ADRs were off significantly intra-day due to the light holiday volumes this week, which tends to exacerbate volatility. McCarthy’s meeting with Taiwan’s President Tsai was likely a factor in yesterday’s trading. As I mentioned on Twitter (ahern_brendan) yesterday, what did CNH, China’s currency trading during US trading hours, and our risk monitor tell us about yesterday’s move? CNH was unchanged; we should have ignored the…

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK Apple launched its “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) service in the US to compete for the more than $100 billion in purchases Americans making using this payment method. The service, named Apple Pay Later, will allow users to split purchases into four payments spread over six weeks with no interest or fees. Initially offered to select users, Apple plans a full roll-out in the next few months. Apple Pay Later will be enabled through the Mastercard Installments program, with Goldman Sachs as the issuer of the Mastercard payment credential. Apple Pay Later Is a…

Bank Failures Changed Fed’s Course on Rates, But in an Unexpected Way The recent collapse of two midsize banks changed the Federal Reserve’s course of action on tightening monetary policy, but not necessarily in the way some market participants and observers expected. The Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point, a more modest hike than was expected before the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank earlier this month. It also indicated that it would stop raising rates sooner than it previously projected. Yet, Fed Chair Jerome Powell made clear that this slight change of…

By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) -An historically low U.S. unemployment rate and rising wages will likely keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates by another quarter of a percentage point next month, as risks of a financial crisis ease while concern about inflation remains high. U.S. job growth is slowing, something Fed policymakers have anticipated as they raised borrowing costs. But the economy still added 236,000 jobs in March, and has averaged gains of 345,000 per month during the first quarter, well above the level the central bank sees as consistent with its 2% inflation goal. The…

By Peter Nurse Investing.com – The U.S. dollar languished near two-month lows in early European trade Monday as weak economic data support the idea that the U.S. Federal Reserve may be near the end of its rate-hiking cycle. At 02:55 ET (06:55 GMT), the , which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, edged just higher at 101.295, just above a fresh two-month low of 101.140 hit earlier in the session. The dollar started last month on a firm footing on expectations sticky inflation would prompt the to take interest rates higher than previously thought. However, the…

By Mohi Narayan and Jonathan Saul NEW DELHI/LONDON (Reuters) – Global fuel suppliers are turning to longer and costlier routes that produce more carbon emissions to move their diesel and other products as Western restrictions on Russian cargoes have reshuffled global energy shipping patterns. As a result of the European Union ban on Russian fuel that started on Feb. 5, tankers carrying clean oil products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and naphtha are travelling between 16 and 18 days to bring Russian supplies to Brazil or U.S. cargoes to Europe, according to two shipping sources. That is up from…

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Tesla China-made Model 3 vehicles are seen during a delivery event at its factory in Shanghai, China January 7, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Tesla is recalling just over 400 Model 3 vehicles in the United States because front suspension lateral link fasteners may loosen. Tesla (NASDAQ:) will tighten or replace the lateral link fasteners to address the issue that could allow the lateral link to separate from the sub-frame on the recalled 2018 and 2019 model year vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said a lateral link separation could shift…

The numbers: The cost of U.S. goods and services rose by a milder 0.3% in February, perhaps a sign the Federal Reserve’s fight against high inflation is showing grudging progress. Prices had risen by a sharp 0.6% in January, based on the so-called PCE index. The yearly increase in prices declined to 5% from 5.3% in the prior month, the government said Friday, marking the lowest level in more than a year and a half. That’s still about three times the rate of inflation before the pandemic, however. Senior Federal Reserve officials have signaled they plan to raise interest rates…

When buying a home today, you might have to solve a puzzle about the mortgage rate you’ll pay. Which would you do?A one-size-fits-all answer doesn’t exist, but it might be wise to lean toward paying discount points these days. Here’s how to make a decision that fits your circumstances. Read: Americans expect mortgage rates to rise above 8% in the next 12 months, New York Fed housing survey findsWhat are discount points? Discount points are a fee paid to the lender to reduce the mortgage’s interest rate. One discount point equals 1% of the loan amount and typically reduces the…

AMC’s APE-conversion settlement paves the way for a huge equity raise that could bring in as much as $16 billion, according to B. Riley Securities analyst Eric Wold. The settlement, which was revealed in a filing Monday, opens the way for AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.’s AMC, +20.99% proposed conversion of AMC Preferred Equity units APE, -12.87%, or APEs, into common stock, alongside a 10-to-1 reverse stock split and the capacity to sell more shares. The move, which is part of the company’s ongoing battle to eliminate debt, had faced court proceedings. Wold said that the settlement clears the decks for a…