Inflation concerns rattle Treasuries and stocks. Investors have shown they are excited about AI's prospects, but they want tech companies to continue to focus on revenue and profit in the meantime. Roiled markets | Bond and stock markets were rattled on Thursday by data that showed exactly what investors did not want to hear: a sharp slowdown in the world’s largest economy and stubborn inflationary pressures. Treasuries sold off, with yields hitting fresh 2024 highs as the economic figures revived chatter about “stagflation” — bringing mor ..read more

Mon Apr 22 Earth Day 2024. US climate action summit in DC. Jewish celebration of Passover begins this evening. US-Philippine war games. | Tue Apr 23 Basel Committee meets. South African Reserve Bank issues monetary policy review. | Wed Apr 24 50th anniversary of Basel Committee & 23rd global banking conference. Bank of Canada releases deliberations of last policy meeting. | Thu Apr 25 US GDP. Anzac Day, a public holiday in Australia and New Zealand. | Fri Apr 26 Global climate conference in Madrid. Japan rate decision. | Sat Apr 27 30th anniversary of South Africa ..read more

The ongoing selloff in bonds. Wall Street hit by hawkish bets. Photo: Michael Nagle | Bloomberg Danger zone | The world’s biggest bond market extended this month’s selloff after solid economic readings and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials reinforced speculation that interest rates will be higher for longer. Treasuries fell across the curve, pushing 10-year yields up to around 4.63%. To Vanguard, the market is nearing levels that risk triggering a large selloff. “We are in a danger zone right now,” Ales Koutny, Vanguard’s hea ..read more

Mon Apr 15 IMF-World Bank spring meetings begin. Tax day in the US. Boston Marathon. | Tue Apr 16 Olympic flame lit in Greece before heading to Paris. | Wed Apr 17 MSRB board meeting. Fed's 'Beige Book'. G20 finance ministers and central bankers meet in DC. G7 foreign ministers meet in Italy. EU heads of state hold special summit. | Fri Apr 19 Parliamentary elections begin in India. | Sun Apr 21 London marathon.   ..read more

US strengthens ties with Japan, Philippines. Photo: Al Drago | Bloomberg Ironclad commitments | US President Joe Biden said he was committed to “deepening maritime and security ties” with Japan and the Philippines as he sought to assure allies worried about increasingly assertive Chinese actions in disputed waters. “The United States defense commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are ironclad,” Biden said Thursday before a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White Ho ..read more

Mon Apr 8 Solar eclipse visible in US. Janet Yellen in China to meet with senior leaders. | Tue Apr 9 CFTC's Market Risk Advisory Committee meets. | Wed Apr 10 US CPI. US FOMC minutes. Bank of Canada policy meeting and rate decision. Eid al-Fitr festival marks the end of Ramadan. | Thu Apr 11 First trilateral summit between the US, Japan, Philippines at the White House. ECB set to meet to debate interest rates. | Fri Apr 12 Marathon des Sables, the 'sand marathon,' starts in Morocco. | Sat Apr 13 North Pole marathon. Thai new year. | Sun Apr 14 London marathon. &n ..read more

Fedspeak continues today. Market moves | Wall Street traders are gearing up for Friday’s monthly US jobs report after weekly unemployment claims topped estimates. Bloomberg Economics predicts that 187,000 jobs were added in March and expects the unemployment rate to remain at 3.9%, higher than consensus expectations. The S&P 500 dropped 1.2%, wiping out earlier gains, as a rally in oil amid geopolitical tensions triggered a flight to the safest corners of the market. Brent crude oil climbed above $90 a barrel for the first time since October as Israel ..read more

Fed piloting another tricky soft-landing The Fed is close to delivering a rare soft landing for the US economy but it faces yet another fraught challenge: reducing cash in the financial system without disrupting markets. With the Fed having already removed some $1.4 trillion as it shrinks its balance sheet to end pandemic-era support, the focus is increasingly turning to when it should stop. The worry is that if cash in the banking system, called reserves, breaches a certain minimum level, markets will freeze up. But no one knows what the right level is. (Reuters | Mar 28) see also Fed's opera ..read more

Mon Mar 25 UN Security Council meets on global threats. | Tue Mar 26 Boao Forum for Asia. | Wed Mar 27 WEF cybersecurity briefing. IOSCO meets on ISSB standards. Chinese bank earnings. | Thu Mar 28 Sentencing of former chief executive of cryptocurrency exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried. | Fri Mar 29 Good Friday. Exchanges closed in US and many other countries in observance of holiday. US federal government is open. | Sat Mar 30 Land Day in Palestinian Territories. | Sun Mar 31 Easter Sunday ..read more

Surprise cut. From Zurich to London to Washington, the great inflation scare that gripped the world economy after the Covid pandemic is suddenly no longer keeping central bankers up at night as the prospect of rate cuts become real. The Swiss National Bank unexpectedly slashed its key interest rate by 25 basis points, moving months ahead of global peers. The SNB’s move foreshadows possible easing later this year by the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank. Mexico's central bank also cut interest rates in a split decision on Thursday ..read more