DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Credit Suisse saw record fund outflows during March turmoil, data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse saw investors pull a record 4.6 billion euros ($5.04 billion) out of its funds at the height of the bank's troubles last month, data published on Friday showed. The data from Morningstar covered the whole of March, when a potential collapse of Credit Suisse saw Switzerland's financial authorities orchestrate its emergency takeover by rival UBS (UBSG.S). The data also showed that Swisscanto, another Swiss asset manager, saw the second-largest inflow of funds after iShares in March, with an estimated 6.2 billion euros pouring in. Going back over the last 12 months, the data also showed Credit Suisse's funds, which Morningstar counts as either open-ended fund and exchange-traded funds, had seen money exiting every month apart from one. Reuters Graphics($1 = 0.9127 euros)Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Amanda CooperOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ JPMorgan sees Turkey lira diving towards 30 per dollar after elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, April 14 (Reuters) - Turkey's lira is likely to drop sharply and could near 30 to the dollar following next month's elections, bankers at JPMorgan have predicted, if it looks like only modest changes will be made to its unorthodox economic policies. Turkey's tightly contested presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14 are perhaps the most consequential in the century-long history of the republic. JPMorgan's analysts said that macro adjustments were expected regardless of the results but laid out two scenarios based on the degree of commitment to more orthodox policies, such as interest rate rises to cool inflation. "Initially, lira depreciates, driven by pent-up pressures of the large stimulus ahead of the elections. "A scenario of a return to orthodox macroeconomic policies could set lira on a real appreciation trend back towards its fair value," JPMorgan said.

☆ Analysis: No China, no deal: Bid to break sovereign debt logjams gets weary thumbs up
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Libgeorge Marc Jones | Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) - The latest bid by the world's leading institutions and creditors to speed up debt restructurings and get bankrupt countries back on their feet has been greeted by a mix of cautious optimism and weary scepticism by veteran crisis watchers. The somewhat loose framework around sovereign restructurings has seen Beijing seek to influence the traditional rules of engagement in these processes. The Common Framework platform introduced by leading G20 nations in 2020 aimed to bring all creditors, including China, together and streamline negotiations. Anna Ashton, director of China research at Eurasia Group, said this week’s developments underscored the benefits for China to give some ground on some of its concerns. "China is a difficult partner to talk to but we need China at the table for the solution of debt problems, because otherwise we won't see any progress," Lindner said.

☆ No China, no deal: Bid to break sovereign debt logjams gets weary thumbs up
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Libgeorge Marc Jones | Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

☆ Factbox: The developing countries facing a debt crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The cocoa, gold and oil producer has already reached a deal to write down domestic debt and last week kicked off formal debt talks with international bondholders. A $1.9 billion IMF loan has been stalled for months as Tunisia's president has shown little sign of action on key reforms. SRI LANKASri Lanka defaulted on its international debt last year after economic mismanagement, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, sparked a political crisis and left it without dollars for even essential imports. UKRAINEUkraine just received the first $2.7 billion tranche under a four-year, $15.6 billion IMF loan program. Zambia's currency, the kwacha , has fallen more than 10% against the U.S. dollar this year, which the central bank has said is adding to inflation.

☆ Louis Vuitton boss Bernard Arnault is only the 3rd person to be worth $200 billion – and his 5 kids are all Nepo babies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Luxury goods mogul Bernard Arnault is the world's richest person. Eric Piermont/Getty ImagesBernard Arnault is currently the world's richest person with a net worth of about $201 billion, according to estimates by Bloomberg. He's only the third person to surpass the $200 billion mark following tech moguls Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, both of whom have since seen their wealth fall. Arnault cofounded LVMH in the 1980s, and is its CEO and chair. Last year LVMH raised the age limit of its CEO from 75 to 80, extending Arnault's possible tenure.

☆ Shares and bonds ride high after soothing euro zone data
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Government bonds have gained as much as 5%, gold is 8% higher, while oil is down and the dollar has barely budged. The euro zone inflation numbers showed consumer prices rising 6.9% in March after an 8.5% increase in February, representing the sharpest deceleration since Eurostat started collecting data in 1991. Japan's Nikkei (.N225) also jumped 1% on Friday，as inflation data for the capital Tokyo highlighted broadening price pressures. The euro , which hit a one-week high against the dollar overnight on sticky German inflation data, dipped back under $1.09 again after the euro zone data but was still set for a 3% monthly rise. U.S. crude futures were flat at $74.40 per barrel, while Brent crude futures slipped 0.1% to $78.52 per barrel.

☆ China-driven growth seen helping emerging assets despite bank worries
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Duncan Miriri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - Stronger Chinese-led emerging markets growth will likely buffer the stocks, bonds and currencies of many developing nations as markets in the United States and Europe are whipped around by banking turmoil. "The growth premium in favour of emerging markets driven by China is clearly even more confirmed," Alessia Berardi, head of emerging markets (EM) research at Amundi, Europe's biggest asset manager, told Reuters. Analysts expect high interest rates, inflation and stress among some financial institutions to dampen growth in developed markets like the United States. "We prefer income in emerging markets debt with central banks closer to turning to cuts than developed markets, even with potential currency risks," it said in a research note. Local EM bonds have seen a return of 3.3% in the month-to-date (.JGEGDCM), compared to a 3.1% gain in U.S. 10-year Treasuries.

☆ Global derivatives industry defends CDS after banking blow-ups
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Credit default swaps (CDS) are derivatives that offer insurance against the risk of a bond issuer - such as a bank - not paying their creditors. European Union markets watchdog ESMA said on Thursday that it, together national regulators, had been "looking into the recent market movements, including in the CDS market". Clearing of individual bank or company CDS is also available at LCH’s CDSClear and ICE Clear Credit. Overall, the credit derivatives market is also far smaller than it was before the 2008 crisis. "The credit derivatives market continues to play a critical role, particularly during times of volatility," Malia said.

☆ Default-stricken Zambia's debts creep higher
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - Default-stricken Zambia published figures on Wednesday showing that its total public debt stock climbed to $32.8 billion, including interest arrears at the end of last year, of which $18.6 billion was external. At the end of June 2022 its total debt including interest arrears was $32.5 billion, with $17.5 billion external. "Zambia urgently needs a significant reduction in its debt burden," the country's Ministry of Finance said in an accompanying statement. "Zambia enjoys productive and positive relationships with all its creditors and is hopeful that an agreement on debt restructuring can be reached swiftly." Reporting by Marc Jones and Rachel Savage; Editing by Karin Strohecker and Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Europe's banks in 'better place' than U.S. in terms of commercial property risk - JPMorgan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Europe's banks face less threat from some of the problems now showing in the commercial real estate markets than their U.S. counterparts, analysts at JPMorgan have said. That would accelerate a property sector downturn, aggravating underlying health concerns as it did during the 2007-08 global financial crisis and a number of other major crashes. Analysts at Capital Economist estimated this week that U.S. commercial property prices will slump a further 18-20%, having already fallen 4-5% from their peak in mid-2022. Lending to commercial property accounts for about 40% of all loans by smaller U.S. banks, defined by the Federal Reserve as being those outside the 25 largest by asset size. These banks account for about 70% of outstanding loans to the commercial real estate sector.

☆ Analysis: Pressure builds on Egypt to devalue currency further
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Patrick Werr | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Egypt has sharply devalued the currency three times since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 exposed vulnerabilities in the country's finances. But with each devaluation the central bank aimed to keep the currency steady afterwards, only for the black market and non-deliverable forwards to quickly push beyond the new rate. "No time like the present to align foreign exchange rates with fundamentals," Urmossy said, adding that the March 30 policy announcement was "one of the most anticipated events in the African Frontier space." And the black market shows the hard currency shortage that has plagued Egypt for more than a year persists. "Demand for foreign exchange continues to outstrip supply, providing the conditions for the parallel market to grow," said Farouk Soussa of Goldman Sachs.

☆ Stocks up, bond yields fall as markets mull a Fed policy pause
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Fed's hint of a pause after announcing a quarter-point rate rise on Wednesday, even as it re-stated its commitment to fight inflation, provided relief to markets. "Note the modern-day history book of Fed pauses is very bullish for stocks," Innes said. In Europe, news of the rate hikes in Switzerland and Britain helped push the European-wide STOXX 600 share index (.STOXX) down 0.21%. For bond markets it meant European government bond yields - which reflect borrowing costs - were heading down again. German Bunds were back at 2.25%, having seen 10-year U.S. Treasury yields dip back below 3.5%.

☆ Rally splutters as Europe ploughs on with rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The European-wide STOXX 600-share index (.STOXX) fell 0.75% with banks and insurers the main culprits again, suffering 1.6%-2% drops. Norway had also hiked, although MSCI's main world share index (.MIWD00000PUS) was still in positive territory after overnight gains in Asia. Focus now shifts to the Bank of England, with investors expecting a quarter-percentage-point increase in its main rate after a surprise jump in inflation squashed hopes of it pausing its tightening campaign. /FRXElsewhere in the bond markets, although UK yields were up those on German Bunds were down at 2.281%, happy to match the falls seen on 10-year U.S. Treasuries yields that had taken them to 3.440%. Germany's European Central Bank rate setter Joachim Nagel had even said he now thought the ECB was "approaching restrictive territory" with its rates, referring to a level that curtails growth.

☆ Global supervisor to review banking market woes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - The main global committee of banking supervisors is to review the recent turmoil in the financial system to see what lessons can be learn and whether any regulations need tightening. The Switzerland-based Basel Committee on Banking Supervision said in a statement on Thursday it had met on 22–23 March in Hong Kong, "to take stock of recent market developments and risks to the global banking system and related vulnerabilities, and to discuss a range of policy and supervisory initiatives." Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Amanda CooperOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Everything we know about Chinese app Temu. It sells a weird variety of things for cheap — and has some wondering if it's legit.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Grace Dean | Mary Hanbury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

It's listed as the top free app in both the Google Play store and the Apple App Store, ahead of TikTok, Amazon, and Instagram. These cost savings can then be passed on to the consumer, a spokesperson for Temu told Insider. But for the average North American shopper, such low prices can actually be disconcerting, especially when they don't know much about Temu. A spokesperson for Temu told Insider that it uses its parent company's supply chain and logistics network to ship these items. Read more: I ordered my first 4 items off Chinese e-commerce app Temu and came away annoyed with the dozens of marketing emails sent after making a single purchase

☆ Central bank tests spur global instant payment hopes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - A year of tests run by central banks in Italy, Malaysia and Singapore have spurred hopes for a global instant payments network accessible at the tap of a mobile phone. Current transfers are slowed by the patchwork of more than 60 different instant payment networks, so central banks involved in the new tests have been working on ways to improve the process. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the central bank umbrella body, which helped oversee the "Nexus" trials, said the three countries involved had successfully sent payments between themselves using only mobile phone numbers. Looking ahead, the BIS said further trials would be run by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand with the hope that "Nexus could eventually be implemented globally." Reporting by Marc Jones Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) bondholders are seeking legal advice after the Swiss regulator ordered 16 billion Swiss francs ($17.5 billion) of Additional Tier-1 (AT1) debt to be wiped out under its rescue takeover by UBS (UBSG.S). Not only did bondholders expect protection, but UBS is paying $3.23 billion to Credit Suisse shareholders. One Paris-based manager of a debt fund that held Credit Suisse AT1s said he had been "spammed" with emails from lawyers. Facing any challenge could be Credit Suisse, its new owner UBS, Swiss regulator FINMA or the Swiss government. It also cited an emergency March 19 ordinance which it said authorised FINMA to instruct Credit Suisse to write off the bonds.

☆ EU's EIB to break 4-year Turkey lending ban with earthquake aid
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - The European Union's lending arm, the European Investment Bank, is to provide 500 million euros ($540 mln) for Turkey's post-earthquake rebuilding efforts, suspending an almost-total ban on financing for Turkey. The EIB stopped virtually all lending in Turkey after a row over oil and gas drilling off Cyprus nearly four years ago. But the severity of last month's quake, which killed nearly 56,000 people in Turkey and neighbouring Syria, has prompted it to make an exception. Turkey is set to hold pivotal presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14 and EU members are wary of a resumption of EIB lending being seen as an indirect backing of incumbent president Tayyip Erdogan's re-election campaign. The EIB lent around 2 billion euros a year in Turkey between 2009 and 2016 before the concerns about Ankara's domestic crackdown first saw the bank scale back its lending in the country.

JOHANNESBURG, March 17 (Reuters) - Debt restructuring programmes in Ghana and Zambia are going in "diverging directions" due to Zambia's larger exposure to Chinese lenders and its weaker ability to cope with a large amount of debt, investment bank Citi said on Friday. Ghana was likely to get an International Monetary Fund (IMF)board sign-off for a $3 billion rescue loan in the next few weeks, while Zambia's restructuring had stalled, Citi's analysts said in a note to clients. Ghana defaulted on its external debts in December and has since sealed a domestic debt swap and requested a restructuring of its bilateral debts via the G20's Common Framework vehicle. "Our more positive view (on Ghana) is supported by a strong commitment by the IMF and Paris Club to achieve a quick breakthrough," the Citi note said. "Assuming a 12.5% exit yield... suggests an average price uptick of 10 cents" on bond prices, the note said.

☆ S&P Global says banks' unrealized losses manageable at this stage
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Rating agency S&P Global said on Thursday that the banks around the world that it provides credit scores for should be able handle "unrealized losses" from global interest rate rises at present. "At this stage, we view the risks from unrealized losses as manageable," S&P said in a report published on Thursday. It said it was down largely to healthy liquidity and capital, helped further in many cases by the uptick in 2022 earnings, although it would continue to monitor the situation. "We think that most banks have the capacity to hold their (nontrading) fair-valued assets to maturity, and in doing so neutralize the impact of unrealized losses over time." Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Amanda CooperOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Banks should largely be able to cope with "unrealised losses" on bonds and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, top credit ratings agencies S&P Global and Moody's said on Thursday, although they remained guarded on Credit Suisse's woes. "At this stage, we view the risks from unrealized losses as manageable," S&P said in a report published just days after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, a lender it had rated as 'investment grade' until the day it fell. Rival agency Moody's also offered its balm to the Credit Suisse jitters, saying that while it would "act appropriately" with the Swiss bank's rating, Europe's lenders remain in fundamentally good health. "That kind of confidence shock that we've just seen from the U.S. is bound to have some impact," Hill said. Reporting By Marc Jones and Lawrence White Editing by Nick ZieminskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ JPMorgan cranks up equities "underweight" after market rout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - JPMorgan's strategists ratcheted up the investment bank's "underweight" recommendation on equities on Wednesday and urged switching into cash following the market rout caused by Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. In a note titled "There are many carry trades, and they can't all be bailed out", JPMorgan analysts said: "We maintain a defensive tilt in our model portfolio, and further increase our UW (underweight) in equities vs. raising our cash allocation." "When the (global) economy is slowing down and financing costs are rising, all these implicit or explicit carry trades are pressured to unwind, leading to an end of the cycle. We believe we are in that stage and remain negative on risky asset classes." Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Dhara RanasingheOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ VIEW SVB meltdown triggers global drop in bank shares
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 10 (Reuters) - The failure of troubled tech-lender SVB Financial Group's (SIVB.O) efforts to raise capital through a stock sale rippled through global markets on Friday and sent shares of many banks tumbling. read moreShares of SVB, which does business as Silicon Valley Bank, were halted on Friday after tumbling as much as 66% earlier in premarket trading. The S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) dropped 0.63% on Friday after a 6.6% decline on Thursday, while the KBW Regional Banking index (.KRX) was down 2.3%. Europe's STOXX banking index (.SX7P) fell almost 5%, tracking toward its biggest one-day percentage slide since June 2022. If investors are concerned about deposit flow, why punish the stocks who have sticky, operational retail checking deposits?

[1/2] European Central Bank and SVB (Silicon Valley Bank) logos are seen in this illustration taken March 10, 2023. SVB, which does business as Silicon Valley Bank, was not immediately available for comment. "Silicon Valley Bank is shedding light on vulnerabilities across the US banking sector, primarily in the bond holdings that many large institutions hold," said Karl Schamotta, Chief Market Strategist at Corpay. “The current liquidity run on Silicon Valley Bank is having a knock-on effect on the wider banking system," said Rick Seehra, Prudential Lead at Bovill. But banking experts said SVB's issues were unique and the worries about the broader sector were not warranted.

Search resuls for: "Marc J"

25 mentions found