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[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.

☆ Governments' energy-related support to hit $1.65 trillion by year end - S&P Global
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) - The amount of money spent by governments subsidising energy costs since Russia's invasion of Ukraine is set to reach $1.65 trillion by the end of the year, credit ratings agency S&P Global has estimated. The firm calculated the total soared to $10 trillion once COVID pandemic spending was added on and that this year would see the overall stock of global sovereign debt reach a record $65 trillion in absolute terms. S&P based the figures on the 137 countries that it provides credit scores for. It forecast those countries would borrow the equivalent of $10.5 trillion this year, below the record $11.5 trillion set in 2021, but 40% higher than the pre-pandemic average. Global government debtReporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - Major central banks resumed their quest to ramp up interest rates in February after a tepid start to the year with price pressures proving more sticky than markets and many policy makers had hoped for. February saw six interest rate hikes across six meetings by central banks overseeing the 10 most heavily traded currencies. January had seen just one interest rate hike of 25 bps by Canada across three meetings by G10 central banks. "This (inflation) shock came for everyone together, but it might disappear at different rates," said Gabriel Sterne at Oxford Economics. "The disinflation trend is looking surprising good in Asia now for example where services inflation has already turned a corner."

☆ Goldman warns of possible pre-election currency market turmoil in Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs has warned of the potential for foreign exchange market instability in the run up to Turkey's elections following years of currency reserve depletion and other costly measures. While not its base case, the Wall Street bank said problems could be triggered if savers and firms became worried that a shift to more orthodox economic policies under a new government would fuel short-term FX market turbulence. "The current market uncertainty poses significant risks, in our view," Goldman said in a research note published on Wednesday. If problems do take hold the lira would fall, especially given the sharp depletion of Turkey's currency reserves in recent years. That compares to a combined short FX position - or exposure - of the central bank and treasury of $260 billion.

☆ BIS urges central banks to 'get the job done'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Central banks need to "get the job done" when it comes to getting inflation back under control, the Bank for International Settlements has said, urging them to avoid the mistakes of the 1970's by declaring victory too early. The BIS, dubbed the bank for central banks, said it was vital authorities didn't repeat the stop-start cycles of the 1970s when interest rates had to be hiked to painfully high levels after attempts to lower them resulted in an inflation surge. "Central banks have been very, very clear that at this stage the most important aspect is to get the job done," the head of the BIS' Monetary and Economic Department, Claudio Borio, said as part of a quarterly report. The BIS' report also included research showing that rate rises are more likely to cause financial system stress when private debt levels are high, although tougher "prudential policies" can reduce the risk and give central banks more room for manoeuvre. Another section looks at how higher commodity prices and the U.S. dollar exchange rate significantly affects the risk of stagflation - weak growth and high inflation - especially in developing market economies.

☆ IMF lays out crypto action plan, recommends against legal tender status
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund has laid out a nine-point action plan for how countries should treat crypto assets, with point number one a plea not to give cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin legal tender status. The global lender of last resort said its Executive Board had discussed a paper, "Elements of Effective Policies for Crypto Assets," that provided "guidance to IMF member countries on key elements of an appropriate policy response to crypto assets." The top recommendation was to "safeguard monetary sovereignty and stability by strengthening monetary policy frameworks and do not grant crypto assets official currency or legal tender status." Other advice on Thursday's list, which comes as G20 decision makers meet in India, included guarding against excessive capital flows, adopting unambiguous tax rules and laws around crypto assets, and developing and enforcing oversight requirements for all crypto market actors. They "generally agreed," too, that crypto assets should not be granted official currency or legal tender status, and though strict bans of assets are "not the first-best option," a few directors thought they should not be ruled out.

☆ Factbox: The countries in the grip of debt crises
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Meetings being held in India will see top officials from the Group of 20 leading economies discuss how to help the growing number of countries now in the grip of debt crises. Below is a list of countries that have either defaulted on their international debt or are seen at risk of doing so. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said this week Kyiv is hoping to clinch a $15 billion, multi-year International Monetary Fund programme. But progress with Zambia's $13 billion debt rework has been glacial. EGYPTEgypt has experienced a double whammy from COVID-19 and soaring food and energy prices, and has struggled in recent years to contain its rising debt and debt servicing burden.

☆ Global debt sees first annual drop since 2015 - IIF
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Institute of International Finance report published on Wednesday estimated that the nominal value of global debt declined by some $4 trillion, bringing it fractionally back under the $300 trillion threshold breached in 2021. Stronger economic activity and higher inflation meanwhile, both of which erode debt levels, saw the global debt-to-GDP ratio drop over 12 percentage points to 338% of GDP, marking the second annual drop in a row. Again, though, the improvement was driven by developed markets which saw an overall 20 percentage points fall to 390%. The emerging market debt ratio rose by 2 percentage points meanwhile to 250% of GDP, largely driven by China and Singapore. the IIF said, adding that it had pushed international investor demand for local currency EM debt to multi-year lows, "with no sign of imminent recovery".

☆ Rate jitters extend February flop for stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Naomi Rovnick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, February 16, 2023. "The economic data has been much more resilient than we all thought (it would be) and we have to accept that." "A bear market rally driven by expectations that inflation would drop and interest rates would peak out may be over," said Trevor Greetham, head of multi-asset at Royal London Asset Management. "The big call this year will still be (a) recession," he added, as "interest rates go higher," in a move that would eventually spark "an earnings driven bear market (that) hasn't started yet." New Zealand's central bank also raised interest rates by 50 bps on Wednesday to a more than 14-year high of 4.75%, flagging more monetary tightening to come.

☆ ECB's Panetta calls for small rate hikes as inflation falls
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The European Central bank should start raising its interest rates in smaller increments and avoid committing to future moves as inflation in the euro zone falls, ECB board member Fabio Panetta said on Thursday. "With rates now moving into restrictive territory, it is the extent and duration of monetary policy restriction that matters," Panetta told an event in London. Financial markets expect the ECB to increase the rate it pays on bank deposits to at least 3.5% by the summer, from 2.5% currently. Panetta also predicted that core inflation, which has become the key variable in the ECB's debate, "would eventually follow" headline inflation in falling and there was no evidence of price expectations getting out of control despite rising wages. He also called for a "a measured approach" to the ECB's unwinding of its bond holdings, which Knot and Nagel, among others, want to accelerate.

☆ Adani Group hires banks to hold bond investor calls after market rout
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Davide Barbuscia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - India's Adani Group and two of its main subsidiaries caught up in a short-selling storm in recent weeks are to hold calls with bond investors on Feb. 16 and Feb. 21, according to a document seen by Reuters. The planned calls follow a long-awaited credit report issued by the Indian conglomerate earlier this week that said its companies faced no material refinancing risk, or near-term liquidity issues. According to the document sent to investors the call on Thursday for Adani Group will be attended by its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jugeshinder Singh and head of Group Corporate Finance Anupam Misra. An Adani Green Energy call also on Thursday will involve its CFO Phuntsok Wangyal, and an Adani Transmission call next week will be attended by its CFO Rohit Soni and CFO of Adani Electricity Kunjal Mehta. Rating agencies S&P Global and Moody's this month revised their outlooks to negative from stable for some of the group's companies, while index provider MSCI said it would cut the weightings of some Adani companies in its stock indexes.

☆ Pharrell Williams was just named the new creative director of Louis Vuitton's menswear division
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Louis Vuitton tapped musician and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams as its next "Men's Creative Director." On Tuesday, he added "Men's Creative Director" of Louis Vuitton to that list, according to an announcement on LVMH's site. When Louis Vuitton named Virgil Abloh its artistic director for menswear in 2018, he became the first black American to lead a European luxury fashion house. "I am glad to welcome Pharrell back home, after our collaborations in 2004 and 2008 for Louis Vuitton, as our new Men's Creative Director. Analysts say that at $20 billion, Louis Vuitton is the biggest luxury brand in the world, according to The Wall Street Journal.

☆ Analysis: Investors see Erdogan's earthquake response as pivotal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Kopf was referring to Turkey's 2002 election which came three years after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in Izmit near Istanbul that killed nearly 18,000 people. The southeast region hit by Monday's disaster accounts for a much smaller 9.3% of national GDP and a modest 8.5% of exports. Erik Meyersson, a senior economist at Handelsbanken, said it was that power that voters would now need to see working. "But if he bungles the response, perhaps this is the straw that breaks the camel's back." Magnitude 7.9 earthquake hit southern Turkey on Feb. 6Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

/USThe dollar index fell 0.21% from one-month highs, while the Japanese yen gained 1.21% to 131.08 per dollar after unusually strong Japanese wage data. The Australian dollar bolted 1.02% higher after its central bank reiterated further increases would be needed. Asian stocks stabilized overnight after they, like most global share markets, suffered steep losses following that U.S jobs data. Oil prices climbed more than 3% after Powell eased market concerns over rate hikes, while recovering demand in China also boosted prices. Gold eked out gains, tracking a slight pullback in the dollar, as investors mulled comments by Powell and the outlook for the Fed's rate-hike policy.

U.S. and European equity markets were mixed to lower, with the euro and pound lower against the dollar. The broad pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) was up 0.04% and MSCI's gauge of global stock performance (.MIWD00000PUS) shed 0.12%. "What's been really important is that the market sees a lower likelihood of rate cuts by the end of the year." Asian stocks stabilized overnight after they, like most global share markets, suffered steep losses following that U.S jobs data. "Sentiment in markets is dominated by central banks and the repricing of rates yet again," Kerry Craig, JPMorgan Asset Management's global market strategist, said.

☆ Sell-off fizzles out ahead of Fed, ECB and BoE speeches
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] The Federal Reserve building is seen in Washington, U.S., January 26, 2022. Then comes Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Economic Club of Washington during U.S. trading plus U.S. President Joe Biden's State of the Union address. DEADLY QUAKEAmong the main commodities, oil jumped for a second straight session driven by optimism about recovering demand in China, and after Monday's devastating earthquake in Turkey had shut down one of the region's major oil export terminals. "Equities have had a strong run since the start of the year so seeing an air pocket emerge now is no major surprise." Additional reporting by Scoot Murdoch in Sydney; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Post-QE bond losses rising reality for central banks - BIS
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The building of the European Central Bank (ECB) is seen amid a fog before the monthly news conference following the ECB's monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt, Germany December 15, 2022. The ECB and a number of national central banks in Europe have issued warnings, though. There were dozens of past examples from developing economies, including Mexico, Chile, the Czech Republic and Israel, where central banks can operate without major difficulties in negative equity, it said. "To maintain the public's trust and to preserve central bank legitimacy now and in the long run, stakeholders should appreciate that central banks' policy mandates come before profits," the paper said. Central banks transfers turning to losses($1 = 0.9317 euros)Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Bradley PerrettOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ India's Adani still eligible to be part of influential JPMorgan bond indexes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, Feb 7 (Reuters) - India's Adani group of companies, which in recent weeks has seen a brutal selloff in its bonds and shares after being targetted by a U.S. short-seller, is still eligible for inclusion in JPMorgan's influential bond indexes, the bank said in a note. Adani, whose business interest includes ports, power generation and transmission, and renewable energy, has a total notional value of $7.7 billion in the JPMorgan's CEMBI and JACI indexes, the bank said on Monday. JPMorgan Corporate Emerging Market Bond Index series (CEMBI) tracks dollar debt issued by emerging market corporations, while its Asia Credit Index (JACI) tracks the total return performance of the Asia fixed-rate dollar bond market. After the release of Hindenburg's report, Adani's weight has decreased by 10 basis points to 36 basis points in the CEMBI Broad Div index and by 15 basis points to 48 basis points in the CEMBI Broad Div IG index, the JPMorgan note said. The Indian conglomerate's weight decreased by 16 basis points to 52 basis points in the JACI index, it added.

☆ Central bank test lab to trial 'stablecoin' monitoring system
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - A global central bank test lab run out of London is designing a 'stablecoin' monitoring system aimed at giving authorities a clearer picture on how they work and how to regulate them in future. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency which aim to maintain a 1:1 peg with a fiat currency such as the dollar. The collapse last year of a widely-used stablecoin pair, Luna and TerraUSD, sparked widespread turmoil in crypto markets. In a bid to ensure there is more oversight going forward, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), often dubbed the central bank for the world's central banks, is to begin work in its London 'innovation hub' on a tool to keep tabs on them. "Most central banks lack tools to systemically monitor stablecoins and avoid asset-liability mismatches," the BIS said.

☆ New look CBDCs and cryptomarket to emerge from turmoil, top BIS official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Cryptomarkets have not been killed off by last year's turmoil, while the new wave of central bank digital currencies will face geopolitical limits, the Bank for International Settlements' new innovation head has predicted. Dubbed the central bank to the world's central bank, the BIS has long been critical of cryptocurrencies, likening bitcoin to both a ponzi scheme and market bubble in the past. Since the start of 2023, however, there has been something of a rebound, including a 40% recovery in bitcoin's price. The European Central Bank should get the go-ahead for full-scale tests. "We will never have full interconnectedness," Skingsley said, adding though that the BIS' work aimed to make CBDCs as versatile as possible.

☆ World's richest person Bernard Arnault's fortune has increased by more than $33 billion this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The multi-billionaire tops its rankings of the world's richest people, followed by Elon Musk. The LVMH CEO and co-founder has a current net worth of $196 billion, per Bloomberg. Bernard Arnault is the CEO and co-founder of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton, more commonly known as LVMH. The 73-year-old French billionaire is currently ranked by Bloomberg as the world's richest person, followed by Elon Musk whose net worth is valued at $175 billion. The CEO recently appointed his daughter, Delphine Arnault, CEO and chair of Dior.

"I can't imagine Pakistan not going on a back-to-back IMF programme." Pakistan's debt problemsPrime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s main election challenger is former cricket star Imran Khan, who was removed from the job last April but retains popularity. "There is just a long-term indebtedness problem," said Jeff Grills, the head of emerging markets debt at Aegon Asset Management, who held Pakistan bonds until the floods hit. Most of Pakistan's bonds are still trading at less than half their face value. Reuters GraphicsDIFFICULT TIMESSuch a restructuring of Pakistan's bonds would represent its first international default since 1999, according to the Bank of Canada-Bank of England Sovereign Default Database.

[1/2] Men walk past an electric board displaying Nikkei and other countries' indexes outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan January 16, 2023. After $14 trillion was wiped off world shares in 2022, $4 trillion has been added back this month. "Markets are in this Goldilocks-scenario of OK growth, slowing inflation and softer monetary policy," said Richard Dias, founder of London-based investment consultancy Acorn Macro. Major central banks have added almost 3,000 basis points to global borrowing costs in this tightening cycle to date. "We've had a monumental rally in government bonds based on expectations we've reached the peak in interest rates," he said.

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Nigeria's government bonds fell heavily on Monday after ratings agency Moody's downgraded the West African oil producer late on Friday to Caa1 from B3, saying the government's fiscal and debt position was expected to keep deteriorating. Longer-dated bonds were down the most, with the dollar-denominated 2051 Eurobond falling more than 2.8 cents in the dollar to 68.758 cents according to Tradeweb data . Nigeria's bonds had outperformed other African and emerging market issuers over the last six months, according to JPMorgan. "Immediate default risk is low, assuming no sudden, unexpected events such as another shock or shift in policy direction," Moody's added. Moody's said it expects just the interest payments on Nigeria's debt to take up about half of the government's revenue in the medium term, up from 35% in 2022.

☆ Luxury group LVMH's sales defy downturn as shoppers splurge
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Mimosa Spencer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Marco BelloPARIS, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Luxury goods group LVMH's (LVMH.PA) sales rose 9% in the fourth quarter as shoppers in Europe and the United States splurged over the crucial holiday season, helping partly to offset COVID disruptions in China. Sales at the world's biggest luxury group reached 22.7 billion euros ($24.65 billion) in the final three months of the year, with the 9% increase on an organic basis a touch above analyst expectations for 7% growth, based on a consensus cited by UBS. LVMH has gained market share every year since 2019, its boss Bernard Arnault, the world's richest man, said. The group proposed a dividend of 12 euros per share, up from 10 euros a year ago. LVMH's shares have hit new highs this month, giving the luxury goods group a market capitalisation of 400 billion euros for the first time and cementing its lead as Europe's most valuable company.

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