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☆ Markets are focusing on rates rather than geopolitics: Strategist
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMarkets are focusing on rates rather than geopolitics: StrategistEdward Al-Hussainy of Columbia Threadneedle says it would be "surprising" to see 10 year U.S. treasury yields above 4% by the end of the year given the high probability of the Fed normalizing its rate cycle.

Persons: Edward Al, Columbia Threadneedle

Yields on the U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury , which move inversely to prices, saw their steepest decline in more than a decade. The Fed chair reiterated that the fight against inflation was far from finished and said the central bank was ready to further tighten monetary policy if necessary. Investors see a strong chance of the central bank delivering a rate cut as early as March 2024, LSEG data show. In late 2022, for example, many expected a recession would hit this year, forcing the Fed to loosen monetary policy. The economy proved resilient while monetary policy stayed tight.

Persons: Jerome Powell, Brendan McDermid, Powell, Paul Nolte, Christopher Waller, “ Powell, that’s, ”, Ed Al, James St . Aubin, David Randall, Lewis Krauskopf, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Ira Iosebashvili, Daniel Wallis Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Federal, Fed, Treasury, Murphy, Sylvest Wealth Management, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Sierra Investment Management, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S

[1/3] The company logo of Chinese developer Country Garden is pictured at the Shanghai Country Garden Center in Shanghai, China August 9, 2023. Beijing needs to pull "multiple levers" at the same time to address the "vulnerabilities" in the financial system, local government financing, as well as consumer sentiment, said Edward Al-Hussainy, head of emerging market fixed income research at Columbia Threadneedle, which owns Country Garden bonds. China property sector slumpShoring up confidence is the biggest challenge facing Beijing and is key to getting homebuyers spending again, which analysts says isn't likely to happen soon given an uncertain economic outlook. Reuters reported last week that Chinese authorities have asked domestic financial behemoth Ping An Insurance Group to take a controlling stake in Country Garden. "You need to fix the macro environment first; if you don't earn enough how do you buy a property?," said Xu, whose firm holds China property dollar bonds.

Persons: Aly, Edward Al, isn't, Morgan Stanley, Ping, Ping An, Elliot Hentov, Steven Xu, Xu, Raymond Cheng, Goldman Sachs, Clare Jim, Davide Barbuscia, Karin Strohecker, Summer Zhen, Rae Wee, Sumeet Chatterjee Organizations: Shanghai Country Garden, REUTERS, HONG KONG, Columbia, Reuters, HK, Economic Work Conference, Reuters Graphics, HIT, Insurance Group, State Street Global Advisors, Country, Harmonia, Bloomberg, China, CIBM Securities, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, HONG, Beijing, outflows, Hong Kong, New York, London, Singapore

The 10-year yield on Thursday afternoon stood at about 4.7%, some 18 basis points from the 16-year highs touched last week. “Every time the Fed pauses, yields come down, but the market is not convinced they’re quite there yet." There's plenty of evidence that financial conditions, which reflect the availability of credit in the economy, have tightened in recent months. Credit market spreads have widened as investors demand a higher yield on riskier assets, such as corporate bonds. Fed funds futures show investors pricing in a roughly 15% chance of the central bank's raising rates next month, from around 27% last week.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, ”, Leslie Falconio, they’re, Philip Jefferson, Lorie Logan, Mark Dowding, Goldman Sachs, Edward Al, Hussainy, Neuberger Berman, Jonathan Cohn, Davide Barbuscia, Ira Iosebashvili, Megan Davies, Leslie Adler Organizations: REUTERS, Federal, . Treasury, UBS Global Wealth Management, Reuters Graphics, Dallas Fed, RBC Global Asset Management, Reuters, Treasury, Columbia, Nasdaq, Nomura Securities International, Thomson

Developers, financial advisers and bondholders said that could make debt restructuring terms much worse than expected earlier. DEFAULTING DEVELOPERSThe property sector accounts for roughly a quarter of the world's second-largest economy. That could trigger off one of the world's biggest debt restructuring exercises. However, a turnaround (in the property sector) may need more," said Chuanyi Zhou, Asia corporate analyst at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, which holds Sunac's bonds. Chinese policymakers rolled out a range of support measures in late August and early September to revive the property sector.

Persons: Shimao, Chuanyi Zhou, Yuzhou, Edward Al, Clare Jim, Xie Yu, Davide Barbuscia, Sumeet Chatterjee, Kim Coghill Organizations: HONG KONG, JPMorgan, HK, Shimao, CIFI Holdings, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Developers, Reuters, Kaisa, Columbia, China Index Academy, Thomson Locations: HONG, China, Asia, Hong Kong, New York

☆ The Fed is at odds with itself. That’s a feature, not a bug
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

So, Fed officials are divided, but it doesn’t really matter. Fed officials are still people, and as the saying goes, opinions are like bellybuttons in that everyone’s got one. Fed officials in that committee with voting power have the option to dissent, but it’s only happened twice this cycle. This year’s voters, which are Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, will be rotated out next year. Up NextMonday: Fed officials Lorie Logan, Michael Barr and Phillip Jefferson deliver remarks.

Persons: Mary Daly, Michelle Bowman, ”, Biden, That’s, Michael Feroli, everyone’s, “ It’s, ” Feroli, Esther George, Ed Al, Hussainy, JPMorgan’s Feroli, It’s, Jerome Powell, John Williams, Lorie Logan, Austan Goolsbee, Patrick Harker, Neel Kashkari, Logan, Kashkari, Raphael Bostic, San Francisco Fed’s Daly, – CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald, Michael Barr, Phillip Jefferson, Christopher Waller Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, CNN, Federal, San Francisco Fed, JPMorgan, Fed, Market Committee, Kansas City, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Governors, New York Fed, Dallas Fed, Chicago Fed, Philadelphia Fed, Minneapolis Fed, San Francisco, Treasury, PepsiCo, The National Federation of Independent Business, US Labor Department, Federal Reserve, Delta, China’s National Bureau of Statistics, The University of Michigan Locations: San, Kansas, Columbia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, San Francisco, Walgreens

☆ Country Garden just dodged a default but China's property-debt distress continues
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Joseph Wilkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Leading Chinese developer Country Garden avoided a debt-default last week with an 11th-hour coupon payment. But this may have provided only a temporary relief for the Asian nation's ailing property sector. Country Garden Holdings managed to pay interest totaling $22.5 million last Monday, which offered a temporary reprieve to the embattled industry. His firm holds some Country Garden bonds. The market for Chinese developers' dollar-denominated bonds has lost a staggering 87% of value over the past two years.

Persons: Edward Al, Columbia Threadneedle, Debtwire, Chaim Estulin, Lehman Organizations: Country, Service, Garden Holdings, Investment, Bloomberg, Columbia, Reuters Locations: Wall, Silicon, Beijing, China

The company logo of Chinese developer Country Garden is pictured at the Shanghai Country Garden Center in Shanghai, China August 9, 2023. It has around $14.8 billion worth of debt due within 12 months, while its cash levels are around $13.8 billion. Country Garden declined to comment. Despite those measures, China's new home prices fell for the fourth month in August, according to a private survey on Friday, as the property debt crisis kept confidence at a low ebb. "Country Garden will probably make full use of the grace periods…it still looks challenging for them to generate enough cash for the upcoming payments, both onshore and offshore," said Ting Meng, a senior credit strategist at ANZ.

Persons: Aly, Edward Al, Ting Meng, Benjamin Bennett, they've, Xie Yu, Davide Barbuscia, Sumeet Chatterjee, Muralikumar Organizations: Shanghai Country Garden, REUTERS, HONG KONG, Country Garden Holdings, HK, Columbia, U.S, Country Garden, ANZ, General Investment Management, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, HONG, Country, Hong Kong, New York

While recent inflation data was encouraging, he said, "one data point does not make a trend." Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics'STRANGE BUSINESS CYCLE'Until the Fed declares its inflation war at an end, however, economists and market analysts say risks to a benign outcome will remain. "At 3.5%, July won't be the last time the Fed hikes," Furman said in an interview. Ed Al-Hussainy, senior rates analyst at Columbia Threadneedle, meanwhile, is skeptical that the impact of rapid rate hikes has already been absorbed. "To say we have the same economy with real rates at negative 2% as we do at positive 2%, I don't buy it."

Persons: Jerome Powell, Christopher Waller, Waller, Thomas Barkin, Nick Bunker, Jason Furman, Obama, Furman, Ed Al, Columbia Threadneedle, Raphael Bostic, Austan Goolsbee, shouldn't, Goolsbee, Howard Schneider, Dan Burns, Paul Simao Organizations: Federal Reserve, Reuters Graphics, Richmond Fed, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Fed, Harvard University, White, Columbia, Atlanta Fed, Chicago Fed, CNBC, Thomson Locations: U.S

☆ UK homeowners brace for more mortgage pain as borrowing costs shoot up
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —Existing and aspiring UK homeowners are bracing for a fresh wave of misery as a rise in benchmark borrowing costs threatens to push up monthly mortgage payments. The yield on the country’s two-year government bonds — which is used to set interest rates on mortgages — jumped to 4.87% on Tuesday. The figures have pointed to persistent inflationary pressures, increasing the chances of more interest rate hikes by the Bank of England and driving up gilt yields. “We’ve had to reflect that in our mortgage rates,” the spokesperson said. “[UK inflation] is a chronic problem, and it’s not something that you can deal with quickly.”

Persons: Liz Truss, Craig, Samuel Tombs, “ We’ve, Paul Dales, “, Truss, Henry Nicholls, ”, Ed Al Organizations: London CNN, Bank of England, Royal London Asset Management, CNN, Pantheon, UK Finance, HSBC, HSBC UK, Capital Economics, Reuters, Columbia Threadneedle Investments Locations: United Kingdom, Europe, United States

The influence of Fed rate hikes "is going to hit...That is how it is designed." As of December officials expected the policy rate would rise to around 5.1% by year's end. The experience of 1970s-era central bankers informed not only the extent of the rate increases, with the policy rate rising 4.5 percentage points from near zero as of last March. None of those reforms prevented SVB from funneling its rapidly growing deposits into long-term government bonds that lost value as the Fed raised rates. The Fed has announced a review of its supervision at SVB to see if warning signs were missed.

The U.S. Treasury hit its $31.4 trillion borrowing limit last month. Investors need to actively manage their positions during a prolonged turbulent period in which borrowing negotiations could disrupt markets, Shah said. The Treasury bills yield curve indicates investors are demanding higher returns to hold debt due in August, signaling that it is perceived to be riskier than other maturities. Bid yields of Treasury billsStandoffs over the debt limit in the last decade have largely been resolved without causing major financial turmoil. Bond investors are navigating uncertainty around what they're calling the X-date, when the government can no longer meet its payments.

Many on Wall Street remain convinced that a widely expected recession is likely to roil markets once again sometime this year. Also encouraging for investors was Powell's repeated references to disinflation - a falling rate of inflation. "I think they do see a path where you can get that soft landing, that Goldilocks-type scenario play out," he said. Banks and asset managers that have reiterated recession calls in recent weeks include BlackRock, Wells Fargo and Neuberger Berman. "Do people think (rate cuts) will be in response to inflation that has been coming down or something more dramatic, in terms of economic slowdown?

WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is set to again slow the pace of its interest rate increases at a Jan. 31-Feb. 1 policy meeting while also signaling that its battle against inflation is far from over. Throughout last year, the Fed's rapid series of rate hikes were announced in a statement that also promised "ongoing increases" until rates were "sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2%." Fed officials were surprised in 2021 by the persistence of inflation that at one point was more than triple their 2% target. The unemployment rate is currently 3.5%, a level seen only rarely since World War Two. "Thus, I anticipate the need for further rate increases."

☆ Analysis: China's rapid reopening brings joy and woe for world markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Yoruk Bahceli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The impact of the reopening of the world's second largest economy on financial markets, hit by double-digit losses last year as inflation and interest rates jumped, is critical. Being touted among the top buying bets on recovery hopes are emerging markets, commodity currencies, oil, travel and European luxury companies. The boost to world growth from China's reopening was expected to hurt the safe-haven dollar but benefit the euro. INFLATION CAUTIONBut a boost from China's reopening raises some concerns about inflation. China is the world's leading importer of oil and many other commodities -- oil prices have risen 10% since mid-December to almost $84 .

"I think that this is going to be the most contentious debt ceiling debate in memory," Winograd said. "It would suggest that there's some type of premium being allocated to bills in that space where the risk of the debt ceiling starts to grow," Norris said. Some investors also believe lawmakers will be able to reach a deal on raising the debt ceiling without severely unsettling markets. Edward Al Hussainy, senior interest rate and currency analyst at Columbia Threadneedle, thinks any debt ceiling tensions would eventually be resolved, calling the issue "a well rehearsed storyline." However, the heightened concerns about the debt ceiling are "an extra little justification on top" for the firm's positioning, Pride said.

The fed funds rate currently stands in the 4.25%-4.50% range. Plenty of investors believe the Fed will stick to its guns, even if the economy wobbles. The Fed's economic projections showed rates dropping to 4.1% in 2024, higher than estimated three months ago. She is expecting the gyrations that rocked bonds this year to continue, driven in part by investors second-guessing the Fed's commitment to keeping monetary policy tight. "We have a generation of traders that has never seen the Fed not bail it out when push comes to shove."

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