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☆ Gold prices dip as bank angst recedes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Kavya Guduru | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Gold down for second sessionGold could decline to $1,920/oz - analystVolumes in SPDR Gold Shares highest since OctMarch 30 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged lower on Thursday as easing concerns about the global banking system fed risk appetite and curbed some safe-haven bullion bids. Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,960.52 per ounce, as of 0346 GMT, falling for a second session. Volumes in SPDR Gold Shares, the largest gold-backed ETF, have surged to their highest level since October," they said. The opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold rises when interest rates are increased to bring down inflation. Markets see a 43.2% chance of the Fed raising interest rates by 25 basis points in May, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald Trump, possibly over a "hush-money" payment. Here's a timeline of Trump and Daniels' alleged relationship, the $130,000 payment to keep Daniels silent, and the testimonies leading to a possible indictment. Markus Schreiber/APManhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg convened a grand jury in mid-January of this year to consider an indictment against Trump. And Trump's former fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen, prosecutors' key witness, has made repeated visits to the DA's office and to the grand jury. Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesThe Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump on Thursday, March 30.

☆ Senate Democrats led by Elizabeth Warren press federal bank regulators to implement stronger capital requirements
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are pressing federal banking regulators to toughen bank capital requirements following back-to-back congressional hearings where officials testified about the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. "We write to urge you follow through with establishing strong capital requirements that protect consumers and taxpayers, and preserve the safety and soundness of our banking system," Warren, along with Sens. Under the "stress capital buffer" implemented at the time, the capital requirements for banking firms is determined annually according to supervisory stress tests. The lawmakers urged regulators to enforce strong capital requirements to fend off aggressive lobbying from Wall Street and safeguard against more bank failures. "In order to prevent future bank crises and protect working Americans, I urge your agencies to quickly implement strong capital requirements and resist industry pressure to weaken or delay these requirements."

☆ Wall Street jumps with rosy outlooks from companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Caroline Valetkevitch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Micron (MU.O) shares shot up 7.2%, boosting the Nasdaq and S&P 500, and leading gains in the PHLX semiconductor index (.SOX), which closed 3.3% higher. Lululemon surges after strong reoprtThe bulk of S&P 500 companies begin reporting on the first quarter in mid-April. On Monday, regional U.S. lender First Citizens BancShares scooped up the assets of Silicon Valley Bank. Michael Barr, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision, told Congress the scope of blame for Silicon Valley Bank's failure stretches across bank executives. The S&P 500 posted 9 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 69 new highs and 135 new lows.

☆ FDIC to consider bank size in applying 'special assessment fee'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The special assessment fee, which is required by law, will help the FDIC cover losses to its deposit insurance fund from backstopping depositors at Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed earlier this month. Some banking groups have urged the Biden administration and the FDIC to temporarily guarantee all U.S. bank deposits, a move they say will help quell a crisis of confidence after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank (SBNY.O). The fall of SVB and Signature, the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history, sent investors scurrying to safe havens like bonds while depositors moved funds to bigger institutions and money market funds. Depositors tried to pull more than $42 billion in a single day at SVB in early March, surprising regulators and kicking off bank runs across other regional banks. Reporting by Jaiveer Shekhawat and Hannah Lang; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Two-year yields have risen from a seven-month intraday low of 3.555% last Friday as Treasuries rallied on safe-haven buying. "Some of the banks there were in the spotlight, their stock prices are starting to at least stabilize," said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. The U.S. regional KBW bank index (.BKX) has tumbled about 25% this month, but has gained about 3.8% this week as tensions eased. Worries over inflation have prompted investors to reassess their expectations for monetary policy from a number of major central banks, including the Fed and European Central Bank. Oil edged lower in choppy trading as investors looked to pocket profits from two straight days of gains, and as markets debated supply tightness.

☆ Dollar rebounds as banking fears fade; yen falls on quarter-end flows
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - The dollar rose against most major peers on Wednesday, reversing some of its recent declines, and gained sharply against the yen, which was volatile as the end of the Japanese fiscal year approaches. Improving risk sentiment and investor hopes that central banks can once again turn their attention toward fighting inflation was helping support the dollar, Given said. The dollar rose to a one-week high against the yen, which remained volatile in the run-up to the end of the Japanese fiscal year on Friday. "A decent amount of USD/JPY flow today is end of quarter related," Monex USA's Given said. The dollar was 1.37% higher at 132.71 yen .

REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueMarch 29 (Reuters) - The scope of blame for Silicon Valley Bank's failure stretches across bank executives, Federal Reserve supervisors and other regulators, the banking system's top cop on Wednesday told U.S. lawmakers demanding answers for the lender's swift collapse. "I think that any time you have a bank failure like this, bank management clearly failed, supervisors failed and our regulatory system failed," Michael Barr, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision, told Congress. 'SOME REAL FLAWS'Barr told the House Financial Services Committee that he first became aware of stress at Silicon Valley Bank on the afternoon of March 9, but that the bank reported to supervisors that morning that deposits were stable. The Fed was in discussions with Silicon Valley Bank the day before its collapse to move pledgable collateral to the discount window, a key facility long associated with providing emergency loans to banks, Barr said on Wednesday. "(Fed) staff were working with Silicon Valley Bank basically all afternoon and evening and through the morning the next day to pledge as much collateral as humanly possible to the discount (window) on Friday," Barr said.

March 29 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve was in discussions with Silicon Valley Bank the day before its collapse to move pledgable collateral to the discount window, a key facility long associated with providing emergency loans to banks, the Fed's head of banking supervision told a Congressional committee on Wednesday. Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Michael Barr said he first became aware of stress at Silicon Valley Bank on the afternoon of March 9, but that the bank reported to supervisors that morning that deposits were stable. "(Fed) staff were working with Silicon Valley Bank basically all afternoon and evening and through the morning the next day to pledge as much collateral as humanly possible to the discount (window) on Friday," Barr said to the House Financial Services Committee. Barr told the Senate Banking Committee he first became aware of the interest rate risk issues at SVB in mid-February, while Fed supervisors had been raising issues with the bank directly in months prior to that. Some Democrats have also argued a 2018 bank deregulation law is to blame.

☆ Dollar firmer as banking fears fade; yen sinks on quarter-end flows
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"The dollar is trading mixed today with a bit of upside as global risk sentiment improves and central banks can turn their attention back toward inflation," Given said. The dollar rose to a one-week high against the yen , which remained volatile in the run-up to the end of the Japanese fiscal year on Friday. "A decent amount of USD/JPY flow today is end of quarter related," Monex USA's Given said. "Traders are concerned with real money outcomes at the moment, but as global risk sentiment continues to improve, JPY as a traditional haven looks less appealing," she said. The dollar was 1.03% higher at 132.275 yen.

Larger peers Bank of America (BAC.N), Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) rose between 0.7% and 1%. "Markets are calmer as the tension of the banking situation is lessening. The CBOE volatility index (.VIX), known as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell to its lowest since March 9, reflecting easing investor anxiety. ET, Dow e-minis were up 216 points, or 0.66%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 32.5 points, or 0.81%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 114.25 points, or 0.9%. Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Shares rise as bank support emboldens investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Amanda Cooper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The sale of assets in Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the regional lender that collapsed earlier this month, has helped prop up investor risk appetite. The MSCI All-World index (.MIWD00000PUS) rose 0.3% while European shares (.STOXX) gained 0.92%, thanks in part to a rise in bank shares after UBS (UBSG.S) said it would rehire Sergio Ermotti to lead the company after its takeover of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S). The U.S. regional KBW bank index (.BKX) has fallen 3.3% in the last week, but is still above its recent six-week lows. Worries over inflation have prompted investors to reassess their expectations for monetary policy from a number of major central banks, including the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve. The dollar index, which measures the performance of the U.S. currency against six others, was roughly flat on the day at 102.46.

☆ Asian stocks rally as bank jitters calm, Alibaba lifts mood
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Alibaba's Hong Kong shares (9988.HK) shot up 15%, while the company's U.S.-listed shares closed 14.3% higher. The news lifted investor confidence in the wider Chinese tech sector, with shares of Alibaba's e-commerce rival JD.com Inc (9618.HK) 7% higher, and gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) jumping 5%. "Alibaba's split may pave the way for other Chinese tech giants to do similar," CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng said. "This helps break down the monopolistic power of these conglomerates, which complies with the Chinese government's regulatory overhaul over antitrust issues." Futures indicated European stocks were set to open higher, with Eurostoxx 50 futures up 0.41%, German DAX futures up 0.38% and FTSE futures up 0.08%.

☆ Safe-haven dollar sluggish as banking fears ebb; yen drops
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Kevin Buckland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The dollar index , which tracks the currency against six major peers, edged 0.08% higher to 102.57 in Asian trading, following drops of about 0.3% in each of the past two sessions. The weakness comes despite a rise in U.S. Treasury yields, also the result of ebbing demand for the safest assets. The yen remained volatile in the run-up to the end of the Japanese fiscal year on Friday. The dollar jumped 0.59% to 131.68 yen , and touched a one-week high of 131.80. The yen had dropped 0.5% the previous day, when it uncharacteristically moved in the opposite direction with long-term U.S. Treasury yields.

☆ Asian stocks rally as banking anxiety eases; Alibaba surges
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was 0.82% higher, while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) advanced 0.49%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged over 2%, buoyed by Alibaba (9988.HK) after the Chinese e-commerce conglomerate announced its break-up plans. Alibaba's Hong Kong shares (9988.HK) shot up 15%, while the company's U.S.-listed shares closed 14.3% higher. Worries over inflation have prompted investors to recalculate what they expect the Fed to do in its next meeting in May. In the foreign exchange markets, the dollar index , which measures the U.S. currency against six peers, was mostly flat, having eased 0.3% overnight on improving risk appetite.

☆ The Fed Passes the Buck on Bank Failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

One certainty in politics is that the Federal Reserve will never accept responsibility for any financial problem. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr played that self-exoneration game on Tuesday before the Senate as he blamed bankers and Congress for Silicon Valley Bank’s failure. No one disputes that bankers failed to hedge the risk posed by rising interest rates to asset prices and deposits. What Mr. Barr didn’t say is that the Fed’s historic monetary mistake created the incentives for the bank blunders. The Fed fueled the fantastic deposit growth at SVB and other banks with its prolonged quantitative easing and zero interest-rate policy that caused banks to pile into longer-term, higher-yielding assets.

House lawmakers tore into top U.S. bank regulators Wednesday, questioning their competency and saying examiners were asleep at the wheel, at a second day of congressional hearings this week about how Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed practically overnight on March 10 and March 12. "We need competent financial supervisors, but Congress can't legislate competence," House Financial Services chairman Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., told top officials at the Federal Reserve, Treasury and FDIC at the beginning the hearing. "The light touch cautions from the Fed to SVB management are clearly not what Congress intended for bank supervision," said Waters. Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga, Mich., demanded raw, confidential supervisory information about the banks, available to regulators ahead of the collapses. Members of the Republican majority House challenged many of the decisions made by regulators in the hours and days after SVB collapsed and Signature Bank followed 48 hours later.

☆ The 30-year fixed mortgage rate drops to a 6-week low as banking turmoil sent bond yields tumbling in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to its lowest in six weeks, tracking falling bond yields. The rate fell to 6.45%, helping fuel another week of increases in mortgage applications. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.45% from 6.48% in the week ended March 24 for loans meeting government-agency limits of $726,200 or less, according to figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association on Wednesday. The 30-year rate fell as investors rushed into US government debt, looking for shelter from the turmoil over deposits at regional banks. Powell later said policy makers had considered pausing rate hikes because of the banking turmoil but decided to deliver a steady rate hike of 25 basis points, to 4.75%-5%.

☆ Morning Bid: Bank calm, rates firm, Alibaba steals show
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A semblance of calm has returned to world markets in the final week of the first quarter as the banking storm abates and the spotlight switched to a share-boosting six-way revamp of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Investors cheered the surprise move from Alibaba (9988.HK) as a sign Beijing's corporate crackdown may be nearing an end, sending shares of the Jack Ma-founded firm and peers soaring. The surprise move seeks to take advantage of Ermotti's experience rebuilding the bank after the global financial crisis 15 years ago. Broader stock markets were higher across the board, with Wall St futures up almost 1% ahead of the open. Futures markets now show a 50-50 chance of one more Fed rate hike in this cycle in May and half a point of easing by yearend.

Larger peers Bank of America (BAC.N), Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) rose between 0.7% and 1.6% in premarket trade. "Markets are calmer as the tension of the banking situation is lessening. A key inflation reading expected at the end of the week will provide more clues on the Fed's monetary tightening plans. ET, Dow e-minis were up 244 points, or 0.75%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 35.25 points, or 0.88%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 109.25 points, or 0.86%. Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Premarket stocks: How big of a problem is greedflation?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“Executives at SVB and Signature [Bank] took wild risks and must be held accountable for exploding their banks,” Warren said. Republican Senators say the Fed’s focus on climate change led to banking turmoilRepublican Senators repeatedly insinuated on Tuesday that the recent US banking turmoil came as a result of the Federal Reserve’s focus on climate change. In his opening statement, Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the ranking member of the banking committee, called the Fed’s focus on climate change a waste of time. It’s what our supervisors do all the time.”In an interview with Montana Public Radio in 2014, Daines said that “the jury’s still out” on whether climate change is real. The public reasonably expects supervisors to require that banks understand, and appropriately manage, their material risks, including the financial risks of climate change.”

☆ Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley just teamed up on a bill that would let the government 'clawback lavish pay and bonuses when executives explode their bank'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley are teaming up to put the heat on executives of failed banks. Mike Braun and Catherine Cortez Masto, introduced a bill called "Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act," which would require that federal regulators "claw back" compensation of executives from the five-year period before their bank fails. "It's time for Congress to step up and strengthen the law so bank executives bear the cost of failure, not line their pockets and walk away scot-free." In the days and weeks following Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle — and President Joe Biden — have scrutinized the circumstances that led to the bank's failure. Warren has also pushed to roll back 2018 tweaks to the Dodd-Frank Act, which raised the threshold of holdings that require banks to have greater oversight.

☆ SVB saw $142 billion fly out the door in just 2 days in a tech-driven bank run - and that spells trouble, says Mohamed El-Erian
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Zinya Salfiti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

SVB saw $142 billion pulled from deposits in just two days before it collapsed. The bank run was sped up by social media spreading news faster and tech tools making it easier to withdraw funds. Mohamed El-Erian said potential high-speed bank runs raise challenges for banks. These new details of SVB's downfall has top economist El-Erian flagging warning signs of the impact of tech tools on banks. "I anticipate the need to strengthen capital and liquidity standards for firms over $100 billion," Barr said.

"I think that any time you have a bank failure like this, bank management clearly failed, supervisors failed and our regulatory system failed," Michael Barr, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision, told Congress. REPORTS DUE MAY 1Both the Fed and FDIC are is expected to produce reports on the failure of Silicon Valley Bank by May 1. Barr told the House Financial Services Committee that he first became aware of stress at Silicon Valley Bank on the afternoon of March 9, but that the bank reported to supervisors that morning that deposits were stable. Gruenberg of the FDIC told lawmakers he also became aware of SVB's stress that Thursday evening. "(Fed) staff were working with Silicon Valley Bank basically all afternoon and evening and through the morning the next day to pledge as much collateral as humanly possible to the discount (window) on Friday," Barr said.

Wall Street posted solid gains on Wednesday as volatility slumped to its lowest since the U.S. banking tremors were first felt three weeks ago. While bond yields inched up, bond market volatility also fell and fixed income markets were pretty calm. The rate-sensitive Nasdaq jumped 1.8% for its best day in two weeks, boosted by positive tech company outlooks. The MSCI World financials index is now up three days in a row and the U.S. regional banking index has risen for four straight days, neither of which have been recorded since January. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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