Fed Keeps Rates Unchanged, Wary Eye on Global Markets

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Top Headlines

Fed Keeps Rates Unchanged, Wary Eye on Global Markets – Reuters The U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and said it was “closely monitoring” global economic and financial developments, signaling it had accounted for a stock market selloff but wasn’t ready to abandon a plan to tighten monetary policy this year.

Artificial Intelligence Sees Kuroda’s BOJ on Hold This Week – Bloomberg The machines are beating man at forecasting the Bank of Japan.

China Sharpens Efforts to Halt Money Outflow – Wall Street Journal (subscription) China is ramping up efforts to halt a flood of money leaving the country in response to an economic slowdown, moves that risk undermining Beijing’s ambition to elevate the yuan’s profile on the world stage.

Five of Six Brokers in Libor Trial Are Acquitted by London Jury – Bloomberg Five ex-brokers accused of helping convicted trader Tom Hayes rig Libor were acquitted Wednesday by a London jury, in a setback to U.K. fraud prosecutors.

Riksbank Under Pressure to Clarify Currency Intervention Remarks – Bloomberg Sweden’s central bank is under growing pressure to clarify its mandate after threatening to intervene in the currency market.

Hopes For Action Grow as Yen Approaches 115 to Dollar – Nikkei News Investors increasingly view 115 yen to the dollar as a line in the sand that the Japanese government and central bank will defend, based on reactions to the yen’s rapid upswing since the beginning of the year.

 

 

Regulatory News

New Paper Downplays Spoofer’s Role in Flash Crash – Profit & Loss A draft academic paper casts doubt upon the role played by UK trader Navinder Sarao in the May 2010 Flash Crash, and instead suggests weakness in the trade reporting infrastructure may have played a significant part.

OFR to Target CCP Risks in 2016 – Profit & Loss The US Office of Financial Research (OFR) says a key focus of its work in 2016 will be in depth study of the inter-connectedness of central clearing counterparties to identify risks in the market structure.

CFTC Signs MOU with Two German Authorities to Enhance Supervision of Cross-Border Clearing Organizations The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today that CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) and Deutsche Bundesbank (Bundesbank) regarding cooperation and the exchange of information in the supervision and oversight of clearing organizations that operate on a cross-border basis in the United States and in Germany.

 

 

Company News

Foreign Exchange Weighs On Apple’s Q1 Sales To The Tune Of $5B – TechCrunch Apple reported another record set of results, beating expectations with an all-time high profit of $18.4 billion and revenues of $75.9 billion, with some $216 billion in cash now on its balance sheet. But it could have made even more were it not for the strength of the dollar compared to other currencies.

 

 

Market Savvy  

RBNZ Holds Rates, Reverses Course and Flags More Easing to Come – Reuters The global curse of too-low inflation struck again on Thursday when the Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept its official cash rate on hold and reopened the door to rate cuts just a month after all but slamming it shut.

Brazil’s President Aims to Pump Up to $15 Billion Into Economy – Reuters Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff could release up to 60 billion reais ($15 billion) in fresh credit from state-run banks and a workers’ pension fund to help lift the country out of a deep recession, two senior government sources said.

Hopes For Action Grow as Yen Approaches 115 to Dollar – Nikkei News Investors increasingly view 115 yen to the dollar as a line in the sand that the Japanese government and central bank will defend, based on reactions to the yen’s rapid upswing since the beginning of the year.

Nomura Says Kuroda Waiting Too Long Risks Irreversible Damage – Bloomberg Yen bear Nomura Holdings Inc. says the Bank of Japan risks “irreversible damage” to the economic recovery if it fails to check the currency’s world-beating rally.

Investors Hedge Bets on Crude-Oil Revival – Wall Street Journal (subscription) Firms are focusing on senior, secured loans or hedging against further declines.

 

 

Press Releases

Clarifying Our Supervisory Intentions: Overall Responsibility for the Legal Function Under the Senior Managers Regime – Financial Conduct Authority It has come to our attention that there is uncertainty as to whether an individual in charge of a firm’s legal function requires approval under our Senior Managers regime.

FXCM Amends Stockholder Rights Plan FXCM today announced that its board of directors has voted to extend and amend the terms of the company’s stockholder rights plan. The rights have been amended in order to protect the interests of the company and its stockholders by helping preserve the value of the company’s net operating loss carryforwards and tax credits.

 

 

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