You Have One Week to Make a Better Offer, EU Tells Johnson – The Times
Brussels has given Boris Johnson one week to make his Brexit plan acceptable or European Union leaders will refuse to discuss it at a crucial summit this month.
- Johnson Has a Plan B for Brexit If the EU Rejects His Deal – Bloomberg
- EU Doubts Grow Over Boris Johnson’s Brexit Offer – Financial Times
Fed Policymakers ‘Open’ to Rate Cut as Risks to Outlook Rise – Reuters
Two Fed policymakers signalled they are open to delivering another rate cut after a report showed the growth in the vast US services sector is slowing, but the Fed’s No. 2, speaking late in the day, gave little away on his own thinking.
Friday’s Jobs Report to Offer Clues on US Economy’s Resilience – Wall Street Journal
The September employment report to be released Friday will provide the latest snapshot of the US economy’s health during a period of global turbulence and heightened trade-war uncertainty.
Fears for Global Economy over Trade Tensions and Dismal Data – Financial Times
Fears over the health of the global economy deepened on Thursday with the publication of a raft of dismal data, pouring fuel on the government bond rally and spurring traders to ratchet up bets on further interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.
The Euro Has Kept Falling. Investors Wonder How Low It Can Go – Wall Street Journal
The euro has drifted toward its lowest levels against the dollar in years as Europe takes the brunt of a global growth slowdown. Investors are now questioning: How low can it go?
Hong Kong’s New Monetary Chief Vows to Defend Currency Peg – South China Morning Post
Eddie Yue Wai-man, 54, takes over as HKMA’s chief executive from Norman Chan Tak-lam, who retired on Tuesday and says he plans to maintain the stability of the financial market and the peg linked exchange system that has served the HKMA since it was set up in 1983.
Japan’s Abe Pledges Economic Support Steps if Risks Intensify – Reuters
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday the government was ready to take “all possible steps” if risks to the economy intensified, signalling a fiscal-stimulus boost in the event this month’s sales tax hike triggers a sharp downturn in growth.
The Rise of the Financial Machines – The Economist
The job of capital markets is to process information so that savings flow to the best projects and firms. That makes high finance sound simple; in reality it is dynamic and intoxicating. It reflects a changing world.
Regulatory News
EU Watchdog Scrutinises Currency Market Proposals – Financial Times
The $2tn-a-day spot foreign-exchange market could be put under regulatory control for the first time, under proposals being weighed by the EU markets watchdog.
FMSB Finalises Market Colour Best Practice – Profit & Loss
The FICC Markets Standards Board has published the final version of a Statement of Good Practice on the issue of Information & Confidentiality, which seeks to bring clarity to what it terms the complex issue of sharing information in fixed income and commodities markets and dealing with confidential information within a firm.
ESMA Updates MiFID II Q&As on Transparency and Market Structure Issues – ESMA
The European Securities and Markets Authority has updated its Questions and Answers regarding transparency and market structures issues under the Market in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and Regulation (MiFIR).
Crypto News
The Great Migration – Profit & Loss
The past few years have seen a significant number of senior figures from the FX market transition into the digital asset space, where do they see the parallels, differences and possible convergences between the two markets?
Facebook’s Libra digital currency project – initially seen as marking a new era of legitimacy for cryptocurrencies – appears to be at risk of sliding into irrelevance.
As Blockchain Evolves, Interoperability Between Vendors Could Create Challenges – Waters
While wide-scale, cross-industry adoption of distributed ledger technology (DLT) has still yet to materialize, more targeted projects and proofs-of-concept are hitting the market. As much of the hype around DLT has washed away, this is a technology that will continue to be looked at and experimented with.
Bitcoin Gains Correlate with Tether Issuance, Researcher Says – Bloomberg
It’s becoming a little clearer just how much the stablecoin Tether contributed to the rally that saw Bitcoin more than double in value this year.
Company News
New Mesirow Fund Incorporates Currency Alpha and High Yield – Profit & Loss
Mesirow Financial has announced the launch of its third mutual fund, the Mesirow Financial Enhanced Core Plus Fund, which will be led by its core fixed income team and will leverage the expertise from two of Mesirow’s other institutionally focused investment and alternative strategies – Currency Alpha and High Yield Fixed Income – to offer investors a differentiated strategy.
Vanguard to Challenge Banks’ Grip on $6 Trillion Currency Market
Having revolutionized the business of buying stocks, Vanguard Group is now coming for currencies.
JP Morgan Traded $250 Billion via NDF Algos This Year – FX Week
JP Morgan has traded $250 billion worth of non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) this year via algorithms, as the bank buttresses its capacity to internalise more of these trades and moves to increase market share.
Tradeweb Adds Margin Optimisation Analytics to IRD Trading – Profit & Loss
Tradeweb Markets has announced a collaboration with two margin optimisation providers, Cassini Systems and OpenGamma, to offer clients a choice of vendor access to life-cycle cost analytics, including initial margin, collateral, clearing fees, brokerage and trading costs.
BlueCrest’s Emerging Market Traders Decamp to Geneva – Financial Times
A team of fund managers at BlueCrest Capital, the publicity-shy investment firm headed by billionaire trader Mike Platt, is relocating to Switzerland, a rare move in an industry that a decade ago saw an exodus of traders to the lower-tax centre.
Market Savvy
Why a Hard Brexit is a Threat to the Euro as Well as Sterling – Financial Times
With the UK’s messy divorce from the EU clattering towards its conclusion, signs of complacency are popping up in the currency markets. The exchange rate is relatively tranquil. Options markets are showing few signs of concern. If Brexit goes badly, the currency could take a beating. But the currency in question is not the pound — it’s the euro.
Oil Edges Higher But on Track for Big Weekly Loss – Reuters
Oil futures edged higher on Friday but were on track for a large weekly loss on fears that slower global economic growth will hurt fuel demand, while Saudi Arabia said it has fully restored oil output after recent attacks.
Global Risks Mount as Manufacturing Slump Spreads to Services – Daily Telegraph
The global manufacturing downturn is spreading to the once-resilient service sector in a string of countries, threatening to tip the world economy into a broad recession unless there is a swift response from the authorities.
Dollar to Enter 2020 on a Strong Footing, No Contender in Sight: Poll – Reuters
The US dollar will continue its rally for at least another six months with no contender in sight to challenge its dominance, a Reuters poll of foreign exchange analysts found.
Brandywine Bets Big on Pound With $1.50 Post-Brexit Target – Bloomberg
Brandywine Global Investment Management has made a stronger pound one of its major bets, saying the currency is eventually poised to strengthen to $1.50 following a successful Brexit deal.