Central banks keep hiking rates amid banking turmoil

Central banks keep hiking rates amid banking turmoil

March 23 (Reuters) – The Bank of England on Thursday followed the Federal Reserve and the Swiss National Bank in hiking interest rates, as policymakers ploughed on with their fight against inflation in the face of the instability that rippled through the global banking system this month. Investors had questioned whether the central banks could … Read more

Citigroup CEO declares ‘this is not a credit crisis’ after U.S. bank failures

Citigroup CEO declares 'this is not a credit crisis' after U.S. bank failures

March 22 (Reuters) – Citigroup Inc (C.N) CEO Jane Fraser on Wednesday expressed confidence in U.S. banks after a series of closures rattled investors and fueled turmoil in global financial markets. “The banking system is pretty sound,” and large and regional banks are well-capitalized, Fraser told the Economic Club of Washington D.C. on Wednesday. “This … Read more

Nvidia announces tech for speeding up chip design at AI conference

Nvidia announces tech for speeding up chip design at AI conference

March 21 (Reuters) – Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) Chief Executive Jensen Huang on Tuesday unveiled a new product for speeding up the design of semiconductors as it rolled out an array of new artificial intelligence technologies based around its chips and software. Huang made the remarks at GTC, the company’s annual conference for software developers. Analysts … Read more

Bank shares rise after Credit Suisse rescue eases crisis

Bank shares rise after Credit Suisse rescue eases crisis

March 20 (Reuters) – U.S. banking stocks rose on Monday and Europe’s lenders recovered from a sharp early sell-off after UBS Group’s state-backed takeover of Credit Suisse appeared to close off one source of worry for the global banking sector. In a package engineered by Swiss regulators on Sunday, UBS Group AG (UBSG.S) will pay … Read more

Vaccine makers prep bird flu shot for humans ‘just in case’; rich nations lock in supplies

Vaccine makers prep bird flu shot for humans 'just in case'; rich nations lock in supplies

LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) – Some of the world’s leading makers of flu vaccines say they could make hundreds of millions of bird flu shots for humans within months if a new strain of avian influenza ever jumps across the species divide. One current outbreak of avian flu known as H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b has killed … Read more

Stock futures nudge higher on Credit Suisse buyout

Stock futures nudge higher on Credit Suisse buyout

SINGAPORE, March 20 (Reuters) – U.S. stock futures rose in Asian trade on Monday in relief at a weekend rescue deal for Credit Suisse, though the mood was nervous and financial shares remained under pressure from contagion fears, even with support from global central banks. S&P 500 futures rose 0.5% in bumpy early trade. Japan’s … Read more

UBS mulls takeover of Credit Suisse with possible Swiss government guarantees

UBS mulls takeover of Credit Suisse with possible Swiss government guarantees

FRANKFURT, March 18 (Reuters) – UBS (UBSG.S) is examining a takeover of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) that could see the Swiss government offer a guarantee against the risks involved, said two people with knowledge of the matter on Saturday. The people said that UBS was coming under pressure from the Swiss authorities to carry out a … Read more

Wall St Week Ahead: Plunging bond yields boost stocks’ allure ahead of Fed meeting

Wall St Week Ahead: Plunging bond yields boost stocks' allure ahead of Fed meeting

NEW YORK, March 17 (Reuters) – Whipsawed U.S. stocks have gained an unexpected ally in recent days – a historic plunge in bond yields. U.S. government bond yields fell steeply this week, with some durations marking their biggest drops in decades, as investors bet the Federal Reserve would likely curb its aggressive rate hike trajectory … Read more

ECB watchdog sees no Europe contagion after US, Swiss bank rescues

ECB watchdog sees no Europe contagion after US, Swiss bank rescues

March 17 (Reuters) – European Central Bank supervisors see no contagion for euro zone banks from recent turmoil, a source said on Friday, after U.S. lenders threw First Republic Bank (FRC.N) a $30 billion lifeline and tapped record amounts from the Federal Reserve. Large U.S. banks on Thursday swooped in to rescue the San Francisco-based … Read more

Asian markets take breather from banking turmoil, capping tumultuous week

Asian markets take breather from banking turmoil, capping tumultuous week

Asian stock markets: ECB delivered 50bp hike as promised, dropped forward guidance Credit Suisse shares rebounded 20% after SNB support First Republic Bank gets $30 bln injection, worries linger Fed data showed banks sought record emergency liquidity SYDNEY, March 17 (Reuters) – Asian markets extended a risk rally on Wall Street on Friday to end … Read more