Tag: Jerome Powell

US Fed chief Powell gets second term

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The Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was nominated for a second four-year term by President Joe Biden on Monday, extending a tenure that began somewhat by chance, survived blistering criticism from former President Donald Trump, and now positions the ex-investment banker to finish the most consequential revamp of monetary policy since the 1970s.

Lael Brainard, the Federal Reserve board member who was the other top candidate for the job, will be Vice-Chair, the White House said. Powell, 68, will need to be confirmed by the Senate, currently controlled by Biden’s Democratic party but closely divided.

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Gold gleams as central banks hold off on interest rate hikes, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Gold prices were poised for their best day in three weeks on Thursday as the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England indicated they were in no rush to raise interest rates.

Spot gold was up 1.6%, its most since Oct. 13, to $1,798.05 per ounce at 10:29 a.m. EDT (1429 GMT). U.S. gold futures for December delivery jumped 1.9% to $1,797.00.

The Fed indicated that they are probably not going to mess with interest rates, and that is bullish for metals, said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.

The Federal Reserve and its chair, Jerome Powell, on Wednesday signaled the central bank would stay patient – and wait for more job growth – before raising interest rates, while beginning to trim its massive bond-buying program this month.

Ultra-loose U.S. monetary policy has helped drive gold sharply higher since the financial crisis of the late 2000s, with low interest rates cutting the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets and inflation fears stoking demand for a hedge.

“The Bank of England leaving rates unchanged overnight shows central banks right now don’t have an appetite for higher rates,” Haberkorn said, adding that gold could by Friday go “north of $1,800 just based on sentiment and the technicals.”

The Bank of England kept interest rates on hold on Thursday, dashing expectations for a hike that would have made it the first of the world’s big central banks to raise rates after the pandemic.

Independent analyst Ross Norman said strong physical demand for gold was supporting the market, as India‘s Diwali festival generally boosts sales of the precious metal.

Elsewhere, spot silver rose 2.1% to $23.98 per ounce. Platinum gained 0.7% to $1,036.43 and palladium jumped 1.5% to $2,030.34.



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Cryptocurrencies post inflows for 7 straight weeks, led by bitcoin

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By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

NEW YORK – Cryptocurrency investment products and funds recorded inflows for a seventh straight week, as institutional investors warmed to more supportive statements from regulators, data from digital asset manager CoinShares showed on Monday.

Inflows to the sector were $90.2 million last week, led by bitcoin which snagged $69 million, according to CoinShares data as of Oct. 1. Over the past seven weeks, crypto inflows reached $390 million. For 2021, inflows totaled $6.1 billion.

Bitcoin recorded its third straight week of inflows.

“We believe this decisive turnaround in sentiment is due to growing confidence in the asset class amongst investors and more accommodative statements from the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve,” wrote James Butterfill, investment strategist, at CoinShares.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler last week at a Financial Times conference reiterated his support for bitcoin exchange traded funds that would invest in futures contracts instead of the digital currency itself.

A day later, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, in remarks before Congress, said the Fed had no intention of banning cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin on Monday hit a four-week high of just under $50,000 and was last up 2.3% at $49,333.

Blockchain data provider Glassnode, in its latest research note on Monday, pointed out that as bitcoin rallied out of its narrow trading range last week, approximately 10.3% of the circulating supply returned to an unrealized profit.

Ethereum products and funds, meanwhile, posted another week of inflows totalling $20 million, despite conceding market share to bitcoin in recent weeks. Inflows to ether, the token for the Ethereum blockchain, so far this year amount to $1 billion.

Ether was last down 0.4% at $3,403.

Still, despite consecutive weekly inflows across crypto products, volumes were low at $2.4 billion last week, CoinShares data showed, compared to $8.4 billion in May 2021.

Assets under management at Grayscale and Coinshares, the two largest digital asset managers, climbed last week to $41.1 billion and $4.6 billion, respectively.

(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; editing by Richard Pullin)



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Gold prices dip on rising dollar, bond yields, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Gold prices eased on Tuesday, hurt by a stronger dollar and rising U.S. Treasury yields, while investors awaited more cues from Federal Reserve officials on the central bank’s monetary policy shift.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,748.01 per ounce by 0115 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were down 0.3% to $1,747.50.

* The dollar index was up 0.1%, making gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.

* Overnight, benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields rose to their highest level in three months.

* U.S. Federal Reserve officials on Monday tied reduction in the Fed’s monthly bond purchases to continued job growth, with a September employment report now a potential trigger for the central bank’s bond “taper.”

* Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to testify later in the day before Congress on the central bank’s policy response to the pandemic.

* In prepared remarks, Powell said the U.S. central bank would move against unchecked inflation if needed.

* While gold is often considered a hedge against higher inflation, a rate hike would increase the opportunity cost of holding gold, which pays no interest.

* China’s central bank vowed to protect consumers exposed to the housing market on Monday and injected more cash into the banking system as the Shenzhen government began investigating the wealth management unit of ailing developer Evergrande.

* SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.3% to 990.32 on Monday.

* Poland’s central bank has more than 230 tonnes of gold and plans to expand its reserves, the head of Poland’s Central Bank said on Monday.

* Silver fell 0.8% to $22.47 per ounce.

* Platinum dropped 0.5% to $976.07, while palladium was down 0.6% at $1,952.44.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0130 China Industrial Profit YTD, YY Aug 1400 US Consumer Confid. Final Sept



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Sensex skyrockets 958 pts; Nifty tops 17,800, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Equity benchmark Sensex zoomed 958 points to end at a fresh lifetime high on Thursday, tracking gains in index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC twins and ICICI Bank amid a positive trend in global markets. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty soared 276.30 points or 1.57 per cent to its new closing peak of 17,822.95. It touched an intra-day record of 17,843.90.

After scaling a new peak of 59,957.25 during the day, the 30-share Sensex settled 958.03 points or 1.63 per cent up at an all-time high of 59,885.36.

Bajaj Finserv was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 4 per cent, followed by L&T, HDFC, Axis Bank, SBI, Reliance Industries and IndusInd Bank.

On the other hand, Dr Reddy’s, ITC, Nestle and HUL were the laggards.

Domestic equities witnessed sharp recovery with benchmarks Nifty and Sensex both recording fresh all-time highs, said Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Favourable FOMC meeting outcome and ease of concerns from possible default of Evergrande aided market rally. Financials and Reliance Industries have dominated market rally, followed by metals, IT and auto, he added.

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed plans to announce as early as November that it will start to taper its monthly bond purchases, should the job market maintain its steady improvement.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong ended with gains, while Seoul was in the red. Japanese market was closed for holidays.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.12 per cent to USD 76.10 per barrel.



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Fed flags crypto assets for first time in Financial Risk Review, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The Federal Reserve singled out a surge in crypto asset prices for the first time in its overall assessment of the stability of the financial system, saying the rise reflected increased risk-taking by investors.

The brief comment, contained in the Fed’s semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to Congress released on Friday, is the latest sign that policymakers are paying more attention to what used to be a tiny sliver of the financial system.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell met with the head of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. on May 11 and crypto advocate Christopher Giancarlo a day later, according to the central banker’s monthly diary.

Powell’s in-person meeting with Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong and former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan lasted 30 minutes and took place during a week of intense volatility for cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, which fell steeply on that day. Spokespeople for both the Fed and Coinbase declined to comment on what was discussed.

The price of Bitcoin is up some 250% from a year ago, although it is well down from its April high.

Powell has previously said that he wants the Fed to play “a leading role” in the development of international standards for digital currency. The central bank plans to issue a discussion paper this summer highlighting the risks and benefits of digital payments.

In the Monetary Policy Report, the Fed said that some parts of the financial system had grown more vulnerable to potential instability since its last account to Congress in February, but that the core of the system remained resilient.

It characterized equity and commercial real estate prices as high and said that spreads on corporate bonds and leveraged loans remained low.

“The surge in the prices of a variety of crypto assets also reflects in part increased risk appetite.” it added.

The central bank also issued a warning about the general level of asset prices.

“Asset prices may be vulnerable to significant declines should investor risk appetite fall, interest rates rise unexpectedly, or the recovery stall.” the report said.



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