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(This story corrects 20-day average volume to 11.49 billion from 1.49 billion in paragraph 14) By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK: Major averages closed on Thursday with a rebound from early lows as investors looked for signs of progress in fiscal stimulus talks to support the economy after labor market data showed a jump in jobless claims. Stocks on Wall Street opened lower on the heels of weekly initial jobless claims data that spiked by 137,000 to a seasonally adjusted 853,000, well above expectations for 725,000 and the highest level since mid-September, underscoring the need for fresh stimulus measures to support a flagging economy. But equities moved well off lows that saw the S&P 500 down as much as 0.75per cent after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said talks between Republican and Democratic senators on COVID-19 relief were making "a lot of progress" with more discussions expected in the day. "The competing narrative of the virus is here, it is worse, the … [Read more...] about Wall Street shakes off labor market data with stimulus in focus

LONDON: US investment bank Morgan Stanley said on Monday it was taking "a few chips off the table" after a thundering rally in emerging markets over the last month. The bank said it was sticking to its core view that developing economy currencies and select countries' bonds would continue to climb, but was dialling back its bullish bets after November's surge. That included closing long positions on South Africa's rand, which has surged 13 per cent since June, tightening stop-losses on Latin American currencies like Brazil's real and Mexico's and Colombia's pesos, and chopping back a bunch of bond bets including in Egypt and Ukraine. "We see the rally in EM (emerging market) currencies being front-loaded into year-end and 1Q21, but then petering out," Morgan Stanley's analysts said. "We are also neutral on EM credit, where we think that spreads are close to bottoming out." They said they were watching China's credit cycle particularly closely. "China could be the first … [Read more...] about Morgan Stanley takes some ‘chips off the table’ after emerging market surge

LONDON: A stronger U.S. dollar will increasingly weigh on emerging- market economic prospects, since developing countries have taken on so much dollar-denominated debt in the past decade, the Bank of International Settlements said on Monday. The dollar has fallen by more than 12per cent from March highs after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates to record lows. But the BIS said the dollar remains prone to big swings and any reversal in risk sentiment could see it rise - hurting the growth outlook for emerging markets. Using data from 21 emerging-market economies between 1990 and 2019, BIS researchers found that an increase of 1 percentage point in the dollar's value against a basket of currencies led to a 0.3per cent drop in the growth outlook for those countries. That was evident in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic this year, when a near 10per cent rise in the value of the dollar index in the first three months of 2020 resulted in record bond outflows from … [Read more...] about Sturdy dollar casts a shadow over emerging markets, BIS says

SINGAPORE: The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has taken tougher enforcement actions against financial institutions and individuals for market abuse and financial misconduct. In its Enforcement Report published on Wednesday (Nov 4), the authority detailed various actions taken for breaches of MAS regulations covering the period from January 2019 to June 2020. This includes imposing civil penalties worth S$11.7 million in relation to market misconduct and related offences. Working with the Attorney-General’s Chambers, it also secured the criminal convictions of nine individuals for such offences. READ: MAS issues prohibition orders to 2 former bank employees for fraud, dishonest conduct Composition penalties of S$3.3 million were also imposed for money laundering-related control breaches, while 25 prohibition orders were issued to unfit representatives. READ: MAS issues prohibition orders to 2 former bank employees for fraud, dishonest conduct The report … [Read more...] about Strong action taken to combat financial misconduct, market abuse in Singapore: MAS

LONDON: The outcome of the US presidential elections will unequivocally play a huge role not only in shaping the future of the world’s largest economy, but also the underlying dynamics for global financial markets worldwide. With outcome of the elections held on Nov 3 still uncertain, many investors are waiting with bated breath on the final outcome and how the winning candidate would shape the direction of the world economy. Presidents wield considerable influence when it comes to policies that make or break an economy – but their power is not the only element at play. Any number of factors can throw an economy out of balance, like the dotcom bubble bursting during George W Bush’s first term and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to the biggest US economic contraction ever recorded. READ: Commentary: Lack of a landslide win in US election is worrying news Looking back at Donald Trump’s administration, the President has taken credit for the nation’s steady … [Read more...] about Commentary: Was Trump really that great for the economy and financial markets?