Market Round-up 24.07.14 – 09:00hrs CET
The Bank of England seems to be preparing to raise interest rates.
Speaking to business leaders in Glasgow, BoE Governor Carney said the economy “is starting to head back to normal” and as it does so, “[the] bank rate will need to start to rise in order to achieve the inflation target”.
The number of households struggling to keep up with their mortgage payments will double to 2.3m by 2018.
According to a report by the Resolution Foundation think-tank, one in four households would face repayment problems if rates rose by steps to a moderate 2.9% by 2018.
Business secretary Vince Cable has put the brakes on proposed two sell-offs — the proposed £1.2bn privatisation of the Land Registry and the sale of the student loan book.
Conservatives claimed that the Liberal Democrat business secretary has lost his nerve after his much-criticised privatisation of Royal Mail.
Britain’s markets regulator preparing to reach a deal on the currency-rigging probe with a group of banks this year, people with knowledge of the situation said.
The Financial Conduct Authority is in negotiations with a number of banks in order to settle a group settlement, a source told Bloomberg.
The US approves new rules on money market funds.
The rules, finalised by the Securities and Exchange Commission after a two-year delay, require certain funds, which had been treated like bank accounts but with better returns, to switch to a floating share price instead of the current fixed $1-a-share cost.
S&P may face securities fraud charges for ratings given to six commercial mortgage-backed securities.
The potential civil lawsuit is the latest legal issue for the credit rating company, which has faced intense regulatory scrutiny following the financial crisis, along with its competitors.
Google is braced for a showdown with European privacy watchdogs.
There are demands for Europe’s “right to be forgotten” to be extended across the world, with sensitive links stripped from all global versions of the search engine.
Facebook more than doubled second-quarter earnings.
Monthly active users rose to 1.32bn – almost as much as China’s 1.35bn-strong population.
OVERNIGHT TRADING
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 down -32.65 (-0.21%) at 15,296
Topix down -5.66 (-0.44%) at 1,267
Hang Seng up +93.42 (+0.39%) at 24,065
ASX 200 up +2.45 (+0.04%) at 5,579
US markets
S&P 500 up +9.90 (+0.50%) at 1,984
DJIA down -26.91 (-0.16%) at 17,087
Nasdaq unchanged up +17.68 (0.40%) at 4,474
European markets
Eurofirst 300 up +1.94 (+0.14%) at 1,376
FTSE100 up +2.81 (+0.04%) at 6,798
CAC 40 up +6.80 (+0.16%) at 4,376
Dax up +19.23 (+0.20%) at 9,754
Currencies
€/$ 1.35 (1.35)
$/¥ 101.51 (101.47)
£/$ 1.70 (1.70)
€/£ 0.7901 (0.7899)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.06 at 108.09
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.01 at 103.13
100 Oz Gold (Comex) at 1,305
Copper (Comex) up +0.72% at 3.22
Sources: FT, Bloomberg
All information correct as of 09.00CET. For the latest news from the financial markets, please visit deVere Foreign Exchange. For regular news updates throughout the day, please view deVere Market News