WASHINGTON U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin failed on Friday to reach agreement on a COVID-19 stimulus package, while the top Senate Republican voiced doubt that Congress would act before the Nov. 3 election. | Video
Britain will explore every avenue
for a trade deal with the European Union but progress to bridge
significant gaps needs to be made in the coming days, British
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told French President Emmanuel
Macron on Saturday.
Britain will explore every avenue
for a trade deal with the European Union but progress to bridge
significant gaps needs to be made in the coming days, British
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told French President Emmanuel
Macron on Saturday.
China's central bank said it
will lower the reserve requirement ratio for financial
institutions when conducting some foreign exchange forwards
trading to zero with effect from Monday.
Malaysia Airlines will have
to shut down if its lessors decide not to back its latest
restructuring plan, the chief executive of the airline's parent
group was quoted as saying on Saturday.
The Iranian rial fell to a new low
against the U.S. dollar on Saturday as the economy reels under
pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic and U.S. sanctions.
Malaysia Airlines may have
to fold if its lessors decide not to back its latest
restructuring plan, the airlines' group chief executive was
quoted as saying in a report on Saturday.
A group of leasing
companies has rejected a restructuring plan put forward by
Malaysia Airlines, bringing the state carrier closer to a
showdown over its future.
Mexico's main stock exchange
closed several hours early on Friday after suspending operations
before midday due to what it later described as a temporary
outage in the system used to process trading orders.
Boston Red Sox owner John Henry is in talks with RedBall Acquisition Corp to take his famed sports holding company Fenway Sports Group LLC public, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters late on Friday.
Senator Marco Rubio, who has
successfully urged the Trump administration to pursue
investigations of Chinese companies, called on Friday for the
U.S. government to consider options to delay an initial public
offering of China's Ant Group, the fintech arm of Chinese
e-commerce giant Alibaba.
European stocks posted a second consecutive week of gains on Friday as bumper forecasts from Denmark's Pandora and Novo Nordisk set a brighter tone for the earnings season, while investors kept an eye out for signs of fresh U.S. stimulus.
European stock markets gained on Friday on
rosy earnings forecasts from retailers Pandora and Zalando as
well as drugmaker Novo Nordisk, with investors keeping an eye
out for signs of fresh U.S. stimulus.
European stocks hit a near three-week high on Thursday as investors globally pinned hopes on more U.S. stimulus even as coronavirus cases surged across the continent.
European stocks resumed gains on Thursday,
inching closer to a three-week high on expectations of a
targeted U.S. stimulus package as well as positive corporate
updates.
European stocks mostly fell on Wednesday, failing to join a recovery in global equities following a selloff on doubts over U.S. stimulus, with blue-chip shares weighing the most.
European stocks edged higher on Wednesday
as upbeat earnings reports from UK's Tesco and Germany's Dialog
Semiconductor helped offset uncertainties surrounding a fresh
U.S. stimulus package.
European stocks stretched their gains for a fourth session on Tuesday, with banks surging more than 3% over growing hopes for a U.S. stimulus package, a Brexit trade deal as well as upbeat German data.
The Hong Kong Monetary
Authority sold HK$3.1 billion ($400 million) into the market in
New York trading hours after the local currency hit the strong
end of its trading band, according to data released by the HKMA.
International stocks rose on
Friday, with all three major Wall Street indexes posting weekly
gains as investors grew more hopeful the U.S. government would
provide additional economic stimulus.
U.S. stocks joined their global
counterparts in the black, and were on track for weekly gains on
Friday as ongoing fiscal aid talks and growing expectations for
Democratic election victories revived hopes over economic
stimulus.
The dollar fell to three-week lows on Friday on optimism that a deal for
new U.S. stimulus would be reached, and as investors bet that Democrat Joe Biden is more likely to win the
U.S. presidency and offer a larger economic package.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would resume talks on a possible COVID-19 stimulus package
with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday, while Senate Republicans voiced doubts that a deal can
be reached before the Nov. 3 election.
Republican President Donald Trump, who initially withdrew from the negotiations this week only to
regain interest in forging a bipartisan accord, said he was open to a larger deal.
“It seems like, at least in the White House, there is more of a sense of urgency that it needs to be
done,” said Bipan Rai, North American head of FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets in Toronto. However,
“the key question for us is whether or not the Senate Republicans are going to go with it … they don’t
seem to be united.”
“I think we’re more or less in a standstill until we get some more clarity on whether or not this
stimulus package is going to go through,” Rai said.
The dollar index against a basket of major currencies fell 0.54% to 93.05, the lowest since
September 21, and fell below its 50-day moving average for the first time since then. It has held within a
range from 91.74 to 94.75 since late July.
The euro rose 0.57% to $1.1825. The greenback weakened 0.39% against the Japanese yen to
105.60 yen.
The U.S. currency also fell on rising expectations that Biden will win the Nov. 3 election, and that
Democrats could win the Senate. A Democratic victory would likely result in larger stimulus, which would
be negative for the dollar.
Rising expectations of a Biden victory has also boosted appetite for currencies that have been hurt by
the trade war between Washington and Beijing, with the Chinese currency the biggest beneficiary.
The offshore yuan strengthened to 6.6778, the strongest since April 2019.
The British pound rose, brushing off worse than expected UK growth data as investors became more
optimistic about a Brexit deal being reached ahead of a key European Council summit next week.
Sterling gained 0.79% to $1.3035.
========================================================
Currency bid prices at 2:58PM (1858 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1825 $1.1758 +0.57% +5.49% +1.1828 +1.1754
Dollar/Yen JPY= 105.6000 106.0100 -0.39% -2.99% +106.0400 +105.6200
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 124.87 124.69 +0.14% +2.41% +125.0900 +124.5300
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9098 0.9167 -0.75% -5.99% +0.9177 +0.9098
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3035 1.2933 +0.79% -1.69% +1.3040 +1.2922
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3130 1.3194 -0.49% +1.11% +1.3202 +1.3115
Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7233 0.7166 +0.93% +3.02% +0.7239 +0.7161
ar
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0759 1.0780 -0.19% -0.86% +1.0789 +1.0755
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.9068 0.9087 -0.21% +7.26% +0.9131 +0.9069
NZ NZD= 0.6661 0.6572 +1.35% -1.11% +0.6670 +0.6576
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK= 9.1453 9.2623 -1.26% +4.18% +9.2751 +9.1442
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.8151 10.8940 -0.72% +9.93% +10.9109 +10.8115
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.7899 8.8565 -0.25% -5.96% +8.8736 +8.7860
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.3940 10.4202 -0.25% -0.72% +10.4510 +10.3836
(Additional reporting by Saikat Chatterjee in London
Editing by Nick Zieminski and Marguerita Choy)
U.S. stocks joined their global
counterparts in the black on Friday as ongoing fiscal aid talks
and growing expectations for Democratic election victories
boosted optimism over economic stimulus.
Sri Lankan shares rose for a
third straight session on Friday on the back of gains in
financial and industrial stocks, although the index booked its
biggest weekly decline in over six months.
Sri Lankan shares rose for a
third straight session on Friday on the back of gains in
financial and industrial stocks, although the index booked its
biggest weekly decline in over six months.
The dollar fell to three-week lows on Friday as optimism that a deal for
new U.S. stimulus would be reached, and as investors bet that Democrat Joe Biden is more likely to win the
U.S. presidency and offer a larger economic package.
After stalling talks with Democrats on a comprehensive aid package earlier this week, U.S. President
Donald Trump on Thursday called for a "skinny" relief bill that would include elements such as direct
payments and a bailout of the struggling airline sector.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said another rescue package was needed but noted "vast
differences" over costs. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said legislation to help
airline companies could only move through Congress with guarantees that a comprehensive aid bill would be
developed too.
“It seems like, at least in the White House, there is more of a sense of urgency that it needs to be
done,” said Bipan Rai, North American head of FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets in Toronto. However,
“the key question for us is whether or not the Senate Republicans are going to go with it … they don’t
seem to be united.”
“I think we’re more or less in a standstill until we get some more clarity on whether or not this
stimulus package is going to go through,” Rai said.
The dollar index against a basket of major currencies fell 0.34% to 93.23, the lowest since
September 21. It has held within a range from 91.74 to 94.75 since late July.
The euro rose 0.45% to $1.1811. The greenback weakened 0.16% against the Japanese yen to
105.84 yen.
The U.S. currency also fell on rising expectations that Biden will win the Nov. 3 election, and that
Democrats could win the Senate. A Democratic victory would likely result in larger stimulus, which would
be negative for the dollar.
Rising expectations of a Biden victory has also boosted appetite for currencies that have been hurt by
the trade war between Washington and Beijing, with the Chinese currency the biggest beneficiary.
The offshore yuan strengthened to 6.6801, the strongest since April 2019.
The pound was steady, brushing off worse than expected UK growth data as investors became more
optimistic about a Brexit deal being reached ahead of a key European Council summit next week.
Sterling was last up 0.29% at $1.2970.
========================================================
Currency bid prices at 9:24AM (1324 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1811 $1.1758 +0.45% +5.36% +1.1817 +1.1754
Dollar/Yen JPY= 105.8400 106.0100 -0.16% -2.77% +106.0400 +105.8200
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 125.00 124.69 +0.25% +2.50% +125.0900 +124.5300
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9116 0.9167 -0.56% -5.81% +0.9177 +0.9116
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2970 1.2933 +0.29% -2.18% +1.2976 +1.2922
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3141 1.3194 -0.40% +1.19% +1.3202 +1.3132
Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7213 0.7166 +0.66% +2.73% +0.7218 +0.7161
ar
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0770 1.0780 -0.09% -0.76% +1.0789 +1.0769
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.9107 0.9087 +0.22% +7.72% +0.9131 +0.9077
NZ NZD= 0.6638 0.6572 +1.00% -1.45% +0.6642 +0.6576
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK= 9.1798 9.2623 -0.89% +4.57% +9.2751 +9.1786
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.8450 10.8940 -0.45% +10.24% +10.9109 +10.8413
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.8142 8.8565 -0.11% -5.70% +8.8736 +8.8136
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.4087 10.4202 -0.11% -0.58% +10.4510 +10.4110
(Additional reporting by Saikat Chatterjee in London
Editing by Nick Zieminski)
China's central bank is issuing
10 million yuan ($1.5 million) worth of digital currency to
50,000 randomly selected consumers in what some see as the
country's first public test of the digital yuan payment system.