Markets expect a pause in rate hikes, while regulators deal with the aftermath of bank failures
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against six other major currencies, plunged to near one-month lows on Monday, following a Goldman Sachs forecast that Washington will likely halt rate hikes. According to trading data, the index slid 0.6% to 103.9 by 09:00 GMT.
Goldman’s previous forecast predicted a 25-basis-point hike at the next Fed meeting in March. The change in expectations came after US regulators on Sunday announced a new emergency program aimed at protecting bank clients, following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last week.
According to a joint statement from US Treasury, Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), they will make a “systemic risk exception” to allow both insured and uninsured depositors of the failed banks to regain full access to their money. The Fed also separately announced it would make additional funding available for banks in cases of emergency, through a new Bank Term Funding Program.
The measures led investors to predict the Fed may be too busy sorting through the fallout of the banks’ failures to raise interest rates in the near term.
There is a historic correlation between higher interest rates and failures of overleveraged financial institutions. Overleveraging occurs when a business has borrowed too much money and is unable to pay interest payments, principal repayments, or maintain payments for operating expenses due to its debt burden. However, analysts say US inflation data release on Tuesday may also affect the Fed’s rate hike plans.
The Fed hiked the key rate on more than one occasion in recent months in a bid to reign in soaring inflation. The latest 25-basis-point increase was announced on February 1, bringing the rate to a target range of 4.5%-4.75%. Prior to last week, analysts expected at least three more rate hikes this year to bring the indicator to a peak of 5.25%-5.5%.
https://www.rt.com/business/572886-us-dollar-slides-banking-turmoil/
Volker Turk has warned that efforts to advance reparatory justice are facing resistance in “certain quarters,” and urged countries to back Africa’s push.
Reparatory justice for historical crimes, including colonialism, enslavement, and the trade in enslaved Africans, is crucial to dismantling systemic racism, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said.
Speaking at the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on Tuesday, Turk linked present-day discrimination against people from the continent to the enduring legacy of colonialism and enslavement.
”Racism and dehumanizing rhetoric continue to permeate public institutions, communities, and online platforms,” he said, according to the UN Press Service. Turk noted that “digital technologies, including AI, are reproducing and amplifying existing biases against people of African descent.”
The remarks come weeks after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade “the gravest...
The US VP had to defend President Trump’s Gaza policy at a rally on a Georgia college campus.
US Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to defend Washington’s policy in Gaza after he was booed and heckled at a key MAGA event on Wednesday.
Co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative student group that has long been seen as a strong support base of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement but is now showing apparent cracks.
Less than 15 minutes into a TPUSA event at the University of Georgia on Wednesday, Vance was interrupted by hecklers over US policy in Gaza, with one audience member shouting, “Jesus Christ does not support genocide!” As he attempted to respond, others shouted, “You’re killing children!” and “You’re bombing children!”
Vance replied by referring to Trump’s achievements as president, including securing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, something he said the previous administration of Joe Biden failed to do.
“I ...
Sergey Shoigu has cautioned Finland and the Baltic states against allowing Kiev to use their airspace for attacks on Russia.
Russia would have the right to retaliate if Finland and the Baltic states are deliberately allowing Ukrainian drones to pass through their airspace, Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said on Thursday.
“Recently, there has been an increase in Ukrainian drone strikes against Russia via Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia,” Shoigu told journalists. “As a result, civilians are suffering and significant damage is being caused to civilian infrastructure.”
Either Western air defenses are proving ineffective, or these four countries “deliberately provide their airspace, thereby becoming open accomplices in aggression against Russia,” he added. In the latter case, Moscow has the right to self-defense in response to an “armed attack” under Article 51 of the UN Charter, the security chief stressed.
In recent weeks, Kiev has intensified drone strikes on ...
