BOE decision day, Lehman anniversary, Markets flat, what people are talking about
BOE decision day, Lehman anniversary, Markets flat, what people are talking about
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It's decision day at the Bank of England, eight years since Lehman collapsed, and oil is holding below $44. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.
Bank of England
The Bank of England is due to make its latest monetary policy announcement at 7:00 a.m. ET this morning. Every economist surveyed by Bloomberg predicts no change in policy following last month's stronger-than-expected reaction to the Brexit vote. With data, including today's retail sales figures, continuing to show resilience there seems to be little need for further easing at the moment. The pound, which has acted as something of a safety valve for the British economy since the referendum, was holding steady at $1.3235 at 6:05 a.m. ET.
Risky bets
It is eight years today since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed under the weight of losses incurred due to the subprime mortgage crisis. There are some signs that the lessons learned in the crisis that followed the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history are being forgotten as the search yield encourages some funds load up on risk.
Oil holds below $44
A barrel of West Texas Intermediate for October delivery was trading at $43.83 at 6:07 a.m. ET after the commodity lost 5.9 percent in the previous two sessions. Concerns over the oil glut are increasing as Nigeria and Libya are set to add hundreds of thousands of barrels to global supply as production restarts following conflict-related shutdowns. Jeff Currie, head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., sees oil trading between $45 and $50 for the next 12 months.
Asia stock fall continues
Overnight, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.4 percent while Japan's Topix index dropped 1 percent, its seventh day of declines, as speculation increases that the Bank of Japan will opt to make deeper cuts into negative rates rather than increase asset purchases at its meeting next week. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.2 percent higher at 6:15 a.m. ET, rising from its lowest level in almost six weeks. S&P 500 futures had gained 0.3 percent.
Coming up...
There is a raft of U.S. economic data due today. At 8:30 a.m. retail sales and PPI data for August are released. At the same time, we also get weekly initial jobless claims numbers, with economists expecting 265,000, or a small increase from last week's 259,000. Industrial production data for August is due at 9:15 a.m. ET, with expectations for a drop of 0.2 percent.
What we've been reading
This is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours.
- Warren: Next administration should investigate — and possibly jail — Wall Street bankers.
- This bond market selloff looks a lot like 'taper tantrum,' the sequel.
- Cheap burgers are giving the Bank of Japan a headache.
- Why China's debt levels are all about property prices.
- Holding gold is getting scary for this former bull.
- Behind Bayer-Monsanto, an odd couple out to rule the world.
- When did charts become so popular?
To contact the author of this story: Lorcan Roche Kelly in Dublin at lrochekelly@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joe Weisenthal at jweisenthal@bloomberg.net, Tracy Alloway