Aurelia Butler

Deposits on a nonseasonally adjusted basis fell in the week ended April 26 to about $17.1 trillion, a drop of about $120 billion from the week earlier. That was the lowest level since June 2021, with deposits now having declined by more than $500 billion from the week before Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapsed in March.After record deposit outflows immediately after the failure of SVB and smaller Signature Bank (OTC:SBNY) within days of each other, deposits had stabilized into early April. They picked up again in the latter half of April, a period that typically has large outflows from accounts as the annual tax filing season comes to a close.On a seasonally adjusted basis, which takes that pattern into account, deposits have changed little since the end of March. At large U.S. banks deposits fell to $10.54 trillion from $10.61 trillion a week earlier, on a nonseasonally adjusted basis. Deposits at small banks totaled $5.32 trillion, compared with $5.34 trillion.Meanwhile, total banking system credit has yet to show the contraction many economists and policymakers anticipate to develop after the recent banking system turmoil and aggressive interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve over the past year. Regulators seized a third bank – First Republic – this week and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), the largest U.S. bank, took over. Total banking system credit rose for a second week to $17.37 trillion led by an increase in loans and leases to a record high $12.11 trillion, on a nonseasonally adjusted basis, from $12.07 trillion in the previous week. Nevertheless, loan growth has flattened out in recent months: the annual growth rate has cooled from a double-digit pace late last year to about 9% as April was ending, suggesting tighter conditions are beginning to temper bank credit. More

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – A global gauge of stocks rallied and U.S. Treasuries and gold sold off on Friday as strong U.S. jobs data brightened the economic outlook and traders pared expectations of Federal Reserve easing after a long spate of rate hikes.The non-farms payroll report showed U.S. employers added 253,000 new jobs in April, up from 165,000 in March and exceeding expectations for 180,000.U.S. Treasury yields rose after the report while the dollar was down very slightly against a basket of major currencies. Oil prices jumped on signs of economic strength, but registered their third weekly decline in a row. Shares in U.S. banks also erased some losses after a rough week following the collapse of a third major bank. Since Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled that the central bank could pause hikes traders have been betting this would happen at the June meeting with some even calling for rate cuts in July, according to CME Group’s (NASDAQ:CME) FedWatch tool. After Friday’s data, the probability for a July cut declined. But still Friday’s trading suggested a focus on signs of economic strength rather than on the prospects for tighter policy, which often come with stronger than expected data.”The pause button has likely been pressed and now it’s about the state of the U.S. economy and what we saw today suggests it’s in a better position that previously expected,” said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco, New York. “The caveats are that one data point does not a picture paint and, to a large extent, employment is a lagging indicator for the state of the economy.”But while decent growth may not lead to more tightening in the short run Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) Investment Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina, disagrees with the market’s “Goldilocks scenario” where growth slows without a hard recession and the Fed can ease policy quickly.”If the Fed is cutting rates aggressively in the back half of the year, something has gone very wrong economically,” he said adding that, for now, the market has a short term focus. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe was gaining 1.48% and on track for its biggest one-day percentage gain since Jan. 6. However, for the week it still showed a small decline.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 546.64 points, or 1.65%, to 33,674.38, the S&P 500 gained 75.03 points, or 1.85%, to 4,136.25 and the Nasdaq Composite added 269.02 points, or 2.25%, to 12,235.41.Under the hood, oil’s rebound helped boost the energy equity index. U.S. crude settled up 4.05% at $71.34 per barrel and Brent ended at $75.30, up 3.86%.The biggest boost from a single stock for all three major U.S. indexes was from technology heavyweight Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) which soared after its quarterly report impressed investors. Investors also paused their exit from U.S. banks pushing the KBW regional bank index up 4.7%. However the regional index was still down almost 8% for the week on sharp declines in the previous four sessions after the weekend collapse of First Republic Bank (OTC:FRCB). In currencies, the dollar index fell 0.059%, with the euro up 0.05% to $1.1016. The Japanese yen weakened 0.39% versus the greenback at 134.84 per dollar, while sterling was last trading at $1.2633, up 0.49% on the day. In Treasuries, benchmark 10-year notes were up 7.9 basis points to 3.431%, from 3.352% late on Thursday. The 30-year bond was last up 2.4 basis points to yield 3.7464%. The 2-year note was last was up 18.7 basis points to yield 3.9139%.After getting close to a record high in the previous session, gold beat a fast retreat after the payrolls data tempered expectations for Fed rate cuts.Spot gold dropped 1.7% to $2,017.03 an ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 1.76% to $2,017.40 an ounce. More

(Reuters) -The Biden administration on Friday approved the release of the final environmental assessment for New York City’s congestion pricing plan for public comment, a key step before the project can be green-lighted.The Federal Highway Administration approval is a milestone in efforts to implement the plan announced in 2019 to reduce traffic and provide funding to improve mass transit by using tolls to manage traffic in central Manhattan. The approval means the New York project sponsors are cleared to put the environmental assessment and draft finding of no significant impact out for a 30-day public notice before the federal agency makes its final determination.In August, New York said drivers could face a traffic congestion charge of up to $23 a day in late 2023. A study released last year projected would reduce the number of cars entering Manhattan by 15% to 20%.The city wants to charge a daily variable toll for vehicles entering or remaining within the central business district, defined as between 60th Street in midtown Manhattan and Battery Park on Manhattan’s southern tip.New York, which has the most congested U.S. traffic, would become the first major U.S. city to follow London, which began a similar charge in 2003.New York lawmakers approved the plan in 2019, and it was originally projected to start in 2021. But the federal government under President Donald Trump did not take any action.The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said on Friday congestion pricing “is a generational opportunity to make it easier for people to get around in, and get to, the Central Business District, by reducing traffic and funding improvements to the public transit system.”MTA said it was grateful the Federal Highway Administration found the document met standards for legal sufficiency.Last year, MTA said passenger vehicle drivers could pay $9 to $23 to enter at peak times, while overnight tolls could be as little as $5. Drivers could apply existing bridge and tunnel tolls to congestion charges.The environmental assessment found the charge would cut traffic, improve air quality, make buses more reliable and increase transit use by 1%-2%. The toll would generate $1-$1.5 billion a year and support $15 billion in debt financing for mass transit improvement. More