Aurelia Butler

KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) – The Pakistani rupee on Friday strengthened 2.38% in interbank closing at 278.46 rupees against the dollar, a day after the central bank raised its policy interest rate by 300 basis points (bps) to 20%, trading data showed.The rupee, which fell more than 6% on Thursday, was trading at 275.5 against the dollar during the day, up nearly 3.5%, after the opening session.”The rupee may have appreciated over the governors statement in the analyst meeting where he says the IMF has not asked to match the border rate,” says Mustafa Pasha, chief investment officer at Lakson Investments. Pasha added that expectations of reaching a staff level agreement soon have shot up now that the government has floated the currency, withdrawn farmer/export subsidies, and imposed electricity surcharges. He says, “On the other hand, it could be that the SBP has done a soft intervention or overseas Pakistanis decided to remit after seeing the rupee touch 286 against the dollar.”The value of the local currency has been depreciating amid delays in a funding deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is crucial for the South Asian’s broken economy faced with a balance-of-payment crisis.The sides have been negotiating a policy framework since the start of last month to agree on measures to bridge the fiscal deficit ahead of an annual budget around June.A staff-level agreement is yet to be signed, which finance minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday should be done by next week.If negotiations succeed, the IMF will issue over $1 billion to Pakistan, which is critical to unlock other bilateral and multilateral funding.A market-based currency exchange is one of several conditions the IMF has made to approve the funding.Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) downgraded the crisis struck country unsecured debt ratings to ‘’Caa3’ from ‘Caa1’ on Wednesday. On Friday five Pakistani banks: Allied Bank Limited (ABL), Habib Bank Ltd. (HBL), MCB Bank Limited (MCB), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and United Bank Ltd. (UBL), were also downgraded to Caa3 from Caa1. (This story has been corrected to fix figure in headline to 2.38%) More

March futures on the S&P/TSX index were up 0.3% at 7:12 a.m. ET.The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed at its highest in nearly two weeks on Thursday, underpinned by gains in technology and industrial shares.Canada’s independent budgetary watchdog forecast that the Bank of Canada will hold rates at the current level of 4.5% till the year-end and will start cutting rates in January 2024, making the first major central bank to say it would likely “pause” monetary tightening.Gold prices climbed to their highest in two weeks as a softer dollar made bullion cheaper for holders of other currencies. [GOL/]Among stocks, Equinor said it would acquire the British oil and gas business of Canada’s Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) for $850 million.Meanwhile, data showed home prices in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) rose in February from the previous month, but were down sharply on an annual basis, as borrowing costs climbed.Investors now await January monthly building permits data later in the day, which is expected to rise 1.5% from a decline of 7.3% in the previous month. Dow e-minis were up 95 points, or 0.29% at 7:12 a.m. ET, while S&P 500 e-minis were up 16.75 points, or 0.42%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 58.5 points, or 0.48%. [.N]COMMODITIES AT 7:00 a.m. ET Gold futures: $1,852.8; +0.7% [GOL/]US crude: $77.98; -0.2% [O/R]Brent crude: $84.53; -0.3% [O/R]U.S. ECONOMIC DATA DUE ON FRIDAYFeb S&P global composite final PMI data due 9:45 a.m. ETFeb ISM manufacturing PMI data due 10:00 a.m. ETFOR CANADIAN MARKETS NEWS, CLICK ON CODES:TSX market report (TO)Canadian dollar and bonds report [CAD/] [CA/]Reuters global stocks poll for CanadaCanadian markets directory($1 = 1.3566 Canadian dollars) More

LONDON (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar eased from a 2-1/2-month high versus the yen on Friday and looked set for its first weekly loss against major peers since January as traders tried to gauge the path for Federal Reserve policy.The yen, which is particularly sensitive to U.S.-Japanese long-term interest rate differentials, looked set to halt its six-week losing streak as it gained strength on Friday with 10-year U.S. yields retreating from a nearly four-month high close to 4.1%.Cryptocurrencies took a beating as the crisis engulfing Silvergate worsened, with industry heavyweights including Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) Global and Galaxy Digital dropping the lender as their banking partner.The dollar index, which measures the currency against the yen, euro and four other major peers, eased 0.25% to 104.7, from as high as 105.36 at the start of the week, which was its strongest level since Jan. 6. Since last Friday, the index has slipped 0.5%.Taking some steam out of the dollar and the breathless advance in U.S. yields were comments from Fed policymakers, including Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, who said that “slow and steady is going to be the appropriate course of action,” despite new labour figures adding to the run of strong data of late.”Yesterday’s Fed speakers – Collins, Waller and Bostic all seemed content with 25bp hikes for now,” said Mizuho senior economist Colin Asher in a note. “Most noted a possible need to push rates higher if the data continue to come in hot – suggesting data dependence,” Asher added.Analysts polled by Reuters said recent dollar strength was temporary, and the currency will weaken over the course of the year amid an improving global economy and expectations the Fed will stop hiking interest rates well ahead of the European Central Bank.”A lot of the dollar strength seen in February has probably run its course now,” said Michael Brown, market analyst at TraderX. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see some consolidation until (Fed Chair) Powell speaks next week and the jobs report on Friday, with the bar for significant further gains in the dollar quite high at this point,” Brown added. The Bank of Japan (BOJ), meanwhile, is expected to start dismantling extraordinary stimulus measures some time after Governor Haruhiko Kuroda retires next month.Tokyo inflation data for February exceeded the BOJ’s target for a ninth month, but the core measure did decelerate from a 42-year high.The dollar eased 0.54% to 136.02 yen, after climbing to 137.10 overnight, the highest since Dec. 20. For the week, the dollar is down 0.3% versus the yen, but any gain would preserve its win streak since mid-January.The euro rose 0.16% to $1.0614, after climbing off a nearly two-month low of $1.0533 at the start of the week. Since last Friday, it is up 0.7%.Sterling added 0.44% to $1.1998, on track for a 0.4% weekly rise, after Britain struck a post-Brexit Northern Ireland trade deal with the European Union, while a survey showed Britain’s services sector grew at the fastest pace in eight months in February. The Aussie strengthened 0.42% to $0.6758, putting it up 0.48% for the week.Bitcoin slid 4.8% to $22,348, and earlier touched a 2 1/2-week low at $22,000. Ether declined 5% to $1,565 after touching $1,543.60, also a first since mid-February. More

Refinitiv Lipper data showed investors offloaded a net $12.9 billion worth of U.S. equity funds, booking their biggest weekly disposal since Jan. 4. Fund flows: US equities, bonds and money market funds https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/gdvzqmbexpw/Fund%20flows%20US%20equities%20bonds%20and%20money%20market%20funds.jpg Meanwhile, money market funds drew a net $64.86 billion, the biggest weekly inflow in eight weeks, amid a risk-off mood among investors.U.S. large- and mid-cap equity funds faced $6.27 billion and $267 million worth of outflows, while investors drew $1.32 billion out of the small cap funds, snapping a four-week-long buying streak. Fund flows: US growth and value funds https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/zgpobnzdwvd/Fund%20flows%20US%20growth%20and%20value%20funds.jpg Healthcare, tech, and utilities lost $797 million, $581 million and $450 million, respectively in net selling, but industrials obtained about $542 million worth of inflows. Fund flows: US equity sector funds https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/jnvwyabzqvw/Fund%20flows%20US%20equity%20sector%20funds.jpg Meanwhile, U.S. bond funds obtained $2.79 billion in inflows after witnessing two weeks of net selling.Investors purchased U.S. short/intermediate government & treasury funds of $4.75 billion, while general domestic taxable fixed-income funds attracted $1.9 billion worth of inflows. Still, high-yield funds lost about $2 billion in a third straight week of outflows. Fund flows: US bond funds https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/byvrlqealve/Fund%20flows%20US%20bond%20funds.jpg More

Investing.com — Central bank watchers get more than they bargain for as they tune in to Federal Reserve Governor Chris Waller’s latest warnings on inflation. Two-year bond yields are set for their highest weekly close since 2007. The ISM releases its non-manufacturing survey. Broadcom and Marvell offer starkly diverging views of the outlook for chipmakers, but VMWare and C3.AI surprise positively. Rajiv Jain rides to the rescue of Gautam Adani, and Russia’s armed forces claim they’re close to capturing the town of Bakhmut, the focal point of fighting in Ukraine for the last four months. Here’s what you need to know in financial markets on Friday, 4th March.1. Fed’s Waller, Bostic warn on rate pathBenchmark 2-year U.S. bond yields are set for their highest weekly close in over 15 years, at the end of a week stamped by fears that inflation isn’t coming down as quickly as hoped.Two Federal Reserve officials – Governor Chris Waller and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic – said on Thursday that they’re open to raising rates by more than they previously thought would be necessary, pushing market expectations of the ‘terminal’ fed funds rate in this cycle ever closer to 5.5%.Bostic stressed that he’s still in favor of “slow, steady” increases rather than reverting to hikes of 50 basis points. Waller’s prepared remarks indicated he still sees a terminal rate of between 5.1% and 5.4%, but would revise that higher if economic data continue to come in hotter than expected.“Hotter than expected” was one way of describing Waller’s comments in general. The speech, which was due to be delivered remotely – ended up being canceled after one user’s device was hacked and used to broadcast pornography to the rest of the participants.2. Mixed fortunes for chipmakersChipmakers Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) and Marvell (NASDAQ:MRVL) offered starkly contrasting outlooks for the year ahead as the semiconductor industry grapples with a looming glut.Broadcom stock edged up in premarket after it forecast a “soft landing” in the second half, cushioned by an order book that still looks amply stocked and by strong demand for chips powering the rapid expansion in artificial intelligence applications. That echoed with a strong outlook from C3.AI (NYSE:AI), which rose over 16% in premarket.By contrast, Marvell Technologies stock fell nearly 9%, putting it on course to test a five-week low when it opens later, after the company forecast earnings in a range around 29c a share in the current quarter, around 30% below consensus. 3. Stocks set to extend rebound; ISM Non-manufacturing survey dueU.S. stock markets are set to extend their gains after rebounding on Thursday, putting them on course for a weekly gain that looked unlikely a couple of days ago.By 06:45 ET (11:45 GMT), Dow Jones futures were up 62 points, or 0.2%, while S&P 500 futures were up 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.4%, with Broadcom’s outlook giving support to most of the rest of the chipmaking sector. Solid reports from VMware (NYSE:VMW) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) also reassured as to the strength of business investment, although Dell (NYSE:DELL) and Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) both slumped after giving weak outlooks.Early attention is likely to focus on the ISM’s non-manufacturing survey due at 10:00 ET, with the market on the lookout for any further evidence of ‘sticky’ inflation.4. Rajiv Jain gives Adani some breathing spaceEmbattled Indian tycoon Gautam Adani got a shot in the arm, as GQG – a U.S.-based investment firm founded by Indian-born Rajiv Jain – injected $1.9 billion into various parts of his struggling empire.The move was the biggest external vote of confidence in Adani’s group since it was hit by a short-selling report from Hindenburg Research, which accused it of using excessive debt and shell companies to inflate the value of its portfolio companies’ stocks. Adani Enterprises (NS:ADEL), the group’s flagship holding company, rose nearly 17%, although it’s still down more than 50% year-to-date. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (NS:APSE) stock rose 10% and Adani Transmission (NS:ADAI) rose 5%.5. Russians close in on BakhmutThe battle for Bakhmut appeared to be nearing its end, as Russian forces claimed they had all but surrounded the town that has been the focal point of fighting in Ukraine for the last four months. Ukrainian authorities acknowledged that a bridge on the last serviceable road out of Bakhmut had been destroyed, further undermining the position of the remaining defenders.The fall of Bakhmut would in theory allow Russia to resupply its forces further south in Ukraine more easily, making it harder for Ukraine to recapture the provinces that the Kremlin annexed last year. That in turn could provide a fresh test of U.S. and European resolve to continue supporting Kyiv.Recent reports have suggested that France and Germany, in particular, have urged President Volodymyr Zelensky to consider peace talks – something that Zelensky and (at least in public) all of Ukraine’s western allies reject. More