Aurelia Butler

Britain’s government also gave more details of support to businesses for energy costs, which it said would cost tens of billions of pounds.Two-year gilt yields rose to their highest since October 2008 at 3.381%, up 9 basis points on the day, while five-year yields were the highest since November 2008 at 3.361%, up more than 6 basis points. More

“On a review of current liquidity conditions, the Reserve Bank of India has decided to conduct a Variable Rate Repo auction on September 22,” RBI said in a statement on Wednesday. India’s banking system liquidity slipped into deficit for the first time in more than three years. The deficit stood at 218.73 billion rupees as on Tuesday, according to RBI. Overnight rates traded above RBI’s Marginal Standing Facility rate through the trading session on Wednesday. RBI repo rate stands at 5.40%, while MSF rate stands at 5.65%. ($1 = 79.9680 Indian rupees) More

Output will shrink 2.2% next year, compared with an earlier projection for a 0.3% contraction, the analysts said Wednesday in a report to clients. Gross domestic product in Germany, which is most exposed to lower energy shipments, will drop as much as 4%. Inflation, meanwhile, is seen averaging 6.2% in 2023, down from 8.2% in 2022, as continued supply-chain disruptions, tight labor markets and a weak euro offset the impact of the deteriorating economy. Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) still expects the European Central Bank to lift its deposit rate to 2.5% by the end of the first quarter.©2022 Bloomberg L.P. More

Investing.com — The Federal Reserve is set to raise U.S. interest rates again – but by how much? Vladimir Putin rattles the nuclear saber as he calls up 300,000 reservists for his war in Ukraine, causing the dollar and European gas prices to rise again. Existing home sales are due, and homebuilder Lennar reports quarterly earnings. In the U.K., Prime Minister Liz Truss prepares another energy relief package, and the U.S. government will publish its weekly oil inventories as fears for global oil demand grow. Here’s what you need to know in financial markets on Wednesday, 21st September.1. Decision Day at the FedThe Federal Reserve is set to raise U.S. interest rates again, with the market split over whether to expect an increase of 75 basis points, as happened last time, or a full percentage point. Another upside surprise to U.S. inflation in August has inclined some analysts to the latter, although the consensus is still – just about – for 75.Of more importance, arguably, will be the Fed’s so-called ‘dot-plot’, which maps where the policymakers expect rates to be over the next couple of years. This should send a signal about how high the central bank thinks rates will have to rise, and how long they will have to stay high before victory over inflation can be declared. Short-term interest rate futures imply a peak next year of between 4.25% and 4.5%, i.e., around 2 percentage points higher than today.The Fed’s decision is due as usual at 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT), with chair Jerome Powell’s press conference half an hour later.2. Putin ups the ante with partial mobilizationRussian President Vladimir Putin surprised the West Wednesday by declaring a partial mobilization of the country’s 2-million-strong military reserve and confirming his intention to annex those parts of Ukraine currently under Russian occupation.Putin said the mobilization would be limited to those who have already served in the armed forces and who have relevant experience and training. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a subsequent televised address that it would only affect 300,000 people.The move marks a massive shift for the Kremlin and could be seen as a response to recent defeats on the battlefield in Ukraine and signs that its leverage over European energy markets may be fading as European gas prices fall.3. Stocks set to open higher; home sales data, Gap job cuts eyedU.S. stock markets are set to open moderately higher despite the drama in Russia but are essentially in a holding pattern ahead of the Fed meeting later.By 06:40 ET, Dow Jones futures were up 70 points, or 0.2%, while S&P 500 futures were up 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 futures were largely flat. The three benchmark cash indices had lost around 1% each on Tuesday in a bout of pre-Fed jitters.Stocks likely to be in focus later include homebuilder Lennar (NYSE:LEN), which reports results on the same day that existing home sales data for August are due. General Mills (NYSE:GIS) is also due to report. Also in focus is Gap (NYSE:GPS), which is to cut 500 corporate jobs, according to a Wall Street Journal report.4. U.K. energy bailout and Uniper nationalizationThe U.K.’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss announced a relief package for businesses to help them with their energy bills over the coming winter. The package will cap electricity and gas prices at around half of the current spot market price for six months. A more selective relief scheme will then be applied thereafter.The move, with an estimated cost of 40 billion pounds ($45.5 billion) is the second big fiscal package announced by Truss to deal with the energy crisis. The pound fell to a new 37-year low in response, spooked by data published earlier showing a big rise in public borrowing due to higher interest costs.Europe’s energy crisis meanwhile claimed another victim in Germany, where the federal government agreed to nationalize Uniper (ETR:UN01), the country’s biggest gas supplier, whose finances have been ruined by the shut-off of Russian supplies.Elsewhere, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire asked the EU to bring forward a planned loosening of state aid rules to help businesses get through the winter.5. Oil surges on the Putin factor; EIA data awaitedCrude oil prices rose sharply as the market moved to price in a higher geopolitical risk premium after Putin’s speech.By 06:40 ET, U.S. crude futures were up 2.4% at $85.95 a barrel, while Brent futures were up 2.3% at $92.74 a barrel.Nuclear grandstanding aside, the big item of the day is U.S. inventory data for last week, where a 2.16 million barrel increase in crude stocks is expected. The American Petroleum Institute’s data, released on Tuesday, undershot expectations with a build of just over 1 million barrels. More

Attending an International Air Transport Association (IATA) conference in the Qatari capital Doha, IATA Director General Willie Walsh said China’s zero-COVID policy had “devastated” Hong Kong and hit airline Cathay Pacific hard. “Cathay Pacific is a shadow of its former self as a result. Hong Kong has lost its position as a global hub and will struggle to regain it because other hubs have taken advantage of it,” he said, blaming government policies, not the virus.Hong Kong is traditionally a major hub where passengers transit between international flights and on journeys to China, and is the base of Cathay Pacific.The pace of the recovery in global passenger demand has picked up over the northern hemisphere summer, with airline executives attributing higher than expected demand to a surge of people keen to travel after two years of restrictions.But the recovery has been uneven, with China continuing to enforce tight COVID-19 related border and social curbs.Walsh said IATA was closely watching for any indications that China would ease its restrictions, and said there had previously been expectations there would be changes this year.If the restrictions continue next year, the industry will suffer. “It clearly will have an impact on the overall strength of the recovery,” Walsh told reporters. More

ROME (Reuters) – For the first time in Italian history, 18-24-year-olds will enjoy full voting rights at the Sept. 25 national election, meaning the voice of young people should count more than ever before.Ending a long-standing anomaly, the minimum voting age for the upper house Senate has been lowered from 25 to 18, bringing it into line with the lower house Chamber of Deputies. The two houses of parliament have equal powers.”In terms of numbers, of course it means that young people matter more in these elections,” Livio Gigliuto, vice-president of the Istituto Piepoli polling institute, told Reuters. “The key issue is how many of them actually vote.”The change in rules affects 4.1 million people, out of a total electorate of 51.4 million, and although pollsters say a sizeable number might abstain, politicians are not being shy in their attempts to win over new voters’ hearts and minds. True to his showman persona, former premier and cruise ship crooner Silvio Berlusconi has led the way in attempts to reach out to them via TikTok, with videos in which he uses funny voices, cracks jokes and plays on his playboy image. “I’m speaking to those of you over the age of 18 – is it to ask you to introduce me to your girlfriend? Not at all! I am asking you to go and vote on September 25, and to vote for me,” the 85-year-old said last week.With his antics, Berlusconi has attracted more than 2.5 million likes on the social network, in less than three weeks. But is unclear whether the attention he is getting will translate into cast ballots. “I watched Berlusconi’s videos on TikTok, but because they make me laugh, not because I want to vote for him,” said Alessandro Males, 20, a high school student from Milan who is planning to abstain. “Generally speaking, I think voting does not lead to any change. I don’t see any tangible differences for me whether there is one person or another in government,” he said.COMEBACK HOPESA poll released in August by the SWG institute estimated the potential abstention rate among younger voters at 34-38%, reporting that 43% of them believed that voting “is meaningless” because politicians “do whatever they want” once elected.But that hasn’t stopped parties specifically targeting first-time voters.All the manifestos include generous promises targeted at young people struggling with work or studies, including help with tuition fees, mortgage and rent costs, the introduction of a minimum wage and the outlawing of unpaid internships.The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) is also promising a 10,000 euro ($9,980) “dowry” for 18-year-olds from low-income families, and is messaging strongly on climate change, abortion and LGBTI rights.Surveys suggests these are top concerns among young voters. PD leader Enrico Letta “is really convinced this is one way in which he can close the gap with the centre-right”, a centre-left candidate, who was not allowed to discuss strategy on the record, told Reuters. It would be quite a comeback: before an opinion poll blackout came into force on Sept. 10, the PD-led bloc was polling below 30%, compared with more than 45% for the right-wing coalition fronted by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (FdI) party.The SWG poll in August showed the PD to be the most popular party in the 18-24 age group with 19% backing compared with 17% each for FdI and the left-leaning 5-Star Movement (M5S).Support for 5-Star has been edging up since August, mostly thanks to its championing of welfare for the unemployed and poor, leaving the door open to a late surprise in Sunday’s vote.”Looking at what is on offer, I wouldn’t feel like voting for anyone else,” said Enrico Garitta, 26, from Palermo. ($1 = 1.0022 euros) More