North American News
Stock indices close higher and recovers from early wobbles
- First Republic remains under pressure
Major US stock indices closed the day higher.
Both the S&P index and the Dow Industrial Average never made it into negative territory today. The S&P index had a low that skimmed unchanged at +0.24 points. The Dow Industrial Average low for the day reached +10.34 points. Both are closing solidly higher with the Dow Industrial Average leading the way.
The final numbers are showing:
- Dow Industrial Average rose 382.58 points or 1.20% at 32244.59
- S&P index rose 34.91 points or 0.89% at 3951.56
- NASDAQ index was 45.03 points or 0.39% at 11675.55
- Russell 2000 rose 19.09 points or 1.11% at 1744.99
Amazon cutting 9000 more jobs
- Job cuts come on top of 18,000 announced in January
Amazon is announcing an additional 9000 jobs. Back in January they announced an 18,000 cut in jobs. Amazon shares are trading at $96.74. Shares are down from an all-time high of $188.15 going back to November 19, 2021. The low price this year reached $81.37 on January 6 that tested the swing low going all back to March 16, 2020 at $81.26.
WSJ: JPMorgan’s Dimon leading efforts to craft a rescue plan for First Republic
- Dimon and other back CEOs discussing First Republic
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is leading discussions with other CEOs of other large banks about fresh efforts to stabilize First Republic Bank.
Preliminary discussions have been focused on ways that the banks can boost the beleaguered banks capital. Also in play is a potential investment by the banks themselves.
Commodities
Silver bulls are moving again on the front foot of the bull trend, eye $22.88s
- Silver is in the hands of the bulls.
- Bulls need to stay on the front side and Gold price H1 H&S is a concern.
- Banking crisis remains a key theme for safe havens.
Silver has been climbing through the $20s over the course of the month so far ad reached a high of the trend at $22.7169 in London. The white metal has moved up from a low of $22.2210 where a support structure has formed and the bulls might be expected to remain engaged while above it.
Despite a historic weekend rescue of financial heavyweight Credit Suisse with UBS buying the troubled bank for 3 billion francs ($3.2 billion), risk sentiment remains fragile, supportive of safe havens such as silver.
The speedy orchestration of Credit Suisse’s takeover was received well, initially, in order to stem contagion, but there are persistent worries that other struggling banks might teeter next. More large and tiny corporations might need to be rescued.
The latest banking crisis started after two US lenders, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank, collapsed this month. Additionally, even though the First Republic Bank received emergency support, this has so far failed to shore up investor confidence.
“If you think about where we were a year ago, the Fed was just starting its rate-hiking cycle. So over the next couple of quarters, you’re going to get those long and variable, cumulative and lagged impacts hitting the market further,” Bob Michele, the global head and CIO of fixed income at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, told Bloomberg TV. “So I think this is the tip of the iceberg. I think there’s a lot more consolidation, a lot more pain yet to come.”
It’s also possible that “we just go from one weak institution falling over to the next,” said Vicky Redwood, senior economic adviser at Capital Economics. There are no other obvious candidates that could be singled out like Credit Suisse, but it’s “hard to predict where the problems will emerge,” she said.
WTI crude oil futures settle at $67.64
- Up $0.90 or 1.35%
The price of WTI crude futures settled at $67.64. That’s up $0.90 or 1.35% on the day. The high price reached $67.88. The low price extended to $64.36 before rotating to the upside. That was the lowest level since December 2, 2021.
EU News
Major European indices rebound from earlier declines
- UBS shares climb. Credit Suisse shares move lower but taken out of its misery.
The major European indices rebounded from earlier losses and are closing solidly higher on the day:
- German DAX was down -309.80 points but is closing up 158.81 points or 1.08%
- Frances CAC traded down -129.20 points at its lows but is closing up 87.74 points or 1.27%
- UK’s FTSE 100 traded down -128.59 points at its lows, but is closing up 68.43 points or 0.93%
- Spain’s Ibex traded down -217.21 points, but is closing up 111.28 points or 1.28%
- Italy’s FTSE MIB traders lows 24,751 but is trading at 25,866.40 up 371.86 points or 1.46%
ECB’s Lagarde: Wage pressures have strengthened on the back of robust labor markets
- ECB’s Lagarde speaking
- Wage pressures have strengthen on the back of a robust labor markets, and employees aiming to recoup some of the purchasing power
- Inflation is projected to remain at too high for too long
- The key ECB interest rates remain our primary tool for setting the monetary policy stance
- we are very confident that capital and liquidity positions of the euro area banks are well in excess of requirements
- financial tensions might dampen demand, do some of the work that would otherwise be done by monetary policy
- without tensions, we would have indicated that further hikes would be needed
France’s Macron government survives no-confidence vote by nine votes
- Narrowly survives
French Pres. Emmanuel Macron’s government survived a no – confidence vote in Parliament. The vote was nine votes short of success. The no confidence in motion was spearheaded by a group of centrists on the support of 278 lawmakers in the lower house of parliament.
The vote of confidence came after new legislation that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 in 2030. Macron argued that it was the only way to save France’s costly pension system without raising taxes or running up the national debt
Other News
WSJ Timiraos: Federal Reserve faces a tough decision on rate increase
- Fed watcher Timiraos on the Fed decision
WSJ’s Timiraos, thought to the a sounding board for the Fed’s Powell, is saying:
- The Fed faces one of their toughest calls in years
- do they continue to raise rates to fight stubbornly high inflation or take a timeout due to the intense banking crisis
- decision on whether to hike by 25 basis points is likely to hinge in part on how markets digest the UBS/Credit Suisse merger, and other steps to calm fears of contagion in the banking system
- Until now the Fed has not confronted in abrupt and fluid crisis on the eve of a policy meeting
Putin to Xi: We have looked at your proposals for the resolution of the Ukraine conflict
- Putin and Xi meet
The meeting between Russia’s Putin and Xi have started. Some headlines:
Putin:
- You been able to make status stronger
- China has made a great leap forward
- I know you give a lot of attention to Russian – Chinese relations
- You have a balance approach to the international situation
- We have looked at your proposals for the resolution of the Ukraine conflict
- We’ll discuss this question
- We will discuss your initiative on Ukraine which will view with respect
- I am very glad you have found the time to come here
- We are open for negotiating a process on Ukraine
Xi:
- You are my dear friend
- I am very glad to be here for a visit
- We should have close relations with Russia
- I know that you have presidential elections in 2024, I am convinced Russian people support you
- I am very thankful to you for your support for China
Cryptocurrency News
SEC v. Ripple: John Deaton says Hinman documents will be made public and support defense for Coinbase, Binance
- Ripple proponent John Deaton believes Judge Analisa Torres will make William Hinman emails “judicial documents.”
- Judicial documents are open to the public and the emails could help Coinbase, Binance and other exchanges build their defense.
- As the legal battle between the US financial regulator and Ripple ensues, the XRP-friendly lawyer believes there is a 75% chance Hinman emails will be made public.
XRP-friendly lawyer John Deaton believes Hinman emails are key to the legal battle between US financial regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and payment giant Ripple. Deaton believes that email documents could help cryptocurrency exchanges build their defense to tackle allegations of unregistered securities sale.
SEC v. Ripple legal battle drags on with no conclusion in sight
XRP price yielded 53% losses for holders over the past year and nearly 3% decline since March 19. The legal battle between the US financial regulator and the cross-border remittance firm has ensued for over two years with no end in sight.
While XRP holders are awaiting an outcome in the tussle between the SEC and Ripple, Deaton has taken steps to seek the release of the Hinman emails. Deaton filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking the release of Hinman drafts and expressed his intention to litigate the matter.
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