Yellen extends US debt limit default deadline to Dec 15
WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - US Treasury Secretary Janet Ms Yellen on Tuesday (Nov 16) extended a deadline for a potential US government default to Dec 15 from Dec 3, giving Congress more time to raise the federal debt ceiling as lawmakers also consider a massive social spending and climate bill. Ms Yellen said in a letter to congressional leaders that the adjustment was "based on our most recent information," a reference to Treasury tax collections and cash flow data. She said the Treasury would be able to make a US$118 billion (S$160 billion) transfer to the Highway Trust Fund required on Dec 15, a month after President Joe Biden's signing of a sweeping infrastructure bill on Monday. But the transfer would count against the debt ceiling, as the funds would be invested in non-marketable Treasury securities. "While I have a high degree of confidence that Treasury will be able to finance the US government through December 15 and complete the Highway Trust Fund investment, there are scenarios in which Treasury would be left with insufficient remaining resources to continue to finance the operations of the US government beyond this date," Ms Yellen said. She repeated her call for Congress t...
Wall Street ends little changed as rising yields weigh on tech
NEW YORK (REUTERS) - Wall Street indexes closed out Monday's (Nov 15) session near the unchanged mark as rising Treasury yields dented the appetite for technology stocks, while Boeing shares advanced on signs of demand for its freighter aircraft. The technology sector was among the biggest drags on the day as US Treasury yields moved higher, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note touching its highest level since Oct 27. Higher Treasury yields tend to weigh on high-growth areas such as tech, as they discount future earnings from the sector. Bank stocks, which benefit from climbing yields, advanced with bond yields on the rise as investors positioned for the potential effects of the Federal Reserve's tapering of its massive asset purchases. "Wall Street is completely fixated over what is happening in the bond market. We are starting to see yields are rising and that will, ultimately, signal that there's a lot more nervousness that the Fed could be a little bit late to the game on delivering a rate hike and will be forced to react a lot quicker, given the inflationary pressures," said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. "You're seeing mixed trade right now becau...
Tech pulls Nasdaq, S&P 500 down as Treasury yields rise
NEW YORK (REUTERS) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes ended lower on Monday (Sept 27) with investors pivoting to value as tech shares, hurt by rising Treasury yields, weighed on equities in the quarter's final week. Of the three major US stock indexes, only the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed in positive territory, buoyed by financials and industrials. Economically sensitive smallcaps and transports outperformed the broader market. "The economic reopening trade is alive and well," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive of Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. "Economically sensitive stocks are up, and tech's being worked over pretty good." Benchmark US Treasury yields rose, to the benefit of rate-sensitive financials . Rising crude prices pushed energy stocks to the biggest closing percentage gains. "Rising rates typically reflect investors having a little bit more confidence in the economy not being stalled out," Carlson added. "And the Fed is also indicating it's going to start tapering sooner rather later, and that's probably helping upward trajectory in rates." Those rising yields hurt some market leaders that had benefited from low rates. Microsoft Corp, Am...
CFO & Treasury Summit Asia 2021 coming to you virtually on 20 April 2021
SINGAPORE, Mar 24, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Following a year of unprecedented disruption, business technology adoption has rapidly accelerated across Asia. Cloud technologies have gone from nice to have to must have and companies are discovering the power of mixing and matching solutions to meet their ever-changing business needs. In this process, finance leaders play a much more critical role than before. The newly launched CFO & Treasury Summit Asia 2021 is the first event to kick off The Accounting & Finance Show Asia 2021 series and will bring together the finance leaders and corporate treasurers from medium and large enterprises across Asia.Broadcasting more than 14 hours of curated content, this one-day virtual summit will feature the most inspirational CFOs, treasurers and finance leaders speaking across 2 key channels, Future Finance and Digital Treasury. Topics include "Digital Transformation & Role of CFO in Strategic Business Positioning", "Digital trends that will transform the finance function in 2021", "Managing cash and liquidity on a global scale during a turbulent business environment", "Re-emergence planning and post-pandemic recovery"...
US stocks gain as bond yields pull back
NEW YORK (AFP) - The tech-rich Nasdaq jumped Monday (March 22), leading major equity indices upward, as a retreat in US Treasury yields offset disappointing housing data. Tech giants such as Facebook and Tesla advanced as the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note pulled back from its highest level in more than a year. Fears over rising yields and higher inflation have weighed on tech stocks for much of the first quarter. Analysts warned Monday's shift in yields may be fleeting. "The yield rally has been relentless this year, but sometimes takes small breaks," said a note from JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished up 1.2 per cent at 13,377.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.3 per cent to 32,731.20 while the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent to 13,377.54. Investors were cheered by positive US trials for AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine. But on the downside, sales of existing homes in the United States fell 6.6 per cent in February, a weaker-than-expected showing as tightening inventory pushed prices up and kept buyers away. Among individual companies, Kansas City Southern shot up 10.8 per cent after agreeing to b...
Strategists see upside for equities from broad economic rebound
SINGAPORE - Market turbulence continued through last week with sentiment swinging between euphoria over potential economic recovery and fear over inflation. United States President Joe Biden's US$1.9 trillion (S$2.6 trillion) Covid-19 rescue package fuelled hopes of supercharging the economic recovery, while also stirring up concerns that adding more liquidity to a system already floating on some US$4 trillion of cash could further add to inflationary pressures. Treasury yields, especially that of the 10-year bond, continued to trend upwards, testing the key 1.6 per cent levels. The number of people making initial claims for jobless benefits fell the previous week to its lowest level since the pandemic, but US consumer prices rose by just 0.4 per cent last month, in line with expectations. Despite inflation concerns, most market strategists see an upside for the equity market in the foreseeable future, largely supported by a broad economic recovery. Here is how BlackRock put it last week: "Nominal yields have been climbing since September, but the magnitude has lagged that of the rise in inflation expectations during the period. Inflation-adjusted yields remain deep in negative ter...