February 17, 2023
United States:
Dollar Erases Loss for Year as Bets on Bigger US Rate Hikes Grow
The dollar advanced against all major peers Friday, with a gauge of the currency wiping out its losses for the year, on growing bets for more Federal Reserve rate hikes.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed as much as 0.6% on Friday, poised for a third weekly gain. Real money has bought the dollar this week in size, mainly against the euro and the yen, according to Europe-based traders familiar with the transactions who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Europe:
EU Banks Make Fat Profits From Deposits While Savers Get Little
European banks are keeping the vast majority of the benefit from rising interest rates to themselves, helping to drive profits in the industry to decade highs.
“There has been no material passing on of rates to customers,” Commerzbank Chief Financial Officer Bettina Orlopp said on an analyst call Thursday. Although Commerzbank may raise interest rates on deposits as competition for them is intensifying, there’s a good chance the rate, known in industry parlance as ‘deposit beta,’ will remain below the 30% level Commerzbank currently assumes as this year’s average, Orlopp said.
Asia:
China Removes PICC, Bank of China Chairmen From Party Roles
China has removed the Communist Party chiefs from two of its biggest state-owned financial firms, sparking concerns of a renewed clampdown on the sector.
Luo Xi will no longer serve as party secretary of the People’s Insurance Co. Group of China, the nation’s largest property insurer said in a statement on its WeChat account Friday, without providing a reason. The announcement came days after online criticism that Luo, who remains chairman of the firm, was building a personality cult when the company demanded employees recite his “golden quotes.”
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