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US Federal Reserve: economic outlook very uncertain
Fed: recovery depends on controlling virus
Stocks fall across Asia, as cases rise in South Korea
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7.44am BST
You can read the Federal Reserve’s views on the US economy here --> Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee.
Stephen Innes of AxiCorp suggests you might want a strong coffee first...
While the FOMC minutes never make for the best of reads, this one certainly doesn’t go down in the annals as the Next Great American Novel.
Looking across a swath of assets, my take is the market has gone from ‘don’t fight the Fed’ mode, to now keeping an eye on the Fed mode, after the minutes expressed some concerns about the rapidly rising balance sheet.
Indeed this doesn’t sound like the same Fed where the market had assumed an incomprehensibly far fetched policy principle that the FOMC would continue to monetize all debt.
7.35am BST
The new that the United States will demand today that all United Nations sanctions be reimposed against Iran is also worrying investors.
Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank tells clients:
This morning in Asia markets are following Wall Street’s lead with the Nikkei, Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite, Kospi and ASX all in the red.
The move for the Kospi hasn’t been helped by the latest virus data in South Korea, with a reported 288 cases in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, reports that the US has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and ended reciprocal tax treatment on shipping also isn’t helping broad sentiment this morning, as is the news that President Trump is calling on the UN to renew all nuclear-related sanctions on Iran Continue reading...