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Anonymous ID: 9bdcc4 March 9, 2021, 6:39 a.m. No.68811   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>8845

ECB Increases Bond Buying After Warnings About Higher Yields

 

The European Central Bank stepped up the pace of its emergency bond-buying last week after policy makers issued repeated warnings that a recent rise in yields threatens to derail the region’s economic recovery.

 

Gross purchases settled under its pandemic emergency program totaled 18.2 billion euros ($21.6 billion) in the week ended March 5, compared with 16.9 billion euros a week a earlier. The ECB also said 6.3 billion euros of debt was redeemed, contributing to the relatively muted pace of net buying reported a day earlier.

 

Neither set of data reflects orders made Thursday and Friday, as transactions take a couple of days to settle and show up in the central bank’s accounts. German bonds held near the day’s highs after the report, with 10-year yields falling five basis points to -0.33%. Those in Italy led the region’s gains, narrowing the spread over Germany by three basis points to 101. The prospects of massive fiscal stimulus in the U.S. set off a global bond sell-off late last month, sparking concern among some euro-area officials that the region won’t be able to withstand the tighter financing conditions. The currency union’s recovery is expected to be slower than that of many other advanced economies as high infections and slow vaccine roll-outs force longer lockdowns.

 

The Governing Council will get updated economic projections this week that ECB President Christine Lagarde will unveil on Thursday after its policy meeting. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect a downward revision of the 2020 growth forecast, reflecting a weaker-than-expect first quarter.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ecb-increases-bond-buying-after-warnings-about-higher-yields-1.1574425

Anonymous ID: 9bdcc4 March 9, 2021, 8:38 a.m. No.68841   🗄️.is đź”—kun

Friends Again? US, China To Hold Top-Level "Reset" Meeting In Alaska

 

Even if he hasn't been quite as aggressive as his predecessor, President Joe Biden has promised the American people that he would retain President Trump's skeptical posture toward Beijing, which is widely regarded as America's biggest geopolitical foe.

 

Since arriving in Washington in January, the new administration has decided to maintain the tariffs from Trump's trade war with China (despite all the winging from globalist "experts" who claimed the trade war would suppress economic growth and ultimately harm American industry), much to the leadership's chagrin.

 

Meanwhile, President Xi has pressed ahead with plans to de-democratize Hong Kong while both Xi and other top CCP officials have ratcheted up the warlike rhetoric as the CCP sets its sights on reclaiming Taiwan. However, given Biden and his family's longstanding ties to China, it's hardly a surprise that Beijing would seek a "reset" in relations with Washington.

 

The Bidens' ties to China have been well-documented. Not only did Biden's son, Hunter Biden, engage in what's widely been described as influence peddling by partaking in business ventures organized by individuals with close ties to the CCP, but, thanks to his experience in the Senate and as vice president, President Biden has a yearslong relationship with President Xi. Some have even posited that the two leaders are on friendly terms. That Beijing would want to take advantage of this is hardly a surprise. And as China seeks a "reset" in relations under Biden, the SCMP reports that the two countries are preparing to hold the first round of in-person high-level talks.

 

These talks will feature heavyweights from both sides. The US delegation will be led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while the Chinese delegation will feature Yang Jiechi, a top Chinese diplomat who often serves as an envoy of President Xi. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi - who has made several fiery comments about the US in recent weeks - might also make an appearance.

 

Though Biden and Xi reportedly spoke on the phone for hours last month, these talks would be the first face-to-face meeting since the new administration arrived in Washington. Blinken recently claimed that the Washington-Beijing relationship is "probably the most important in the world."

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/friends-again-us-china-hold-top-level-reset-meeting-alaska

Anonymous ID: 9bdcc4 March 9, 2021, 8:53 a.m. No.68845   🗄️.is đź”—kun

>>68811

ECB’s Bond-Buying Restraint Rings Alarm for Citi, Commerzbank

 

After two weeks of muted debt purchases by the European Central Bank in the face of a global bond selloff, some strategists are starting to get worried.

 

Data on Monday showed the ECB settled 11.9 billion euros ($14.2 billion) of net buying under its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program last week, even when yields on German debt rose to levels last seen since the outbreak of the pandemic. The amount follows a similar size of purchases in the prior week, well below the average purchase pace of 18 billion euros since the tool’s inception. While the ECB said the latest numbers were pushed down by unusually large redemptions of maturing debt, it could have countered that by stepping up gross purchases-yet it only opted for a relatively mild increase, according to a breakdown published Tuesday.

 

Strategists from Citigroup Inc. and Commerzbank AG are becoming concerned that the combination of a glut of issuance and tepid ECB bond-buying could inflict pain on some of the most vulnerable corners of the European bond market.

 

That comes as governments in the region aim to sell over a trillion euros of debt this year to fund their spending pledges, on par with last year’s record levels. That’s in addition to the European Union’s target of 100 billion euros of SURE social bonds, ahead of financing for its 800 billion-euro pandemic recovery fund this summer. Italy’s 10-year yield premium over its German peer a key gauge of risk in the region rose 30 basis points from a six-year low to 109 basis points last week. Germany’s 30-year yield premium over its 5-year counterpart rose to 60 basis points on Friday, the highest since January last year.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ecb-s-bond-buying-restraint-rings-alarm-for-citi-commerzbank-1.1574506

Anonymous ID: 9bdcc4 March 9, 2021, 10:05 a.m. No.68864   🗄️.is đź”—kun

Soybean prices on track to notch highest finish since 2014

 

Soybean futures inched higher Tuesday, poised to notch their highest settlement since 2014. The U.S. Department of Agriculture pegged its forecast for U.S. 2020/2021 soybean ending stocks at 120 million bushels, unchanged from last month's estimate, according to the monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report released Tuesday. "This report confirms the continued tightness in the global soybean balance sheet," said Sal Gilbertie, president and chief investment officer at Teucrium Trading. The report also "reaffirms the projection that the world will consume almost 10 million more metric tons (over 360 million bushels) of soybeans than it will produce in the coming year, even with an expected record high Brazilian soybean harvest." May soybeans SK21, 0.17% rose 7 1/2 cents, or 0.5%, to $14.41 1/4 a bushel, with prices based on the most-active contract, on track to settle at their highest since June 2014, FactSet data show. Prices settled at $14.33 3/4 a bushel on Monday, which also marked a nearly seven-year high.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/soybean-prices-on-track-to-notch-highest-finish-since-2014-2021-03-09