Anonymous ID: 3e8129 March 18, 2020, 8:49 p.m. No.8471339   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>1387 >>1581

Trading halted in South Korea as stocks drop beyond 8%, while Philippines plummets nearly 13%

 

South Korea’s Kospi led losses among the region’s major markets as it dropped 8.12% while the Kosdaq index fell 8.35%. The Korea Exchange triggered circuit breakers after the Kospi dropped 8%, with trading halted for 20 mins. In the Philippines, where trading was halted earlier this week, the PSE Composite Index plummeted 12.99% in the morning as trading resumed on Thursday.

 

Stocks in Asia Pacific lost their earlier upward momentum in Thursday morning trade as fears over the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

 

Major markets in the region fell deep into negative territory, with South Korea’s Kospi leading losses as it dropped 8.12% while the Kosdaq index fell 8.35%. The Korea Exchange triggered circuit breakers after the Kospi dropped 8%, with trading halted for 20 mins, according to Reuters.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/19/asia-markets-coronavirus-stimulus-measures-currencies-in-focus.html

Anonymous ID: 3e8129 March 18, 2020, 9:11 p.m. No.8471555   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>1571

Fed Starts Emergency Program to Aid Money Market Mutual Funds

 

The Fed’s action comes hours after the European Central Bank’s late-night emergency decision to launch an extra emergency bond-buying program worth 750 billion euros ($820 billion) to calm markets and protect the euro-area economy.

 

The Federal Reserve late Wednesday said it was launching a program to support money market mutual funds as the coronavirus continues to ripple through the financial system.

 

The Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, established under the Fed’s emergency authority, echoes a version that was set up during the global financial crisis. The Treasury Department will provide $10 billion of credit protection.

 

Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury Department had proposed to temporarily guarantee money market mutual funds with taxpayer dollars as part of its coronavirus stimulus plan, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News.

 

“Money market funds are common investment tools for families, businesses, and a range of companies,” the Fed said in its statement. “The MMLF will assist money market funds in meeting demands for redemptions by households and other investors, enhancing overall market functioning and credit provision to the broader economy.”

 

Also, at the same time as the Fed announcement, the Reserve Bank of Australia said it was cutting its benchmark rate by a quarter point to 0.25%.

 

In the U.S., money funds have been under stress as investors have rushed into cash. Households, businesses and other institutions use money funds to park cash they may need in the short term. Reforms to the industry passed in 2016 forced a tiering of investments into funds with differing levels of safety and segregated retail customers from institutional.

 

Similiar steps were taken during the global financial crisis to shore up money funds when a run on them helped cripple credit markets. Under Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the department guaranteed more than $3 trillion of fund holdings against losses for almost a year using its Exchange Stabilization Fund.

 

Money market mutual funds proved a crucial weak spot in 2008 after the industry’s largest fund, the Reserve Primary Fund, suffered losses on debt issued by investment bank Lehman Brothers. When its share price fell below the stable $1 promised to customers, investors began scrambling out of most other money funds, forcing their managers into a fire sale of assets.

https://www.bloomberg.com//news/articles/2020-03-19/fed-starts-program-to-aid-money-market-mutual-funds

 

FED Release here:

"Federal Reserve Board broadens program of support for the flow of credit to households and businesses by establishing a Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (MMLF)'

 

The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday broadened its program of support for the flow of credit to households and businesses by taking steps to enhance the liquidity and functioning of crucial money markets. Through the establishment of a Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, or MMLF, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston will make loans available to eligible financial institutions secured by high-quality assets purchased by the financial institution from money market mutual funds.

 

Money market funds are common investment tools for families, businesses, and a range of companies. The MMLF will assist money market funds in meeting demands for redemptions by households and other investors, enhancing overall market functioning and credit provision to the broader economy.

 

The attached term sheet details the types of assets, including unsecured and secured commercial paper, agency securities, and Treasury securities, that are eligible, as well as additional information. The MMLF program will purchase a broader range of assets, but its structure is very similar to the Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, or AMLF, that operated from late 2008 to early 2010. The MMLF is established by the Federal Reserve under the authority of Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act, with approval of the Treasury Secretary. The Department of the Treasury will provide $10 billion of credit protection to the Federal Reserve in connection with the MMLF from the Treasury's Exchange Stabilization Fund.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20200318a.htm