Markets: Equities across Asia Pacific jumped higher after the Federal Reserve did a massive favour to global investors by saying it would continue to pump money into the US bond market at an $85bn-per-month pace. Emerging markets that had been hardest hit by fears of the US central bank scaling back its stimulus programme climbed the most. Indonesian stocks soared 7 per cent in the first half hour of Jakarta trading, the Philippine stock market climbed 3.6 per cent in Manila, and Singapore's Straits Times index moved up 1.8 per cent. (Financial Times)
Fed holds the line on bond buying: Just in case you didn't notice... The Fed cut its growth forecast and confounded expectations that it would start to slow its third round of quantitative easing as the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee said it would "await more evidence that progress will be sustained before adjusting the pace of its purchases". (Financial Times)
JPMorgan braced for action over 'whale'; $900m+ fine mentioned: People familiar with the situation said the actions of a London-based executive were likely to receive the most serious scrutiny, with an accusation from the UK's FCA that he did not act in good faith in dealing with officials' inquiries. (Financial Times) The fine will be "more than $900 million... according to a person familiar with the settlement talks." (Wall Street Journal)
CBI says UK business gets Carney guidance: CBI director John Cridland said the BOE's message had sunk in with business. "Most entrepreneurs believe that interest rates are not going up in a hurry," he said. "I think the City has misread the labour market." (Financial Times)
India's Palaniappan Chidambaram stands firm on tax reforms: India's finance minister, who has announced numerous reforms since he retook the finance portfolio last year, said the government wanted the winter session of parliament to pass a long-awaited bill to introduce a goods and services tax, as well as a law allowing foreign investors to increase their stakes in Indian insurance companies. Reform in the energy sector is also expected. (Financial Times)
Indian's rupee jumped 2.5 per cent in the first minutes of Mumbai trading, as part of a broader rally in emerging market currencies against the US dollar as the Fed failed to taper (FastFT)
Mexico hedges oil at highest price ever: Latin America's biggest oil producer bought options to lock in a minimum price of just over $90 per barrel for its 2014 exports, according to two people familiar with the transaction. Mexico's oil hedging programme – the largest of its kind in commodity markets – is keenly awaited by traders and brokers, as it creates significant downward pressure on futures prices. (Financial Times)
Partnership Assurance faces threat of FCA action. The pension provider is facing a threat of enforcement action over a suspected breach of the new ban on commission payments. "[The FCA] declined to name the companies but people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that Partnership, which focuses on offering higher pensions to retirees with low life expectancies, was one of them." (Financial Times)
"BlackBerry is preparing for deep staff cuts—up to 40% of its employees—by the end of the year, people familiar with the matter said... BlackBerry had 12,700 employees as of March, the last time it disclosed a total number." (Wall Street Journal)
"The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the National Futures Association Wednesday ordered a New York foreign-exchange trader to pay $3.8 million in restitution and fines for allegedly using a pricing advantage over its customers. " (WSJ)
"Sharp said it plans to raise as much as $1.67 billion in new capital through a share issuance and investments from a diverse set of business partners... to provide some short-term relief to the Japanese electronics maker's strained balance sheet, weighed down by nearly $12 billion in interest-bearing debt." (WSJ)
FT ALPHAVILLE
Bernanke walks it back
Midnight Madness is expanding, practice your lateral thinking here
Man United: black and white and red all over
COMMENTS AND CURIOS
Fear of missing out fuels China property market (Financial Times)
Icahn has a strop. Democracy is mentioned. (Wall Street Journal)
Delong's Yellen endorsement (Financial Times)
And why one should never underestimate the Fed's dovishness (Financial Times - Davies)
"It is not the parliamentary seat that makes a leader," says Berlusconi (Reuters)
China property developers pull down shutters, hoard cash (Reuters)
Will European banks end up with two conflicting sets of reviews in 2014? (Bloomberg)
Rousseff dashes White House hope of stronger ties with Brazil (Financial Times)
Beijing's internet crackdown may be hard to sustain (Financial Times)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS:
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 up +245.26 (+1.69%) at 14,751
Topix up +16.26 (+1.36%) at 1,209
Hang Seng up +394.67 (+1.71%) at 23,512
US markets
S&P 500 up +20.76 (+1.22%) at 1,726
DJIA up +147.21 (+0.95%) at 15,677
Nasdaq up +37.94 (+1.01%) at 3,784
European markets
Eurofirst 300 up +5.80 (+0.46%) at 1,258
FTSE100 down -11.35 (-0.17%) at 6,559
CAC 40 up +24.89 (+0.60%) at 4,170
Dax up +39.11 (+0.45%) at 8,636
Currencies
€/$ 1.35 (1.35)
$/¥ 98.38 (97.90)
£/$ 1.61 (1.61)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.25 at 110.85
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.47 at 108.54
100 Oz Gold (Comex) up +55.40 at 1,363
Copper (Comex) up +0.05 at 3.33
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.70%
UK 2.92%
Germany 2.00%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe -0.41bps at 90.83bp
Markit iTraxx Europe -1.1bps at 92.93bp
Markit iTraxx Xover -2.09bps at 374.38bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
