Archives of “March 22, 2021” day
rssUS Press Sec: China meeting was substantive despite focus on theatrics
White House Psaki speaking to reporters
- CHina meeting was substantive despite focus on theatrics
- continues to have concerns about human rights in China related to Xinjiang
- cannot rule out further actions on China
- evaluating appropriate next steps on China
- US is certain China taking note of its renewed cooperation with allies
- US remains committed to working through covax on vaccine distribution to other countries
- US does not have new vaccine goals set, hope to have soon
Fed’s Powell: We don’t want to destabilize with a central bank currency
Comments from Powell at a BIS innovation Powell
- We have a two-tier system, we don’t want to compete with banks
- We want to be able to co-exist with the current system and cash
- We’re doing a broad system of experimentation
- To move forward on digital currency, we would need broad buy in from Congress, the administration and the public
Chicago Fed national activity index -1.09 vs +0.71 expected
Diffusion index from the Chicago Fed
- Prior was +0.66 (revised to +0.75)
- Led by declines in indicators related to production and personal consumption and housing
- Full release
Microsoft is now asking Xbox users about #Bitcoin
Satoshi Nakamoto wrote this only two weeks after #Bitcoin went live, and it’s still the best advice you can get.
US futures ramp higher as the early jitters abate
S&P 500 futures up 0.3%
The collapse in the Turkish lira has been met with a bit of a pause in European morning trade so far, with USD/TRY ranging between 7.80 and 8.00 for the most part after having opened with a 15% gap higher at 8.35 earlier in the day.
Bundesbank says German economy likely to contract sharply in Q1 2021
Bundesbank comments in its monthly report
- The measures to contain the virus are on average stricter in Q1 than Q4 last year
- Economic output will probably decline sharply in Q1
- Activity in services in particular is likely to decline again
- Higher VAT rates since the start of the year also likely to have played a role
- Industry sector benefited from dynamic foreign demand, should have supported economic activity in Q1
Barclays expects a delay to Eurozone economic recovery
Barclays revises lower its 2022 Eurozone GDP growth forecast
“We expect a delayed and more modest economic recovery, due to recent negative epidemiological developments and their potential scarring effect. Our revised annual read GDP growth forecasts are 3.9% in 2021 (unchanged) and 4.3% in 2022 (-1.0%).
Our forecasts imply a growing divergence between the euro area and the US, and among euro area member states, with 2022 real per-capita GDP still 7% below pre-global financial crisis levels in Italy, but 20% and 16% above in the US and Germany.
Euro area governments are currently tightening mobility restrictions and, in our view, are likely to scale them back only late in Q2 and gradually, which will weaken domestic demand and, consequently, imports.”
BOJ purchases ¥50.1 billion worth of ETFs today
BOJ kicks off its new ETF policy with a ¥50.1 billion purchase today