Fed officials see more QE cuts, changes to low-rate vow |
- Fed officials see more QE cuts, changes to low-rate vow
- Wigan Cup hero Watson out for season
- David Bowie urges Scotland to stay in UK ahead of referendum
- LG new ‘Mini’ smartphone: First look at the specs
- Japan stocks fall second day on IMF growth warning, Fed minutes
- Snowden warns ‘overclassification’ is danger to democracy
| Fed officials see more QE cuts, changes to low-rate vow Posted: 19 Feb 2014 04:47 PM PST
The comments, from the heads of the Federal Reserve banks of St. Louis, San Francisco and Atlanta, freshen the message in the minutes of the Fed's most recent policymaking meeting, also released yesterday, which showed many thought only a big change in outlook could scupper further measured reductions in purchases. Indeed, several Fed policymakers wanted to drive home the idea that their asset-purchase programme would be trimmed in predictable, US$10 billion (RM32.9 billion), increments according to minutes of the Fed's January 28-29 policy meeting. The minutes also showed the officials were nearing a decision on how to adjust a promise to keep interest rates low for a while to come, including the possibility of incorporating financial stability concerns in that promise. At the meeting, which was former chairman Ben Bernanke's last, the Fed decided to make another modest cut to its bond-buying program, which now runs at US$65 billion per month. It made the move despite weaker-than-expected job gains in December and turmoil at the time in emerging markets brought on in part by the withdrawal of Fed stimulus. Participants generally "anticipated that the economy would expand at a moderate pace in coming quarters", the minutes said. "Several participants argued that, in the absence of an appreciable change in the economic outlook, there should be a clear presumption in favour of continuing to reduce the pace of purchases by a total of US$10 billion at each (policy) meeting." Even those who were more worried about persistently low inflation and high unemployment did not push for a pause to the taper, the minutes showed. A recent run of soft economic data since the meeting, much of it attributed to bad weather, appears to have done little to change that view, at least among Fed officials speaking yesterday. "I think a lot of this (softness) will come back out as we get into better weather patterns," St. Louis Fed President James Bullard told journalists after a speech at the Exchequer Club in Washington. John Williams, president of the San Francisco Fed, said on CNBC TV that the economy is on a "really solid footing" and noted that it would take more than some "relatively weak" reports on the labour market to stop the US central bank from its plan to keep trimming a bond buying program. Similarly, Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said the central bank will likely end its bond-buying programme by the fourth quarter "as long as the outlook remains solid and does not deviate dramatically from the path we believe it's on". None of the three vote on the Fed's policy-setting panel this year, but all three participate in regular policy discussions. Path to wind down As it stands, the Fed under its new Chair Janet Yellen aims to wind down and halt the bond buying later this year. She will run her first policy-setting meeting March 18-19. The Fed has promised to keep interest rates near zero until well after the US unemployment rate, now at 6.6 per cent, falls below 6.5 per cent, especially if inflation remains below a 2 per cent target. The minutes showed Fed officials expect to alter this guidance soon, given how close the current jobless rate is to the 6.5-per cent rate-hike threshold, and the minutes suggested a lack of appetite for simply moving the threshold lower. Unemployment touched 6.6 per cent in February. In what might come as a surprise to some, the officials raised the possibility that financial market risks, such as asset-price bubbles, should play a bigger role in the decision on when to tighten policy. "Several participants suggested that risks to financial stability should appear more explicitly in the list of factors that would guide decisions about the federal funds rate once the unemployment rate threshold is crossed," the minutes said. Bullard yesterday said that while no language to that effect had been directly proposed, "we've come off a very difficult financial crisis and we don't want that to occur again". Several officials also argued that any refreshed forward guidance should stress the Fed's "willingness to keep rates low if inflation were to remain persistently below the Committee's 2 per cent longer-run objective", the minutes showed. Inflation has recently been running at slightly above 1 per cent. As it stands, Wall Street economists expect the Fed to keep rates near zero until around the third quarter of next year, a prediction that aligns with that of the central bank itself. The challenge for the Fed is adjusting its forward guidance without sparking turmoil in bond markets. Some participants in the discussion wanted to amend the Fed's statement on longer-run goals and monetary policy strategy to explicitly indicate that inflation running persistently below the 2-per cent target is as undesirable as inflation running persistently above it. In the end, however, Fed officials made only minor changes to the statement, with Fed Board Governor Daniel Tarullo abstaining on that point because "he continued to think that the statement had not advanced the cause of communicating or achieving greater consensus in the policy views of the Committee". Only 10 officials voted on Fed policy in January, but a broader group of 17 took part in the meeting. It was the first meeting without a dissent since June 2011, a sign of how tumultuous Bernanke's tenure has been. — Reuters  |
| Wigan Cup hero Watson out for season Posted: 19 Feb 2014 04:45 PM PST
The 28-year-old, who headed the winning goal against Manchester City in last season's final at Wembley, was in hospital on Tuesday after the Latics' Championship game against Barnsley amid concerns of a second broken leg in 15 months. The midfielder was carried off Wigan's DW Stadium pitch on a stretcher and needed oxygen following a first-half challenge with Martin Woods. Immediately following Wigan's 2-0 win, Latics manager Uwe Rosler said he was uncertain as to the full extent of Watson's injury. Watson, who has scored in each of the Latics' last two cup ties, will now miss the quarter-final, a rematch of the final with Manchester City next month. Wigan have confirmed Watson has broken both his tibula and fibula in the same leg he broke playing against Liverpool in November 2012. Despite that, Wigan insisted the injury was not career-threatening, "Ben will receive the best possible treatment and we will do everything to help him make a speedy recovery," Rosler told Wigan's website yesterday. "He is a terrific professional, a fighter, and I am sure he will return from this latest setback like he did a year ago when he went on to experience the high of scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup final at Wembley, and write himself into the heart of every Wigan Athletic supporter. "To lose a player and a person of Ben's quality is a big blow to us but we will re-group and move on as a squad and keep trying to achieve our goals for the season, with the added incentive now of doing it for Ben." — AFP |
| David Bowie urges Scotland to stay in UK ahead of referendum Posted: 19 Feb 2014 04:45 PM PST
The reclusive 67-year-old was not at London's O2 Arena to accept his award for British Male Solo Artist, but sent an acceptance message, read out by supermodel Kate Moss, saying "Scotland, stay with us!". The statement was quickly seized upon by pro-union supporters, with popular tabloid The Sun running with the quote as today's front-page headline. Labour MP Jim Murphy later tweeted: "David Bowie has had his say. Now you can do your bit to back Scotland." The glam-rock mastermind became the oldest winner of an award, surpassing Welsh crooner Tom Jones, who received an honorary prize for his outstanding contribution to music in 2003, aged 62. Polls show increasing support for a Yes vote in September's referendum, although the No vote remains ahead. Scotland has enjoyed increased autonomy since a 1997 referendum on devolution, and now looks after its own education, health, environment and justice. But the UK parliament in London still decides defence and foreign policy, and the SNP wants full independence. ― AFP |
| LG new ‘Mini’ smartphone: First look at the specs Posted: 19 Feb 2014 04:40 PM PST
The device will come with Android KitKat already installed and it will support MicroSD card for expanding the standard 8GB of internal storage space. The full-size LG G2 on which the phone is based offers a 5.2-inch full HD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor — the most powerful chip the company offers anyone — 2GB of RAM and an impressive 13-megapixel camera with image stabilisation. All of which makes the Mini version, in comparison, look like a mid-tier phone. And if consumers are looking for something with the same or better levels of performance and a good-quality 720p 4-inch+ screen, plus the latest version of Android, the Motorola Moto X, now available internationally, hard to beat. And, for those looking for a pocket-sized yet true flagship phone, look no further than the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact. While Samsung started the fashion for making "Mini me" versions of its flagship phones with the Galaxy SIII Mini back in 2012, over the past year or so, HTC and Sony have followed suit. And it's Sony that has, unlike the others, decided to keep all the hardware that makes the full-size handset excellent and fit it into a smaller device with a slightly smaller HD screen. The LG G2 Mini will be officially showcased at the MWC next week. — AFP/Relaxnews |
| Japan stocks fall second day on IMF growth warning, Fed minutes Posted: 19 Feb 2014 04:35 PM PST
The Topix lost 0.5 per cent to 1,213.21 as of 9:01am in Tokyo. The index retreated 0.4 per cent yesterday after its biggest rally in five months on February 18, when the Bank of Japan doubled some of its lending programs. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 0.5 per cent to 14,692.52 today. The yen was little changed after Japan posted a record monthly trade deficit in January. "As long as the Fed continues to scale back quantitative easing, the global economy will take a few more chaotic turns," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Co in Tokyo. "Japanese stocks are likely to remain under downward pressure after soaring on February 18." The IMF said yesterday the global recovery is still weak and "significant downside risks remain". Rising political tensions from Ukraine to Thailand, China's slowdown and the Fed's stimulus tapering have resulted in falling stocks and currencies in emerging markets, it said. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.1 per cent today. The equity measure fell 0.7 per cent yesterday after Fed officials said reduction of bond purchases should continue barring a significant change in the economic outlook, according to minutes of their January meeting released yesterday. They also backed away from their commitment to raise interest rates if unemployment falls below 6.5 per cent. The Topix declined 6.4 per cent this year through yesterday, the most among major developed markets. The Topix traded at 1.20 times book value as of yesterday, compared with 2.58 for the S&P 500 and 1.87 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. — Bloomberg |
| Snowden warns ‘overclassification’ is danger to democracy Posted: 19 Feb 2014 04:35 PM PST
Snowden, who is in hiding in Russia, presented the prestigious British university's Sam Adams awards for integrity and intelligence to the jailed former US Army intelligence analyst via YouTube. Snowden recorded a four-minute message, in which he warned of the dangers of "overclassification". He said the term described governments' use of state secrecy privileges "to withhold information from the public that's not related to national security", adding it had become a "serious problem". "The White House told us that 95 million records have been created and classified in the year 2012, more than any year on record," he continued. "Many other western governments are on the same trajectory." Ex-private Manning, who was prosecuted as a man called Bradley but later asked to be recognised as a woman, is serving a 35-year jail sentence for leaking hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables to the WikiLeaks website. Snowden argued that his leaked documents were "unambiguously necessary for public ends" and that their classification as secret threatened democracy. "The decline of democracy begins when the domain of the government expands beyond the borders of its public's knowledge," he insisted. "It can no longer hold the most senior members of its society to necessary account for serious wrongdoing because the evidence of that wrongdoing is itself a secret." Snowden, who was on Tuesday elected rector of Glasgow University in Scotland, praised Manning's leaks as an "extraordinary act of public service" that carried "an unbelievable personal cost". ― AFP |
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