Main Headlines:
President Biden called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether oil-and-gas companies are participating in illegal conduct aimed at keeping gasoline prices high, in the latest effort by the White House to respond to public concerns about costs for everything from fuel to groceries. In a letter to FTC chair Lina Khan, Biden said there was “mounting evidence of anti-consumer behaviour” in the market, noting that the two “largest oil and gas companies . . . as measured by market capitalisation” were planning “billions of dollars of stock buybacks and dividends” even as prices at the pump continue to rise.
Boris Johnson will on Thursday unveil £96bn of investment in rail links to boost northern England but the watered down plans risk inciting the wrath of MPs in the region. When he announces a new Integrated Rail Plan, the prime minister will confirm cuts to the north-south High Speed 2 and the High Speed 3 line from Leeds to Manchester. Johnson will insist it amounts to the “biggest ever public investment in Britain’s rail network”. The government is going ahead with building the western leg of High Speed 2 from London to Manchester via Birmingham, but an eastern leg from Birmingham to Leeds is now being slashed.
Markets
GBP
Sterling is higher against most major currencies this morning. The venture capital arm of the state-owned British Business Bank, British Patient Capital, has acquired its first direct stakes in a range of UK start-ups, adding to a growing portfolio of investments made by the government to support companies during and after the pandemic. MPs have voted to ban themselves from working as paid political consultants or lobbyists as the row over sleaze continued to dominate British politics on Wednesday. Boris Johnson is considering flying a crate of cash to Iran to settle British debts with Tehran and help secure the release of the UK-Iranian detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
EUR
The euro is higher versus the dollar and lower against the pound overnight. EU lawmakers have reached a breakthrough on how to target tech companies, including Apple and Google, as part of moves by Brussels to curb anti-competitive practices in the digital economy. Companies with a market capitalisation of at least €80bn and offering at least one internet service, such as online search, will be drawn into the planned Digital Markets Act. Ireland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are set to introduce new Covid-19 restrictions in the coming days.
USD
The dollar is weaker against most majors in the early morning trade. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida said the “necessary conditions” to raise the US central bank’s benchmark lending rate from near zero will probably be in place at the end of next year. More Wall Street banks are now betting that the Fed will hike rates at a faster-than-expected pace, with Citi joining Morgan Stanley in backing trades that will profit if the central bank does just that. Economists have warned that Biden’s $2 trillion tax and spending bill will act to push up inflation further if passed by Congress.
Ballinger & Co. Morning Report–18th November 2021
Today’s Rates
GBP>EUR – 1.1918
GBP>USD – 1.3504
EUR>USD – 1.1329
GBP>CAD – 1.7026
GBP>AUD – 1.8540
GBP>SEK – 11.971
GBP>AED – 4.9580
GBP>HKD – 10.515
GBP>ZAR – 20.941
GBP>CHF – 1.2533
Today’s Calendar
· EUR ECB’s Panetta speech
· USD Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey(Nov)
· USD Initial Jobless Claims(Nov 12)
· USD Initial Jobless Claims 4-week average(Nov 12)
· USD Fed’s Williams speech
· EUR ECB’s Lane speech
· USD Fed’s Evans speech
· JPY National CPI ex Food, Energy (YoY)(Oct)
· JPY National CPI ex-Fresh Food (YoY)(Oct)
· JPY National Consumer Price Index (YoY)(Oct)
Today’s Highlights
· Forex Today: Dollar retreats alongside yields, risk mood to drive markets
· EUR/USD Forecast: Euro could extend recovery on improving mood
· Brexit News: UK’s Frost says N. Ireland Protocol deal ‘can be done’ with EU before Christmas
· Consumers to the Rescue: US economy improves after the weak third quarter
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