Credit Suisse to Borrow Up to $54 billion from the Swiss National Bank
Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS), a troubled Swiss lender, announced early on Thursday that it would exercise an option to borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($53.68 billion) under two loan facilities from the Swiss National Bank to improve liquidity conditions.
As part of its efforts to "preemptively strengthen liquidity," the bank stated that the option will also include a covered loan facility and a short-term liquidity facility.
MACROECONOMIC DATA ANALYSIS
Sweden has been warned for years that its dysfunctional housing market, which is hampered by a lack of supply and is kept high by low rates and generous tax benefits, poses a risk to the overall health of the economy. These dangers are now a reality. As interest rates rise, households with large mortgages are cutting back on their spending, and home builders are stopping their investments, sending Sweden into a recession.
Today's meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) will be the first significant test of how well policymakers have responded to global concerns about bank stability. Following Credit Suisse's late-night announcement of plans to borrow as much as 50 billion francs ($54 billion) from the Swiss National Bank, a rout in bank shares was stopped in Asia. This was described by the lender as "decisive action to strengthen its liquidity in advance".
CURRENCIES
The safe haven US dollar and Japanese yen were bolstered on Thursday morning by renewed fears of a global banking crisis, following the implosion of Silicon Valley Bank in the United States, which spread across the Atlantic to Swiss bank Credit Suisse. The US dollar index, which compares the greenback to a basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.09% to 104.188.
GOLD
The price of gold dropped from its six-week high in Thursday’s early hours as investors took profits, but the yellow metal's appeal as a safe haven was maintained by concerns about a developing banking crisis and monetary policy uncertainty. Gold futures fell by 0.57% to $1,920 per ounce.
OIL
Oil prices recovered some ground in Thursday’s early trading session after hitting 15-month lows the previous session as markets stabilized following Swiss regulators' decision to provide Credit Suisse with a financial lifeline. But market sentiment remained fragile due to worries about a worsening financial crisis for banks around the world, with both benchmarks giving up some early Thursday gains that saw Brent rise by more than $1. Brent crude futures increased by 0.76% to $74.25 a barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate rose by 0.70% to $68.09 a barrel.
INDICES
USA: S&P500 -0.70%, Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.87%, Nasdaq Composite +0.42%
Europe: FTSE 100 -3.83%, DAX -3.27%, CAC 40 -3.58%
Asia: Nikkei 225 -0.80%, Hang Seng -1.74%, CSI 300 -0.87%, Nifty 50 -0.12%
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Moderna president Stephen Hoge said in an interview on Monday that the company expects to price its COVID-19 vaccine in the United States at around $130 per dose in the future as government purchases shift to the private sector.
Hoge stated this in advance of a Congressional hearing on Moderna's pricing strategies chaired by Democratic U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. "There are different customers negotiating different prices right now, which is why it's a little bit complicated," he added.
Market confidence increased on Monday as a result of government efforts to prevent a global banking crisis. Investors welcomed the historic Swiss-backed purchase of troubled Credit Suisse by UBS Group as well as the emergency dollar liquidity provided by leading central banks.
UBS will pay 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.23 billion) for the 167-year-old Credit Suisse Group AG and take on up to $5.4 billion in losses as part of a deal arranged by Swiss regulators on Sunday.