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On February 8, the median U.S. 1-year inflation forecast rose to its highest level since November 2023. Capital Economics assistant economist Ruben Gargallo Abergus wrote: "This at least adds another reason for the Fed to remain cautious and suspend the easing cycle for a while." Higher inflation expectations are not the only inflation headwinds the Fed is currently facing. Wage growth continued to exceed expectations in January, which could push up inflation in the service sector. Economists expect Fed officials to keep interest rates unchanged at the March 18-19 policy meeting, and may even extend the suspension of rate cuts at the June meeting.The Israeli military says it has struck a Hamas weapons depot in Syria.According to Iranian state media reports, Irans Supreme Leader Khamenei met with visiting senior Hamas leaders in Tehran.On February 8, four large model application products under Baidu Smart Cloud, namely Keyue, Xiling, Yijian and Zhenzhi, were officially launched with access to the new version of the DeepSeek model.On February 8, according to Nikkei Chinese, Japans soaring food prices are dragging down personal consumption. The results of the household survey of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan showed that consumer spending in 2024 actually decreased by 1.1% year-on-year. The "Engel coefficient", which indicates the proportion of food in consumer spending, is 28.3%, a 43-year high. Monthly spending in December 2024 actually increased by 2.7%, and consumption showed a recovery trend. From the perspective of the composition of consumer spending in 2024, the negative factors that actually contributed the most to consumer spending are transportation and communications, which actually decreased by 4.1% year-on-year. Due to the exposure of certification violations by some Japanese automakers, automobile production was suspended for a time, affecting consumption.

After A Fed Rise, The U.S. Banks Stress Index Might Deteriorate

Aria Thomas

Jun 17, 2022 11:09

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An indicator of credit risk in the U.S. banking sector may be exhibiting symptoms of strain as the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate rise path heightens economic pain forecasts.


According to Refinitiv data, the so-called FRA-OIS spread, which measures the difference between the U.S. three-month forward rate agreement and the overnight index swap rate, jumped to 29.50 basis points on Thursday, its widest level since May 23. The value was -11.66 basis points earlier in the week.


Widely regarded as a barometer for banking sector risk, a wider spread indicates that interbank lending risk has increased.


The recent increase in the margin between forward rate agreements and overnight index swap rates is worrisome, according to J.P. Morgan Asset Management global market analyst Jordan Jackson. "As the Fed becomes more hawkish, recession fears increase, hence boosting the underlying credit risk."


The Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday, its largest rise since 1994. Markets have been rocked by the prospect of more dramatic tightening, and fears of a future recession have intensified.


This month, the central bank also started letting bonds to expire off its more than $8 trillion balance sheet without replacing them, a procedure known as quantitative tightening that Jackson warned may possibly deplete the financial system's liquidity.


As the world's biggest holder of U.S. government debt lowers its market presence, this sentiment is shared by other investors who are concerned that market conditions may deteriorate.


"Now that quantitative tightening has formally begun, reserve draining has been rather steady over the last several months," Jackson said, adding that he expects the FRA-OIS disparity to become much wider.


Wall Street also perceives an increase in the likelihood of default by large banks.


On Thursday, credit default swap (CDS) spreads for JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) were nearing two-year highs.