2026-01-21 11:25

Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in Davos on Wednesday that Deutsche Bank's (DBKGn.DE) , opens new tab chief executive had called him to say the bank did not stand by one of its analyst reports suggesting European investors may dump U.S. assets. "This notion that Europeans would be selling U.S. assets came from a single analyst at Deutsche Bank," Bessent told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting, adding that it had been amplified by "the fake news media". Sign up here. "The CEO of Deutsche Bank called to say that Deutsche Bank does not stand by that analyst report," he said. WALL STREET BANKS HAVE FACED PRESSURE FROM TRUMP Wall Street banks have faced pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who, last year, hit out at Goldman Sachs (GS.N) , opens new tab and its CEO David Solomon, saying the bank had been wrong to predict U.S. tariffs would hurt the economy, questioned whether Solomon should lead the Wall Street institution and criticised its research. George Saravelos, Deutsche's global head of FX research, in a Sunday note raised the possibility of European investors selling U.S. assets in response to President Donald Trump's threats to impose tariffs on several European countries over Greenland. "We generally do not comment on potential communication between the bank and government representatives," a Deutsche Bank spokesperson said. The spokesperson added: "Deutsche Bank Research is independent in their work, therefore views expressed in individual research notes do not necessarily represent the view of the bank's management." Saravelos did not respond immediately to a request for comment. His Sunday note said European countries owned $8 trillion of U.S. bonds and equities. "In an environment where the geoeconomic stability of the Western alliance is being disrupted existentially, it is not clear why Europeans would be as willing to play this part," Saravelos wrote. The euro has gained roughly 1% against the dollar so far this week, a move that many analysts have linked to the Greenland tariff threats. U.S. Treasuries have sold off as well, though analysts say this was also a result of worries about U.S. finances more broadly, and dramatic tumbles by Japanese government bonds spilling over into global markets. https://www.reuters.com/business/davos/bessent-says-deutsche-bank-ceo-called-distance-bank-analysts-greenland-report-2026-01-21/

2026-01-21 11:15

FTSE 100 flat, FTSE 250 up 0.1% Trump to speak at World Economic Forum in Davos UK inflation hits 3.4% in December from 3.2% ‌in November Burberry jumps after beating holiday sales expectations Jan 21 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 held steady on Wednesday as weaknesses in banks and industrials amid renewed trade tensions linked to Greenland overshadowed some upbeat earnings. The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) , opens new tab was flat at 22,997.66 points by 1045 GMT, coming off a three-day ‌losing streak. Sign up here. Market sentiment deteriorated this week after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to introduce escalating tariffs on eight European nations from February 1 unless the United States is allowed to buy Greenland. Trump arrives in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, where he is likely to escalate ‍his push for acquiring the island despite European protests. Banks (.FTNMX301010) , opens new tab were the biggest drag on the FTSE 100, down 0.9%, while industrial support services (.FTNMX502050) , opens new tab and aerospace and defence (.FTNMX502010) , opens new tab lost 2.1% and 1.4%, respectively. Credit data and ⁠analytics company Experian (EXPN.L) , opens new tab maintained its full-year forecast and reported an 8% growth in its third-quarter organic ‍revenue, though its shares dropped 5.2%. Helping limit losses, London-listed shares Rio Tinto (RIO.L) , opens new tab jumped 5% after the Anglo-Australian miner ‌beat ‌expectations for quarterly iron ore and copper production. Industrial metal miners (.FTNMX551020) , opens new tab and precious metal miners (.FTNMX551030) , opens new tab continued to rise as prices of gold, silver and copper gained, with investors also gravitating toward the metals as safe‑haven assets. Burberry (BRBY.L) , opens new tab climbed 5% after the luxury brand beat expectations for sales ⁠growth in the key ⁠holiday quarter. The FTSE 250 midcap index (.FTMC) , opens new tab meanwhile added 0.1% with Premier Foods (PFD.L) , opens new tab up 6.6% after the Mr Kipling owner forecast annual profit at the upper end of market expectations. JD Wetherspoon (JDW.L) , opens new tab slumped 6.7% after the pub chain warned that fiscal ‍2026 profit could fall. Meanwhile, data showed British inflation rose by more than expected in December, though investors held steady on their bets on the Bank of England cutting interest rates later this year. "We continue to expect headline inflation to drop significantly in 2026, and remain ‍of the view that the BoE will cut three times in March, June, and September," Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-ftse-100-holds-steady-upbeat-earnings-offset-global-trade-tensions-2026-01-21/

2026-01-21 11:04

TOKYO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Japan's electricity demand is expected to grow 5.3% over the next decade, driven by rising consumption from data centres and semiconductor factories, the country's grid monitor said on Wednesday. Power consumption in fiscal 2035, ending March 2036, is projected to reach 846.13 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), up from an estimated 803.37 billion kWh in fiscal 2025, according to the Organisation for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators, Japan (OCCTO). Sign up here. The growth rate was slightly below the 5.8% forecast a year earlier, as delays in construction schedules, design changes, and other issues at data centres pushed back planned start-up dates and the timing for reaching full demand levels. This has postponed the expected surge in power demand to later years, OCCTO said. By sector, industrial demand is expected to lead the increase, rising 18.3% over the period, while household electricity consumption is anticipated to fall 5.7% due to a shrinking population and advances in energy efficiency. Last year's forecast had projected an increase of 19.2% in industrial demand and a 5.4% decline in household consumption. Electricity demand from new data centres and chip plants is seen increasing by 56.8 billion kWh by fiscal 2035, compared with last year's forecast of a 51.4 billion kWh rise by fiscal 2034. OCCTO updates its 10-year electricity demand outlook annually, based on surveys of Japan's 10 major electric utilities. Until its 2023 estimate, electricity demand had been projected to decline gradually, reflecting population shrinkage and the spread of energy-saving equipment, but in 2024, OCCTO revised its projections to show growth, citing surging demand from data centres and chip factories. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/japan-sees-rise-power-demand-data-centre-chip-growth-grid-monitor-says-2026-01-21/

2026-01-21 10:13

Commercial banks must tokenise the money they handle Stablecoins will spread due to US push to defend dollar Only stable pegs are central bank, private banks' money MILAN, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Commercial bank money is set to become fully digital in the future, like central bank money, and the two will continue to anchor the monetary system, a top European Central Bank policymaker said on Wednesday. The growing use of financial assets in digital, or tokenised, form has raised questions about the future of the two-tier monetary system that links central bank and private money. Some experts warn that stablecoins could undermine the principle that all forms of money trade at par and are interchangeable regardless of issuer. Sign up here. Addressing Italy's banking association, Bank of Italy Governor Fabio Panetta said it was difficult to predict how stablecoin use would evolve but insisted they would not displace traditional money, which he described as the financial system's only stable anchor. Stablecoins are typically referenced to a conventional financial asset, mostly the U.S. dollar, to maintain a stable value. "They'll definitely develop because there's a big push by the U.S. administration," Panetta said, adding Washington encouraged digital assets to support dollar demand. "It's not clear what role they'll have ... but I expect the system will remain centred around central bank and commercial bank money, both of which will need to become digital." To ensure central bank money remains relevant in an increasingly digital economy and to protect Europe's monetary sovereignty, the ECB aims to launch a digital euro in 2029. "I expect commercial bank money will also become mostly tokenised," Panetta said. Tokenisation refers to converting financial assets into digital tokens issued on a distributed ledger such as blockchain. The digital euro project has faced resistance from banks, particularly in Germany, which fear competition from the ECB. Panetta said recent geopolitical developments showed it may be risky for Europe to rely on U.S. firms such as Visa (V.N) , opens new tab, Mastercard (MA.N) , opens new tab and PayPal (PYPL.O) , opens new tab for more than two-thirds of its payments. As an ECB executive board member before becoming central bank governor, Panetta led the digital euro project. "When I discussed this with the banks of a large European country that opposed the digital euro because they worried they'd lose the 30% of payments they handled digitally, I told them: instead of worrying about the 30% think about who controls the 70% you've already lost," he said. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/ecbs-panetta-sees-fully-digital-commercial-bank-money-future-2026-01-21/

2026-01-21 09:31

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday he was not concerned about any sell-off in U.S. Treasuries related to the ‌Trump administration's threats to impose tariffs on European allies opposing U.S. efforts to acquire Greenland. Bessent played down criticism from European leaders of Washington's designs on Greenland, and whether the issue could spark a sell-off in U.S. Treasuries by institutional investors in Europe, such ‌as pension funds in Denmark and elsewhere. Sign up here. "Denmark's investment in the U.S. Treasury bonds, like Denmark itself, is irrelevant," Bessent told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, describing Danish investment in U.S. ‍Treasuries as small. "I'm not concerned at all. Again, as Treasury Secretary, I see our Treasury auctions. We've had record foreign investment." French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that Europe would not ⁠give in to bullies or be intimidated over Greenland, and has said the ‍European Union should consider use of its Anti-Coercion Instrument, informally known as the "trade bazooka". Bessent accused Macron ‌of ‌making "inflammatory statements" and was dismissive when asked about France on Wednesday announcing that it was seeking a NATO exercise in Greenland. "If this is all President Macron has to do ... when the French budget is in shambles, I would suggest that he ⁠focuses on other things ⁠for the French people," he said. Bessent also said Britain was letting down the United States with its plans to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago, and urged critics of U.S. President Donald Trump administration's ‍approach to Greenland to take a "deep breath". "Why don't they sit down, wait for President Trump to get here and listen to his argument?" he said, adding: "Because I think they're going to be persuaded". Bessent also said pursuing a policy of "grow, baby, ‍grow" would be at the heart of the U.S. agenda as the current president of the Group of 20 industrialised nations. https://www.reuters.com/business/davos/us-treasury-secretary-bessent-not-concerned-about-any-treasuries-sell-off-2026-01-21/

2026-01-21 08:00

UK CPI hits 3.4% in December from 3.2% in November Economists had expected reading of 3.3% Tobacco, air fares pushed up prices last month Markets show little reaction to data Economists stick with view that inflation pressure will abate Jan 21 (Reuters) - British inflation rose by more than expected in December, pushed higher by air fares and tobacco prices, but the fastest rate of price growth among the world's big, rich economies is still likely to slow sharply in the coming months. Investors held steady on their bets on the Bank of England cutting interest rates later this year with services price inflation, which is closely watched by the central bank, edging up in line with analysts' forecasts. Sign up here. Headline inflation headed up for the first time since July, climbing to 3.4% from 3.2% in November, the Office for National Statistics said, above a median forecast of a rise in consumer price inflation to 3.3% in a Reuters poll of economists. "Although the uptick is larger than expected, for now it's a speed-bump, rather than an indication we are veering off course on the road to price stability," Adam Deasy, an economist at PwC, said. BANK OF ENGLAND EXPECTED TO CUT RATES IN 2026 Services inflation rose to 4.5% in December from 4.4% in November, as expected in the Reuters poll. Inflation in Britain remains the highest in the Group of Seven, despite the country's sluggish economic growth. But the pace of price increases is expected to slow sharply in the coming months as last year's rises in utility costs and other government-controlled tariffs fall out of the annual comparison. BoE Governor Andrew Bailey has said inflation is likely to be close to the central bank's 2% target in April or May. The pound and market expectations for BoE interest rates were little changed by the data. "The Bank of England will ... not be worried by these numbers," said Nicholas Crittenden, economist from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research think tank. "We still predict one cut in Bank Rate in the first half of this year, provided renewed geopolitical tensions do not blow the current path of inflation off course." Bailey said on Tuesday the BoE worried "considerably" about how markets react to geopolitical developments, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening tariffs on historic European allies who oppose his plan to take over Greenland. British natural gas futures have soared by around 25% over the last two weeks, in part due to the deterioration in the relationship with the United States, a major supplier of liquefied natural gas to European countries. As many economists had predicted, tobacco and airfares were the biggest contributors to the headline rise in consumer prices in December, pushed up by an increase in duty charged on tobacco products and the timing of flights around Christmas. Still, Britain's consumer price and services inflation rates are running slightly below those projected by the BoE in its November forecasts. Financial markets are pricing one or possibly two quarter-point interest rate cuts by the BoE in 2026. In December, the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee cut Bank Rate to 3.75% but almost half its members voted for no change due to worries about the persistence of inflation pressure. Producer prices data, which measure prices charged by businesses, showed a sharp uptick in the services sector during the fourth quarter, rising to 2.9% from 2.0% in the third quarter. Output price inflation for manufacturers was stable. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-inflation-rises-more-than-expected-34-2026-01-21/