2024-03-20 18:04

WASHINGTON, March 20(Reuters) - U.S. central bankers still anticipate cutting interest rates three times this year, according to the median of new economic projections published on Wednesday, but overall have become more hawkish than three months ago when they last published forecasts. Nine of the Fed's 19 policymakers see three quarter-point rate cuts this year, and nine see two or less. Only one penciled in more cuts than the median, compared with five in December. The new projections suggest policymakers are more inclined to keep rates higher for longer to make sure inflation does not stall out above their 2% goal, or flare up again. By the end of 2025, policymakers anticipate a policy rate of 3.9%, according to the median of their projections, implying an additional three quarter-of-a-percentage-point cuts next year. In December the median policymaker wrote down an end-2025 rate of 3.6%. The current policy rate target range, reaffirmed Wednesday, is 5.25%-5.5%. The forecasts are not a consensus view. They reflect the individual expectations of the Federal Reserve's seven Washington-based governors and the 12 Fed bank presidents. With several more readings on inflation and the job market due before the Fed's June meeting, plenty could change. Softer inflation readings could firm up expectations for the start of rate cuts by then; stronger ones could push them further into the future. But at least so far, hotter-than-expected price pressures since the start of the year seem to have begun to erode U.S. central bankers' confidence in inflation's progress toward the Fed's 2% goal. Policymakers now anticipate inflation by the Fed's targeted measure, the personal consumption expenditures price index, will end this year at 2.4%, but with core PCE inflation, a gauge of underlying inflation pressures, at 2.6%. In December the forecast for both measures was 2.4%. By the end of next year policymakers see headline PCE inflation easing to 2.2%; in December the median end-2025 forecast was 2.1%. In all, the new projections suggest continued faith in a "soft" landing for the economy, in which the Fed brings inflation under control without severe damage to the labor market. Policymakers marked up their forecast for U.S. economic growth this year to 2.1%, from 1.4% in their December projections, and expect GDP to grow 2.0% next year, versus the 1.8% they had previously expected. They see the unemployment rate, which rose last month to 3.9%, rising to 4.0% by the end of the year, compared with 4.1% seen in December; they now expect it to end 2025 at 4.1%. Policymakers also made a notable tweak to their longer-run view of the Fed policy rate, with the median policymaker now pegging it at 2.6%, up from the prior view of 2.5%, an increase that suggests that the central bank may not need to reduce borrowing costs quite as much to reach a level that, in a healthy economy, neither encourages nor discourages investment and hiring. Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/fed-policymakers-stick-three-rate-cut-view-24-barely-2024-03-20/

2024-03-20 17:44

LAGOS, March 20 (Reuters) - Two executives from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, will remain in detention for at least two more weeks in Nigeria after appearing in court for the first time on Wednesday and even though they have not been charged with a crime, their families said. Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and Binance's head of financial crime compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan who is Binance's regional manager for Africa, flew to Nigeria following the country's decision to ban several cryptocurrency trading websites and were detained on arrival on Feb. 26. On Tuesday, the two men appeared in a Federal High Court in the capital Abuja. The Court and lawyers for Gambaryan and Anjarwalla declined to comment. Lawyers from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) want the court to grant a new detention order, after the initial one expired on March 12. The Binance executives are opposing this. The judge did not make a ruling on EFCC's request. "At the court hearing in Abuja today, which was attended by Tigran and Nadeem, the court ruled that after hearing arguments from both parties, they would resume the session on April 5th," the families of the two executives said in a statement. An EFCC spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were caught up in a crackdown following a period during which several cryptocurrency websites emerged as platforms of choice for trading the Nigerian currency, as the country battles chronic dollar shortages. Binance did not immediately respond to emailed questions. The company announced early this month that it was stopping all transactions and trading in Nigeria's naira currency after March 8. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/binance-executives-remain-detention-after-nigeria-court-appearance-families-say-2024-03-20/

2024-03-20 17:40

March 20 (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales are expected to rise as much as 3.5% this year, a slower pace than 2023, industry body National Retail Federation said on Wednesday, as sticky inflation dampens hopes of a strong recovery in consumer spending. CONTEXT U.S. consumer prices increased solidly in February on higher costs for gasoline and shelter, the second straight month of firmer inflation readings from the Labor Department. Big retailers, including Walmart and Target, have laid out conservative forecasts for the year, as shoppers navigate an uncertain macroeconomic environment. Mixed economic data has also pushed back expectations for the U.S. Federal Reserve's first interest rate cut to June from May. BY THE NUMBERS The NRF has projected retail sales to rise between 2.5% and 3.5% this year to between $5.23 trillion and $5.28 trillion, compared with a 3.6% growth in 2023. The trade body expects inflation to moderate to 2.2% on a year-over-year basis in December, due to a cooling labor market and retreating housing costs. Retail sales, as defined by NRF, include both store-based and online purchases in a broad range of retail setting but excludes purchases at automotive dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants. KEY QUOTES "The resiliency of consumers continues to power the American economy, and we are confident there will be moderate but steady growth through the end of the year," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. "I assumed mid-year reduction in the Fed funds rate, although I'm at the point where it could be moving out. That could negatively impact considerably on decision making by consumers," NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. GRAPHIC Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-retail-sales-rise-slower-pace-2024-says-nrf-2024-03-20/

2024-03-20 16:51

March 20 (Reuters) - Super Micro Computer's (SMCI.O) , opens new tab shares fell 5% on Wednesday after the AI server maker announced the pricing of its public stock offering, selling the shares at a discount to their most recent closing price. The slide marks the fifth consecutive session of decline for the stock, erasing about 28% from the company's market capitalization over the period and lowering its share price to $862. Super Micro, one of the top sellers of AI-optimized servers and a beneficiary of the boom in AI services, is selling 2 million shares of its common stock at $875.00 a piece and expects to make $1.75 billion in gross proceeds, according to an exchange filing , opens new tab late on Tuesday. The stock had ended 9% lower, at $910.97 on Tuesday, after Super Micro announced the stock offering. Shares of the San Jose-based company have more than tripled so far this year. Super Micro's ability to quickly develop AI-compatible servers as well as its in-house liquid cooling technology have helped the company turn into a key data-center supplier. The recent surge in the firm's market value led to its inclusion in the S&P 500 index (.SPX) , opens new tab on Monday. That means exchange-traded funds that track the index must now own Super Micro's shares. The company raised $1.7 billion last month in a convertible bond offering to fund its expansion plans. The Technology Roundup newsletter brings the latest news and trends straight to your inbox. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/super-micros-shares-drop-after-pricing-stock-offering-discount-2024-03-20/

2024-03-20 15:59

March 20 (Reuters) - Reddit and its bankers are guiding that they could price the social media platform's initial public offering (IPO) at the top of the indicated range or above, according to a source familiar with the matter. The San Francisco, California-based company is seeking a valuation of $6.5 billion in the IPO and had indicated it would sell shares at a price between $31 and $34 each. If priced at the top end of that range, the IPO would fetch $748 million for Reddit and its selling shareholders. Reddit's long-awaited stint as a publicly traded company has been in the works for more than two years. It confidentially filed for its IPO in Dec. 2021, but the stock rout due to the Federal Reserve's quantitative tightening prompted a delay. Its shares are expected to start trading on Thursday in an eyeball-grabbing debut that will be a major test of the IPO market, where investors are seeing some green shoots, thanks to increasing bets of a soft landing. Reddit's IPO is between four and five times oversubscribed, Reuters reported on Sunday, making it more likely that the company would achieve the targeted valuation. To cash in on its popularity among traders, the company has reserved 8% of the total shares on offer for eligible users and moderators on its platform, certain board members and friends and family members of its employees and directors. Reddit declined to comment. The plans on the pricing were earlier reported by Bloomberg News. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, J.P.Morgan and Bank of America Securities are the lead underwriters for the offering. Shares are expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "RDDT." Get U.S. personal finance tips and insight straight to your inbox with the Reuters On the Money newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/reddit-guides-ipo-may-price-top-range-or-above-source-says-2024-03-20/

2024-03-20 14:56

LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - A woman accused of converting bitcoin into cash and property to help hide the proceeds of a 5 billion pound ($6.3 billion) fraud was this week convicted of one count of money laundering after a trial in a London court. Prosecutors said Wen Jian helped hide the source of money allegedly stolen from nearly 130,000 Chinese investors in fraudulent wealth schemes between 2014 and 2017. She was not alleged to have been involved in the underlying fraud, which prosecutors said was masterminded by a woman known to Wen as Zhang Yadi, whose real name is Qian Zhimin. As part of their investigation, British police seized wallets holding more than 61,000 bitcoin – making it one of the largest cryptocurrency seizures by law enforcement worldwide. The 61,000 bitcoin was worth around 1.4 billion pounds when police gained access in 2021, prosecutors said during Wen's trial. It is now worth over 3 billion pounds. Wen, 42, denied three counts of money laundering, giving evidence that Zhang – who fled Britain in 2020 and whose whereabouts are unknown – told her she was independently wealthy and that Wen did not have any knowledge of criminality. She was found guilty by jurors of one count on Monday following a trial at Southwark Crown Court. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on two other counts. On Wednesday, prosecutor Max Baines said Britain's Crown Prosecution Service was not seeking a retrial of Wen on those two counts, meaning the guilty verdict could be reported. Wen will be sentenced next month for the single count of money laundering of which she was found guilty. 'CRIMINAL SUPERVILLAIN' Prosecutor Gillian Jones said at the start of the trial that Zhang had arrived in Britain on a false St. Kitts and Nevis passport in 2017, shortly after Chinese authorities began to investigate the fraud. Zhang needed to convert the stolen money, which was converted into bitcoin to take it out of China, back into cash and used Wen as her "front person", Jones said. Prosecutors said Wen should have known Zhang's money was illegally obtained, including due to her aversion to travelling to countries which had an extradition treaty with China. Wen, however, said she was simply trying to provide a better life for her son. Her lawyer Mark Harries described Zhang as an "expert criminal supervillian", who constantly lied to Wen about the source of the money. Zhang "used her and abandoned her because she was dependable and expendable", Harries said, when she disappeared in 2020. The Technology Roundup newsletter brings the latest news and trends straight to your inbox. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/woman-guilty-laundering-bitcoin-uk-63-bln-china-fraud-2024-03-20/