Central Banks

JPMorgan has upgraded HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE: HSBC) to Neutral from Underweight due to its "defensive" nature post Brexit. The brokerage also downgraded many U.K. and European banks. Analyst Kian Abouhossein said following the U.K.'s decision to leave the EU, "We see spillover effect to the...

What affect does the Japanese yen have on U.S. equities? According to Wells Fargo Securities Strategist Gina Martin Adams, the answer may be surprising. Speaking during Monday's segment "Bloomberg Markets," the strategist began by pointing out the yen is "representative of...

The eurozone economic recovery is ongoing. That is a statement some investors may be tired of hearing because they've been hearing it for four or five years now, but data indicate even peripheral eurozone economies are farming though lingering pockets of concern. Although the euro is...

With the euro stronger against the dollar and the European Central Bank (ECB) dispatching a series of disappointing monetary easing efforts to global investors this year, it is not surprising that eurozone stocks and the corresponding U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds are scuffling. What's Going On...

Several exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that hold gold have surged by a quarter in recent memory. The reason for the rise in gold prices? Central banks — at least according to a report by Bloomberg. Bloomberg noted that gold has been 2016's best performing major metal after silver due to rising...

Doug Cote is an investment manager at Voya Investment Management. He was a recent guest on CNBC's Thursday edition of "Squawk Box" to discuss what he describes as the "4 Cs" currently driving the market. According to Cote, the four Cs are commodities, currencies, central banks and corporate...

Would the adoption of digital currency, such as Bitcoin, solve central banks' problems? Probably not, said Bloomberg View columnist Leonid Bershidsky. Central banks are mulling to get paper currency out of people's hands due to money laundering issues and negative rates. Bershidsky recalled that in...

This is how things are going for gold exchange-traded funds this year. Physically-backed ETFs, such as the SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE: GLD), have been good. Gold mining ETFs have been better. A lot better. For example, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX), is up 73.1 percent year-to-date...

The Bank of Japan kept its interest rates unchanged in a surprise move, as market participants were widely expecting the central bank to introduce further stimulus measures. Following the decision to stand pat, the question investors are now asking is if the Bank of Japan has lost its...

While the public discussion over whether or not to break up “Too Big To Fail” U.S. banks typically focuses on the size of the banks, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods argues that the market should decide which banks get broken up and which banks should stand on their own. According to analyst...

There is no dearth of exchange-traded funds that have “benchmark” status, and plenty of those are believed to be sound gauges of risk appetite. One of the more overlooked ETFs in terms of gauging market sentiment and risk appetite might just be the Ishares MSCI Europe Fincls Sctr Indx...

This year's exchange-traded funds' inflows are marked by at least one obvious theme: flight to safe-haven assets. That explains the top asset-gathering ETF year-to-date is the SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE: GLD) and why six of the top 10 asset-gathering ETFs are fixed income funds. Among equity-...

U.S. markets are mostly flat in early Thursday trading after the ECB issued a surprise cut to its main interest rate, lowering it from 0.05 percent to 0.00 percent. The fifth primary rate cut in Europe since the beginning of 2013 is set to go into effect on March 16. U.S. markets have shown...

Investors have been flocking to safe-haven assets this year, but in the flight to safe currencies, the U.S. dollar has not benefited. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (NYSE: UUP), which serves as an exchange-traded fund proxy for the U.S. Dollar Index, is off slightly year-to-date...

In a new report, HSBC analyst Steven Major addressed growing speculation that more global central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, will opt for increasingly negative interest rates to combat deflation. According to Major, negative interest rates may also be a long-term solution to global...