"The yellow metal remains an ideal hedge against rising stagflationary winds, but the tug-of-war between high inflation prints and market pricing for central bank hikes hasn't definitively concluded," the bank said.
EMEA HEADLINES
UK Inflation Hits Highest Level in a Decade at 4.2%
Annual inflation in the U.K. accelerated in October, reaching the highest level since December 2011, fueled by higher energy prices and mounting supply-chain disruptions.
The consumer price index--which measures what consumers pay for goods and services--increased 4.2% on the year in October following a 3.1% rise in September, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday.
Siemens Healthineers Sets Medium-Term Earnings, Revenue Growth Targets
Siemens Healthineers AG on Wednesday set revenue and earnings-per-share growth targets for fiscal years 2023 to 2025 as it launched the third phase of its strategy through 2025.
The German medical-equipment maker said it expects revenue growth of 6% to 8% annually for fiscal years 2023 to 2025, while adjusted earnings-per-share growth is expected at 12% to 15% a year based on broad-based margin expansion.
SSE 1H Profit Rose; FY Performance Seen at Least in Line With Views
SSE PLC on Wednesday reported higher profit for the first half of the financial year, and said full-year earnings would be at least in line with market consensus.
The Scotland-based energy company made a pretax profit of 1.69 billion pounds ($2.27 billion) for the six months ended Sept. 30, up from GBP779.4 million a year earlier. The result included mark-to-market revaluation gains on derivatives of GBP1.2 billion, as a result of recent market volatility, it said.
Intesa Sanpaolo to Cut Further 2,000 Jobs by 2025
Intesa Sanpaolo SpA has struck an agreement with trade unions related to plans to shed a further 2,000 jobs through voluntary exits and hire up to 1,100 new workers by 2025.
The Italian bank said late Tuesday that its target of 2,000 people voluntarily leaving would affect the entire group, including managers.
British Land Swung to 1H Pretax Profit; Raises Dividend
British Land Co. on Wednesday reported a swing to pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2022, boosted by the strong performance of its retail-park portfolio, and raised its dividend.
The real-estate company posted a pretax profit of 373 million pounds ($500.9 million) for the period ended Sept. 30 compared with a loss of GBP757 million for the first half of fiscal 2021. Underlying earnings per share--the company's preferred metric, which excludes exceptional costs--rose 23% to 12.9 pence, driven by a significant reduction in provisions.
Credit Suisse Appoints New Asia-Pacific Wealth Management Head
Credit Suisse Group has appointed Benjamin Cavalli as the head of wealth management for Asia-Pacific and as the chief executive of its Hong Kong branch.
The current Hong Kong branch chief executive, François Monnet, retires at the end of the year, Credit Suisse said on Wednesday.
Belarus Migrant Crisis Exposes Tensions Within European Union
A standoff between Belarus and the European Union over refugees stuck at the border between them is exposing cracks within the bloc, with eastern countries on the front line saying Germany is sidelining them in the confrontation.
On Monday, Poland was given just an hour's notice that departing German Chancellor Angela Merkel would be holding what ended up being a nearly hourlong phone call with Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, Polish officials said.
Iran Resumes Production of Advanced Nuclear-Program Parts, Diplomats Say
Iran has resumed production of equipment for advanced centrifuges at a site the United Nations' atomic-energy agency has been unable to monitor or gain access to for months, diplomats familiar with the activities said, presenting a new challenge for the Biden administration as it prepares for nuclear talks.
The renewed work has raised concerns among Western diplomats who say it could allow Iran to start secretly diverting centrifuge parts if Tehran chose to build a covert nuclear-weapons program, although they say there is no evidence at this point that it has done so.
Hungary's OTP Bank Invests in AI Supercomputer
OTP Bank, one of the largest financial services firms in Eastern and Central Europe, is making a multiyear investment in developing an artificial-intelligence supercomputer.
The bank, based in Budapest, said supercharged computing power will enable it to leverage advanced AI-powered language models, which can be trained to automate more banking services for Hungarian speakers while boosting internal data analytics tied to every aspect of the bank's operations. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.
GLOBAL NEWS
Treasurys Edge Toward Stability After Inflation-Driven Selloff
U.S. government bond yields are showing signs of stabilizing near the top of their 2021 range after a bout of selling precipitated by last week's surprisingly high inflation data.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note settled Tuesday at 1.632%, according to Tradeweb, up slightly from 1.621% Monday after logging larger gains in the previous three sessions.
One of the World's Strongest Stock Markets Is Starting to Fizzle
Challenges are piling up for South Korea's once highflying shares.
Seoul has been one of the world's best-performing big stock markets, with its value topping $1.6 trillion in August, according to data from the World Federation of Exchanges. But it has since been hit by rising interest rates, slowing global growth, a clampdown on household borrowing and concern that memory-chip prices may have peaked. A day-trading boom among individual investors is also fizzling out, reducing a key source of support.
UK Inflation Hits Highest Level in a Decade at 4.2%
Annual inflation in the U.K. accelerated in October, reaching the highest level since December 2011, fueled by higher energy prices and mounting supply-chain disruptions.
The consumer price index--which measures what consumers pay for goods and services--increased 4.2% on the year in October following a 3.1% rise in September, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday.
Japan's Exports Notch Eighth Month of Growth in October
Japan's exports increased in October for the eighth consecutive month, driven by demand for mineral fuels, steel and semiconductor related products in key overseas markets, Ministry of Finance data showed Wednesday.
Exports rose 9.4% compared with the same period a year earlier, easing from September's 13% increase. The result was weaker than the 11.5% increase tipped by a FactSet survey of economists.
Biden Says Fed Chair Pick Could Be Unveiled This Week
President Biden hinted to reporters Tuesday he could reveal his choice for Federal Reserve chief around the end of the week.
Mr. Biden is considering whether to reappoint Fed Chairman Jerome Powell when his four-year term expires in February or to pick Fed governor Lael Brainard for the position. Mr. Biden interviewed both candidates on Nov. 4, and he isn't considering other individuals, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Federal Government Could Be Unable to Pay Bills as Soon as Dec. 15, Yellen Says
The U.S. government could run out of resources to meet the nation's obligations as soon as Dec. 15, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday, reviving questions about how Congress will resolve a standoff about raising or suspending the federal borrowing limit.
Ms. Yellen provided the new estimate of when the federal government might no longer be able to pay all of its bills in a letter to Congressional leaders. She had previously said that a debt-limit increase passed by Congress in October provided confidence that the federal government would be able to pay its bills at least through Dec. 3.
Senate Confirms Jonathan Kanter as Justice Department Antitrust Chief
WASHINGTON-The Senate confirmed Jonathan Kanter on Tuesday as the Justice Department's top antitrust official, adding a pro-enforcement lawyer to a Biden-administration team that has already been aggressive in addressing what it sees as threats to competition.
Mr. Kanter, 48, was confirmed on a bipartisan 68-29 vote, as Democrats and some Republicans believe antitrust enforcers should be doing more to protect competition in the marketplace, including in technology sector, agriculture and healthcare.
Biden's New Deal Ambitions Run Into Political, Economic Constraints
President Biden and his aides invoke liberal icons Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson as role models for the historical impression he hopes to leave. His chief of staff, Ron Klain, late last month boasted that Mr. Biden's spending plan is "twice as big, in real dollars, as the New Deal."
In dollars alone, Mr. Biden's program is indeed big. But there are big differences between the political and economic landscape those earlier presidents faced and the present day that have already circumscribed Mr. Biden's plans and raise questions about their durability.
Biden, Xi Open to Nuclear-Arms Talks, White House Says
President Biden and President Xi Jinping of China have agreed to explore talks on arms control, a top White House official said, a day after the two used a virtual meeting to emphasize the need to avoid conflict on regional security and economic matters.
"The two leaders agreed that we would look to begin to carry forward discussions on strategic stability," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.
Australia to Beef Up High-Tech Prowess After Security Pact With U.S.
SYDNEY-Australia will strengthen its capabilities in quantum science and other technologies that could be used to counter threats from China, providing more detail on the type of innovations Australia might develop alongside the U.S. under a new security partnership.
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
11-17-21 0627ET
