The biggest hurdle will come in late June, when banks will have to pay back about 478 billion euros, equivalent to some $525 billion, of ultracheap loans to the central bank. Those loans were handed out at the height of the pandemic to ensure banks kept lending as lockdowns brought business to a halt.
U.K. Inflation Stays Above 10%, Raising Prospect of Further Interest-Rate Increases
LONDON-The U.K.'s annual rate of inflation was higher than expected in March and remained in double digits, a level of persistent price increases that could mean further hikes in interest rates in the coming months despite a weak economy.
March consumer prices were 10.1% higher than a year earlier, a decline in the inflation rate from 10.4% in February, the U.K.'s statistics agency said Wednesday. That rate was higher than expected, with economists having forecast a drop to 9.8%. The core rate of inflation, which excludes volatile items such as energy and food, was unchanged at 6.2%.
There Are Strange Rumblings Under Earnings Season's Surface
The future is on trial.
It's so hard to decipher what is happening inside and outside of markets that earnings season has become an unusually high-stakes debate over what happens next in the economy.
Lawmakers Look for Tough Implementation of Forced Labor Law Targeting China
U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday scrutinized possible "loopholes" in an anti-forced labor law blocking many imports from China's Xinjiang region, expressing bipartisan support for cracking down on companies with supply chains stemming from the region.
Several lawmakers drew attention to potential gaps that might be allowing goods from a largely proscribed region of China to enter the U.S. as part of a hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. The hearing followed U.S. Customs and Border Protection reporting it has stopped nearly $1.1 billion in goods with possible links to Xinjiang, home to China's Uyghur people and other minority groups, under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
McCarthy Says Text of Bill Raising Debt Ceiling Will Be Ready Soon
WASHINGTON-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he was pushing to begin writing the text of legislation raising the debt ceiling as Republicans said they expected to see the bill soon and vote on it next week, before the start of a recess in May.
"You will see the text very shortly," Mr. McCarthy (R., Calif.) told reporters Tuesday, without giving a specific timeline.
North Korea Set to Launch Military Spy Satellite
SEOUL-North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country's first military reconnaissance satellite is complete, hailing it a technological advance that will provide real-time information about the military movements of the U.S. and its allies.
Mr. Kim ordered the country's space agency to launch the satellite on an unspecified date, North Korean state media said Wednesday. Mr. Kim visited the space agency on Tuesday accompanied by one of his children, daughter Kim Ju Ae, state media photos showed.
Airman Jack Teixeira Set to Appear in Court for Detention Hearing
Federal prosecutors are expected to outline more of their evidence Wednesday against Airman First Class Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman charged with taking and sharing highly classified intelligence documents that exposed significant vulnerabilities in the way the U.S. protects some of its most closely held secrets.
Airman Teixeira, 21 years old, is scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston for a detention hearing, where prosecutors are set to argue that he should remain detained while his criminal case proceeds. The Justice Department charged him Friday with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material, charges that combined carry a potential 15-year prison sentence upon conviction.
Russian Foreign Minister Seeks Deeper Ties in Latin America
BRASÍLIA-Russia has embarked on an effort to shore up support in Latin America for its war in Ukraine, with foreign minister Sergei Lavrov visiting Brazil before arriving in Venezuela on Tuesday afternoon as part of a four-country tour.
The mission has prompted rebukes from the U.S. and Europe after Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that Washington and its allies were prolonging the conflict by supplying Ukraine with arms.
Atlanta Prosecutor in Trump Election Probe Seeks to Disqualify Lawyer
The Atlanta prosecutor investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies said on Tuesday that self-identified "alternate electors" have turned on one another and shouldn't be represented by the same lawyer, providing new details on the criminal probe.
In a motion filed on Tuesday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said investigators in her office recently interviewed some of the 16 Republican Party activists who signed an unofficial electoral certificate for Georgia in 2020.
Write to ina.kreutz@wsj.com TODAY IN CANADA
Earnings:
Metro 2Q
Economic Calendar (ET):
0815 Mar Housing Starts
0830 Mar Industrial product and raw materials price indexes
Stocks to Watch:
No items published
Expected Major Events for Wednesday
04:30/JPN: Feb Revised Industrial Production
06:00/UK: Mar UK producer prices
06:00/UK: Mar UK monthly inflation figures
08:30/UK: Feb UK House Price Index
09:00/ITA: Feb Balance of Payments
11:00/US: 04/14 MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey
12:15/CAN: Mar Housing Starts
12:30/CAN: Mar Industrial product and raw materials price indexes
14:30/US: 04/14 EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report
18:00/US: U.S. Federal Reserve Beige Book
23:01/UK: CBI and PwC Financial Services Survey
23:50/JPN: Mar Provisional Trade Statistics for the Month
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Wednesday
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) is expected to report $0.68 for 1Q.
Alcoa Corp (AA) is expected to report $-0.26 for 1Q.
Ally Financial Inc (ALLY) is expected to report $0.85 for 1Q.
Baker Hughes Co (BKR) is expected to report $0.26 for 1Q.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (BBBY) is expected to report $-2.26 for 4Q.
Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) is expected to report $-0.03 for 1Q.
C&F Financial Corporation (CFFI) is expected to report for 1Q.
Citizens & Northern Corp (CZNC) is expected to report $0.42 for 1Q.
Citizens Financial Group (CFG) is expected to report $1.12 for 1Q.
Community Trust Bancorp (CTBI) is expected to report $1.12 for 1Q.
Drive Shack Inc (DSHK) is expected to report $-0.06 for 4Q.
Elevance Health Inc (ELV) is expected to report $8.69 for 1Q.
FNB Corp (FNB) is expected to report $0.40 for 1Q.
Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc (FMAO) is expected to report $0.54 for 1Q.
First Community Corp. (South Carolina) (FCCO) is expected to report $0.49 for 1Q.
First United Corp (FUNC) is expected to report for 1Q.
Great Southern Bancorp (GSBC) is expected to report $1.49 for 1Q.
Healthcare Services Group Inc (HCSG) is expected to report $0.14 for 1Q.
IBM (IBM) is expected to report $0.75 for 1Q.
KS Bancorp Inc (KSBI) is expected to report for 1Q.
Lithia Motors Inc (LAD) is expected to report $8.39 for 1Q.
Metro Inc (MRU.T,MTRAF) is expected to report $0.92 for 2Q.
Morgan Stanley (MS) is expected to report $1.63 for 1Q.
Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ) is expected to report $0.57 for 1Q.
National Bank Holdings (NBHC) is expected to report $0.97 for 1Q.
Penns Woods Bancorp (PWOD) is expected to report for 1Q.
PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals Inc (PHASQ) is expected to report $-0.29 for 4Q.
Platinum Group Metals Ltd (PLG,PTM.T) is expected to report for 2Q.
Plumas Bancorp (PLBC) is expected to report for 1Q.
Rexford Industrial Realty (REXR) is expected to report $0.23 for 1Q.
SL Green Realty Corp (SLG) is expected to report for 1Q.
Salisbury Bancorp (SAL) is expected to report $0.75 for 1Q.
Synchrony Financial (SYF) is expected to report $1.50 for 1Q.
Tattooed Chef Inc (TTCF) is expected to report for 4Q.
The Travelers Companies (TRV) is expected to report $3.60 for 1Q.
U.S. Bancorp (USB) is expected to report $1.10 for 1Q.
Unique Fabricating Inc (UFAB) is expected to report $0.11 for 4Q.
United States Antimony Corp (UAMY) is expected to report for 4Q.
Westbury Bancorp Inc (WBBW) is expected to report for 2Q.
Winmark (WINA) is expected to report for 1Q.
Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
ANALYST RATINGS ACTIONS
Ares Capital Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Wells Fargo
Aterian Cut to Neutral From Buy by BTIG
BJ's Restaurants Raised to Outperform From Neutral by Wedbush
BlackRock Capital Invt Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Wells Fargo
Brown & Brown Raised to Buy From Neutral by Citigroup
Cion Investment Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Wells Fargo
Comcast Raised to Overweight From Neutral by Atlantic Equities
Digital Media Solutions Cut to Neutral From Buy by BTIG
Emerson Electric Raised to Outperform From Peer Perform by Wolfe Research
First Solar Cut to Sector Weight From Overweight by Keybanc
Global Payments Cut to Neutral From Overweight by JP Morgan
Golub Capital BDC Cut to Accumulate From Overweight by Wells Fargo
Helmerich & Payne Cut to Underweight From Equal-Weight by Morgan Stanley
LegalZoom.com Raised to Market Outperform From Market Perform by JMP Securities
Liberty Oilfield Services Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Morgan Stanley
Liberty Oilfield Services Cut to Neutral From Buy by B of A Securities
M&T Bank Raised to Buy From Hold by Argus Research
Marathon Petroleum Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Wells Fargo
MP Materials Cut to Market Perform From Outperform by Northland Capital Markets
Nabors Raised to Equal-Weight From Underweight by Morgan Stanley
New Mountain Finance Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Wells Fargo
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
04-19-23 0618ET
