Shares of banks and other lenders and money managers rose amid a broad market uptick as voters went to polls in Georgia to vote in two runoff elections that will determine control of the Senate.
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans pushed back Tuesday against the notion that changing the ultra-easy monetary policy stance of the Federal Reserve can reduce the risk it creates financial instability.
Mr. Evans, who will have a vote at rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee meetings this year, said monetary policy needs to focus on the economy and that Fed officials should turn to regulatory tools if they see any signs of financial sector trouble.
"Financial stability objectives are best addressed through supervision and regulation rather than through monetary policy tools," Mr. Evans said in the text of a speech, echoing a view broadly held by central bank policy makers.
Meanwhile, big banks earned billions of dollars in fees setting up so-called blank-check companies in 2020, highlighting how booming capital markets are helping Wall Street weather the coronavirus.
U.S.-listed special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, raised $82 billion in 2020, a more-than-sixfold increase from the year before and a figure greater than all of the money previously raised, according to Dealogic.
In deal news, CoinDesk, a bitcoin-focused media company, has acquired analytics company TradeBlock in a bid to capitalize on demand for data-driven products in the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry.
Write to Amy Pessetto at amy.pessetto@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-05-21 1717ET
