Dec 15 (Reuters) – Some investors believe an expected recession will force the Federal Reserve to loosen monetary policy next year, even as the central bank projects it will raise rates higher than it previously anticipated and keep them there longer as it fights to crush inflation.
The dynamic came into stark focus after the Fed’s monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, when it delivered a widely expected 50 basis point rate increase and projected borrowing costs will rise by an additional 75 basis points by the end of 2023 – half a percentage point higher than officials forecast in September.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Musk Cashes Out Another $3.6 Bln In Tesla Stock
Dec 15 (Reuters) – Tesla (TLSA.O) boss Elon Musk disclosed another $3.6 billion in stock sales on Wednesday, taking his total near $40 billion this year and frustrating investors as the company’s shares wallow at two-year lows.
A U.S securities filing showed he unloaded 22 million shares in the world’s most valuable carmaker over three days from Monday to Wednesday.
The sale is the second big chunk of stock he has cashed out since his $44 billion purchase of Twitter in October. It isn’t clear if the sales are related to the Twitter acquisition, but they are annoying investors who are upset by a perception he is diverting his focus and resources to Twitter ahead of Tesla.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Germany’s Half-A-Trillion Dollar Energy Bazooka May Not Be Enough
FRANKFURT, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Germany is bleeding cash to keep the lights on. Almost half a trillion dollars, and counting, since the Ukraine war jolted it into an energy crisis nine months ago.
That’s the cumulative scale of the bailouts and schemes the Berlin government has launched to prop up the country’s energy system since prices rocketed and it lost access to gas from main supplier Russia, according to Reuters calculations.
Full coverage: REUTERS
ECB To Slow Rate Hikes And Lay Out Plans To Drain Cash
FRANKFURT, Dec 15 (Reuters) – The European Central Bank is set to raise interest rates for the fourth time in a row on Thursday, although by less than at its last two meetings, and lay out plans to drain cash from the financial system as it fights runaway inflation.
The ECB has been raising rates at an unprecedented pace to rein in prices that have soared since economies reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by supply bottlenecks and then surging energy costs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Microsoft To Roll Out ‘Data Boundary’ For EU Customers From Jan. 1
LONDON/STOCKHOLM, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) said on Thursday its European Union cloud customers will be able to process and store parts of their data in the region from Jan. 1.
The phased rollout of its “EU data boundary” will apply to all of its core cloud services – Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and Power BI platform.
Big businesses have become increasingly anxious about the international flow of customer data since the EU introduced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018, which protects user privacy.
Full coverage: REUTERS
