Bank of England's King makes last call for more stimulus, bank reform

LONDON | Thu Jun 20, 2013 2:34am BST
(Reuters) - Britain's economic recovery is not yet secure and more needs to be done to ensure the country's banks no longer pose a threat to taxpayers, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said in his final speech on Wednesday.

King steps down at the end of this month after more than 20 years at the bank, to be replaced by former Canadian central bank chief Mark Carney, and the 65-year-old stuck to familiar themes in an annual address to London's financial elite.


China factory activity hits nine-month low, policy action eyed

BEIJING | Thu Jun 20, 2013 5:53am BST

(Reuters) - China's factory activity weakened to a nine-month low in June as demand faltered, a preliminary survey showed, heightening the risk of a sharper second quarter slowdown and increasing the heat on the central bank to loosen policy.

China's economy grew at its slowest pace for 13 years in 2012 and so far this year data has been weaker than expected, bringing warnings the country could miss its growth target of 7.5 percent for this year, though possibly not by much.

Nikkei sags as weak China data, prospect of less Fed stimulus weigh

Thu Jun 20, 2013 7:06am BST
TOKYO, June 20 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average fell
on Thursday as weak China data further unsettled markets coming
to grips with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's
confirmation that the U.S. central bank could trim its
bond-buying programme later this year.

The benchmark Nikkei ended 1.7 percent lower at
13,014.58 points, retreating from a one-week high of 13,245.22
hit on Wednesday. It dipped below the 13,000 mark several times
during the session.

The broader Topix shed 1.3 percent to 1,091.81.

French Flash Manufacturing PMI 48.3 47.1 46.4

French Flash Services PMI 46.5 45.0 44.3

CHF Libor Rate <0.25% <0.25% <0.25%

German Flash Manufacturing PMI 48.7 49.9 49.4

German Flash Services PMI 51.3 50.1 49.7

FTSE100 sharply lower in early deals with Lloyds sole gainer

EUR Flash Manufacturing PMI 48.7 48.6 48.3

EUR Flash Services PMI 48.6 47.7 47.2

GBP Retail Sales m/m 2.1% 0.8% -1.1%

Spanish 10-y Bond Auction 4.77|1.8 4.52|2.5

GBP CBI Industrial Order Expectations -18 -15 -20

FTSE 100 a sea of red at midday on QE tapering fears

USD Unemployment Claims 354K 343K 336K

EUR Consumer Confidence -19 -22 -22

USD Existing Home Sales 5.18M 5.01M 4.97M

USD Philly Fed Manufacturing Index 12.5 -0.6 -5.2

USD CB Leading Index m/m 0.1% 0.2% 0.8%


In case you hadn't noticed :- FTSE hits five month-low after Fed plans stimulus slowdown

LONDON | Thu Jun 20, 2013 3:32pm BST
(Reuters) - The FTSE slid to five-month lows on Thursday, led by miners after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it planned to slow its stimulus programme later this year and Chinese data suggested growth there was waning.

FTSE 100 ends sharply lower as tapering threat weighs