Morning Briefing: Banks in focus, oil gains

Banks in focus, oil gains

Banks, central and otherwise, are key factors in the markets Thursday.

Comments made by central bankers in Canada, Europe and the UK are among those in focus for their more hawkish overtones. Interest rate rises are now looking more likely after almost a decade of the low-rate environment.

Asian indexes closed mostly higher with a stronger lead from Wall Street, the central banks, and regional data all boosting sentiment.

Oil prices were up again overnight and there is also great interest in buyback plans announced by 34 major US banks and approved by the Fed.

European indexes are trending lower with London looking better. UK mortgage approvals jumped in May, outstripping expectations. Eurozone business consumer confidence have also gained but the bloc’s inflation figures are keenly awaited.

Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open flat. US GDP data is due.
 

	Latest	1 month ago	1 year ago
North America (previous session)
US Dow Jones	21,454.61 (+0.68 per cent)	+1.78 per cent	+21.25 per cent
TSX Composite	15,355.58 (+0.49 per cent)	-0.43 per cent	+9.40 per cent
Europe (at 5.00am ET)
UK FTSE	7,413.42 (+0.35 per cent)	-1.78 per cent	+16.56 per cent
German DAX	12,646.00 (-0.01 per cent)	+0.14 per cent	+31.56 per cent
Asia (at close)
China CSI 300	3,668.83 (+0.62 per cent)	+5.41 per cent	+16.42 per cent
Japan Nikkei	20,220.30 (+0.45 per cent)	+2.73 per cent	+29.89 per cent
Other Data (at 5.00am ET)
Oil (Brent)	Oil (WTI)	Gold	Can. Dollar
47.49 (+0.36 per cent)	44.97 (+0.51 per cent)	1246.70 (-0.19 per cent)	U$0.7671
			Aus. Dollar
			U$0.7675

Fed is weaker on banks says former official

Capital requirements for major US banks have softened according to a previous stress tester for the Chicago Fed.

Carl Tannerbaum, now chief economist at Northern Trust, told CNBC that the Fed’s approval of the capital plans of 34 banks shows how things have changed recently, including the economy.

"The banks have built up a great deal of capital since the crisis and that's provided a great buffer that separates the shareholders from the public … So banks are in a very good position to begin returning some of that capital to shareholders," he told CNBC.