Page 174 - Rep News Today

Kenya's shilling held its ground against the dollar on Friday, as traders were cautious before the introduction of oil import deals that should ease persistent FX demand from fuel marketers.

The South African rand weakened against a stronger dollar early on Friday, ahead of the release of budget and trade data that could indicate the health of Africa's most industrialised economy.

Asian stocks rose on Friday as strong corporate earnings lifted sentiment despite lingering worries over economic weakness, while the yen dipped after the Bank of Japan kept rates ultra-low even as it announced a broad review of monetary policy.

Meetings at the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and Australia's central bank top the agenda, while megacap Apple brings the U.S. earnings season to an end, as markets work through fresh banking tremors.

US consumer spending was unchanged in March as an increase in outlays on services was offset by a decline goods.

Canada's main stock index edged higher at open on Friday, extending its gains from the previous session, on support from energy and industrial stocks, while shares of Imperial Oil dropped after the quarterly results.

The death of Silicon Valley Bank is a whodunnit with many perpetrators, according to a review conducted by the Federal Reserve and released on April 28. So many, in fact, that the report makes it hard to point the blame anywhere in particular.

The Czech National Bank (CNB) is likely to maintain policy stability and keep its key interest rate at a more than two-decade high of 7.00% on Wednesday, a Reuters poll showed, with expectations still leaning toward a cut in the third quarter.

Exxon Mobil burned brighter in the first quarter, thanks to the Permian Basin and Guyana. The $485 billion oil giant earned $11.4 billion, or twice as much as it did the same period a year ago. Moreover, while the firm continued to shower its investors with cash, sending them $8.1 billion, the company also increased production to 3.8 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, a 4% rise from a year ago.

U.S. regulators on Friday put large banks on notice that tougher oversight is coming, after the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp issued detailed reports on what went wrong and where their supervisors came up short in the run-up to the two biggest bank failures since the Great Financial Crisis.