Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Tuesday, weighed down by industrial and financial stocks, after the central bank kept its key interest rates unchanged and said the economy is expected to have contracted by around 3.9% for the full year 2020.
By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
LONDON (Reuters) - Nearly 90% of respondents in Deutsche Bank’s monthly investor survey said financial markets now had a number of price bubbles, with cryptocurrency Bitcoin and U.S. tech stocks top of the list.
When asked specifically about the 12-month fate of Bitcoin which surged 300% last year, and electric vehicle maker Tesla which soared nearly 750%, a majority of respondents said they were now more likely to halve than double in value.
The study also showed that 71% of the 627 market professionals surveyed did not think the U.S. Federal Reserve would start tapering dialling down its stimulus before the end of the year.
By Reuters Staff
(Adds comments on spending priorities, tax policy)
WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Janet Yellen, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, urged lawmakers on Tuesday to “act big” on the next coronavirus relief package, adding that the benefits outweigh the costs of a higher debt burden.
Yellen said her task as Treasury chief will be to help Americans endure the final months of the coronavirus pandemic, and rebuilding the U.S. economy “so that it creates more prosperity for more people and ensures that American workers can compete in an increasingly competitive global economy.”
Biden, who will be sworn into office on Wednesday, outlined a $1.9 trillion stimulus package proposal last week, saying bold investment was needed to jump-start the economy and accelerate the distribution of vaccines to bring the virus under control.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were slightly lower on Monday, as a softening U.S. economic outlook turned investors cautious even as data showed China's economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in the fourth quarter of last year.