Thursday newspaper round-up: FOMC minutes, Glencore/Rio Tinto, Greece
Minutes from the latest FOMC meeting released on Wednesday showed that policymakers were split several ways over when to start tightening monetary policy, the Financial Times said. Some suggested a hike as soon as June, while others preferred waiting until later this year or into 2016.
Australian treasurer Joe Hockey has said he would block a potential takeover of Rio Tinto by Glencore because Australia would lose too much tax revenue if the deal went through, writes The Times.
Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Greece has not asked Russia for financial aid following a meeting with Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras in Moscow, The Guardian said. However, he did say that Russia is willing to talk about investing in projects in Greece.
The Hang Seng Index surpassed 27,000 for the first time since January 2008 on Thursday, rising as much as 6.8%, as investors from mainland China poured in, reports the Financial Times. "Trading volumes in the first half-hour were 400 per cent higher than the 30-day average as retail investors from mainland China’s market piled in via the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect," the paper said.
The British Chambers of Commerce quarterly economic survey found "somewhat weaker" activity in most areas of the UK economy in the first three months of the year, according to The Scotsman.
"Takeovers are booming as companies gain more confidence about the economy, use stockpiles of cash to reach for future growth and get boosts from low interest rates and the surging stock market," The Wall Street Journal writes. At the current pace, M&A volumes for the full year would top $3.7trn, making it the second-biggest year in history after 2007.
A Bank of England survey has showed that risky mortgages are back on the rise, with loans worth more than 90% of the property's value rising for the first time in nine months, write The Telegraph.
New car registrations reached a 16-year high in March, reports The Times, with numbers rising 6% year-on-year to 492,774.