European Midday Briefing : Fed Rate Path Worries -2-

The South African lender made a net profit for the year ended Dec. 31 of 34.64 billion South African Rand ($1.86 billion) compared with ZAR24.87 billion.

City of London exodus: Top lawyer to lead U.K. review into paucity of research

The U.K. government has appointed a senior lawyer to investigate how Britain can encourage companies to list on the country's stock market and halt a growing exodus that some fear is threatening the City of London's status as one of the world's top financial centers.

Rachel Kent, a senior partner at law firm Hogan Lovells, will begin a review on Monday as part of the government's 'Edinburgh Reforms' designed to boost investment by reducing regulation.

U.S., EU to Start Trade Negotiations on Minerals

The U.S. and European Union are moving forward with crafting a trade agreement focused on critical minerals, with President Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expected to discuss on Friday the plan to reduce their dependence on China.

As part of the White House meeting on Friday, the U.S. and EU are aiming to announce that they are starting negotiations on the terms of such a deal, according to U.S. and EU officials, though U.S. officials said an announcement would only come after consultation with Congress.

Ukraine Hit by One of Russia's Biggest Missile Barrages This Year

Russia fired dozens of missiles at Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine overnight, striking critical infrastructure in one of the biggest barrages this year as its forces continued to claw more territory in the east.

Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces, said Russia had launched 81 missiles of different varieties from air, land and sea, in addition to eight Iranian-made attack drones. Four of the drones and 34 cruise missiles were intercepted, Gen. Zaluzhny said.

Georgia Pulls Russia-Style Foreign-Agents Bill

Georgian lawmakers said they would withdraw proposed legislation labeling groups receiving funding from abroad as foreign agents, which critics said represented an authoritarian shift and threatened to derail the Black Sea republic's hopes of joining the European Union.

The move on Thursday came after thousands of Georgians took to the streets for two days running to demonstrate against the legislation, that the opposition said was inspired by a similar law in Russia that authorities have used to stymie independent media and nonprofit organizations. The legislation was set to go through two more readings after Parliament backed it earlier this week in a first reading.

U.S. Probes Whether Pro-Ukraine Group Had Role in Nord Stream Explosions

U.S. officials are investigating the possibility that a pro-Ukrainian group was responsible for last year's attack on the Nord Stream natural-gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, a senior U.S. official said, while Germany said its investigators have searched a ship in connection with the sabotage.

The assessment by U.S. intelligence that a pro-Ukrainian group could have been responsible isn't definitive, the senior official said. But it adds to the growing sense among investigators in the U.S. and Europe that neither Russian-government nor pro-Russian operatives were behind the sabotage.

GLOBAL NEWS

Markets on Edge Ahead of Jobs and Inflation Reports

U.S. financial markets are limping into a crucial period, with analysts warning about the potential for key economic releases to deliver a further blow to investors' early-year optimism.

Stocks and bonds have slipped recently ahead of reports on nonfarm employment on Friday and the consumer-price index on Tuesday. Investors are eagerly, and nervously, looking forward to those reports because of a string of data last month that suggested that the economy was much stronger, and inflation much higher, than most had previously thought.

Pro Take: Now Isn't Time to Change the Fed's 2% Inflation Target, Economists Say

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Capitol Hill this week confirmed the central bank remains committed to bringing inflation down to its 2% target, even as markets and some economists worry about the toll more interest-rate increases could take on the economy and jobs.

Some lawmakers have expressed concern as well. During Mr. Powell's congressional testimony Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) warned of big layoffs-perhaps two million job cuts-if the Fed cranks up interest rates this year to reach its stated 2% inflation goal. Other lawmakers questioned whether other moves by Washington, such as easing regulations for drilling for oil and natural gas, could help ease inflation.

China Property Sector Left in Limbo by Stalled Debt-Restructuring Talks

Chinese property developers are making little progress in negotiations with foreign bond investors, creating a $30 billion headache for an industry that is trying to return to health.

Dozens of the country's developers defaulted on their dollar bonds last year, amid a sharp slowdown in China's property sector. That has led to a series of difficult-and protracted-negotiations with overseas fund managers.

Fed's Jerome Powell Says Data Will Determine Size of Next Rate Increase

WASHINGTON-Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday officials were keeping their options open over how much to raise interest rates this month after investors interpreted his comments Tuesday to suggest a half-percentage-point increase was likely.

His comments over two days of congressional hearings show how the central bank is contemplating a shift in tactics to keep up with an economy showing surprising strength after a year of rate increases.

China's Inflation Rate Slows to One-Year Low, Casting Doubt on Recovery

HONG KONG-Inflationary pressures in the world's second-largest economy eased more than expected in February after a post-reopening spike, a sign of the limited boost from the lifting of strict "zero Covid" curbs for domestic demand.

Consumer prices gained 1% in February compared with a year earlier, slower than the 2.1% increase recorded in January, led by a deceleration in food-price increases, China's National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday. The result also undershot by a wide margin the 1.7% increase anticipated by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal and was the lowest reading since the 0.9% gain recorded in February 2022.

Japan Economy Grew at Slower Pace Than Initially Estimated in Fourth Quarter

TOKYO-Japan's economy expanded at a slower pace than initially estimated in the final quarter of 2022 due to weaker domestic demand, revised government data showed Thursday.

The world's third-largest economy after the U.S. and China grew 0.1% on an annualized basis, compared with 0.6% expansion in the preliminary estimate released in mid-February.

Japan Lower House Approves Kazuo Ueda as Next BOJ Governor

Japan's Lower House of Parliament on Thursday approved Kazuo Ueda to become the next Bank of Japan governor.

The term for current BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda is set to expire on April 8. Mr. Ueda is a former economics professor at the University of Tokyo who served on the BOJ's policy board from 1998 to 2005.

Platinum Is the New Precious Metal Darling. Why Palladium Lost Its Shine.

The platinum market is expected to tighten this year, with supply challenges and a pick-up in demand leading to a supply deficit for the first time in three years. That will boost prospects of a rise in prices.

Platinum is now more widely substituted for palladium in the production of emission-control catalytic converters, says Jeff Klearman, portfolio manager at GraniteShares, which runs the GraniteShares Platinum Trust (ticker: PLTM). Platinum is also essential for environmentally-friendly hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicles.

Biden Budget to Propose Saving Hundreds of Billions by Cutting Drug Prices, Fraud

WASHINGTON-President Biden's budget blueprint will lay out plans to save hundreds of billions of dollars by seeking to lower drug prices, raising some business taxes, cracking down on fraud and cutting spending he sees as wasteful, according to White House officials.

Mr. Biden is set to release his fiscal 2024 budget plan on Thursday. Administration officials said it would propose cutting federal budget deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade. The proposal is unlikely to gain momentum, with Republicans expected to oppose many of Mr. Biden's plans, and it will include some ideas that didn't become law while Democrats controlled the House and Senate. But the release of the budget will kick off monthslong spending negotiations with lawmakers.

South Korea, Japan to Hold First Two-Way Summit Talks in More Than a Decade

TOKYO-South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will visit Tokyo for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida next week, a resumption of two-way summit diplomacy after more than a decade as tensions with North Korea and China drive the U.S. allies to work more closely together.

The trip, announced by both sides on Thursday, comes after the South Korean government released a plan earlier this week for paying compensation to Koreans who were forced to work for Japanese companies during World War II. Under the plan, the companies themselves wouldn't have to pay.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-09-23 0552ET