Britain is looking at whether to launch a "digital pound". The Bank of England (BOE) and the UK Treasury are exploring a potential national digital currency, amid a groundswell of interest in digital markets. The pair announced the creation of a new taskforce on Monday that will coordinate work on a possible "Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)."The Bank of England said any CBDC would be a new form of digital money that could be used by both households and businesses. It would exist alongside cash and bank deposits, rather than replacing them.

With stocks at all-time highs, one of Wall Street's biggest bulls is taking his optimism up a notch.Federated Hermes' Phil Orlando believes the S&P 500 could hit his year-end price target of 4,500 by July, which implies about an 8% gain from current levels."At the pace the economy is growing and earnings are growing, you know we might get there earlier," the firm's chief equity market strategist told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Friday.Last week, Orlando's firm upgraded its GDP forecast to 6.4% for the year, citing the positive impact stemming from President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package. Federated came into the year with a 6.1% forecast."If we're right with our 6.4% estimate, that's going to be the strongest full-year GDP growth since 1984. We posted a 7.2% rate," said Orlando.

The Australian Dollar is trading nearly flat on Monday after clawing back earlier losses. The weakness after the opening was fueled by follow-through selling after Friday’s weak close. The price action the last two sessions is basically mirroring the movement in U.S. Treasury yields and the U.S. Dollar as both try to stabilize following steep drops the past two weeks.At 06:06 GMT, the AUD/USD is trading .7734, unchanged.

* Euro zone periphery govt bond yields http://tmsnrt.rs/2ii2BqrBy Dhara RanasingheLONDON, April 19 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond yields were broadly steady on Monday, with markets largely on hold ahead of this week's European Central Bank meeting.New supply, estimated at over 30 billion euros ($36 billion) this year and above the average for the year so far according to Commerzbank, could put some upward pressure on yields.

LONDON — Britain is the latest country to join a global race toward central bank digital currencies."We're launching a new taskforce between the Treasury and the Bank of England to coordinate exploratory work on a potential central bank digital currency," U.K. Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said at a fintech industry conference on Monday.In a separate statement, the Bank of England said such a currency would be a "new form of digital money issued by the Bank of England and for use by households and businesses" that exists alongside cash and bank deposits rather than replacing them.The U.K. government hasn't yet decided whether to introduce a digital version of the British pound, but said it would explore the "objectives, use cases, opportunities and risks" involved if it were to proceed. The Bank of England will also set up a unit within the institution dedicated to exploring a central bank digital currency.

EUR/USD Video 19.04.21.EUR/USD has recently made an attempt to settle below the support at 1.1965 but failed to develop sufficient downside momentum while the U.S. dollar remained under pressure against a broad basket of currencies.The U.S. Dollar Index is currently testing the nearest support level which is located at 91.50. In case the U.S. Dollar Index settles below this level, it will move towards the next support at 91.30 which will be bullish for EUR/USD.

U.S. stock index futures declined in overnight trading on Sunday, after the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at record highs on Friday.Futures contracts tied to the Dow slid 69 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures were 0.34% lower.Stocks are coming off a week of gains as earnings topped estimates and strong economic data lifted the major averages. The S&P and Dow advanced 1.38% and 1.18% last week respectively for their fourth straight week of gains, while the Nasdaq Composite posted its third positive week in a row.Earnings season kicked off last week when the major banks reported quarterly results, and a host of companies are set to provide their updates this week. Ten Dow components will report, along with 72 S&P 500 companies.

The New Zealand Dollar is inching lower early Monday, following through to the downside after Friday’s weak close. A stagnant U.S. Treasury market, the lack of fresh economic data and profit-taking are likely behind today selling pressure. Some traders also feel that last week’s surge to the upside was a little overextended given that the U.S. economy is in a position to outperform the New Zealand economy at least over the near-term.

Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:Peloton (PTON) – Peloton is calling a new advisory from the Consumer Product Safety Commission "inaccurate and misleading," saying its treadmills are safe when safety recommendations are followed. The CPSC said that consumers with young children or pets should stop using the treadmills after its investigation of the death of a child turned up dozens of instances of injuries. The stock tumbled 6.7% in premarket trading.Coca-Cola (KO) – Coca-Cola reported quarterly profit of 55 cents per share, beating estimates by 5 cents a share. Revenue also came in above Wall Street forecasts and operating margins improved from a year earlier. The beat came despite continued pressure in sales away from the home due to the pandemic.

The Euro is edging lower early Monday as investors prepare for Thursday’s European Central Bank interest rate and monetary policy announcements and Friday’s important Euro Zone PMI reports. Later today, investors will get the opportunity to react to the latest Euro Zone Current Account and German Buba Monthly reports.At 04:35 GMT, the EUR/USD is trading 1.1958, down 0.0024 or -0.20%.According to the Financial Times, “When ECB policymakers meet on Thursday, they will be painfully aware that the Eurozone economy is still being held back by lockdowns to tackle rising coronavirus infections while the U.S., China and the U.K. are reopening and rebounding faster.”

Cryptocurrency prices stabilised on Monday morning, after a wild weekend of selling that saw some tokens plunge by as much as 13%. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was up 0.4% to trade at $57,288 in London on Monday morning. Meanwhile, ethereum (ETH-USD), the second largest cryptocurrency, was up about 1.2% to trade at $2263.41. Ripple (XRP-USD) had bounced by 9.2% to trade at $5.119.Over the weekend, alarm bells sounded in crypto markets following reports that the US Treasury was planning to censure financial institutions for money laundering carried out through digital assets.

Online travel agency Trip.com made a strong debut in Hong Kong on Monday, with shares rising more than 4% from their issue price in afternoon trade.The China-based company now joins other U.S.-listed Chinese tech heavyweights such as Alibaba, JD.com and Baidu that have returned closer to home via secondary offerings in Hong Kong. It priced its initial public offering at 268 Hong Kong dollars per share, and raised 8,478 million Hong Kong dollars ($1.09 billion) assuming the over allotment option is not exercised.The secondary listing comes as Chinese tech companies continue to face the threat of being delisted in the U.S., clouding investor sentiment.James Liang, executive chairman of Trip.com Group, told CNBC the "main reason" for the company's secondary listing in Hong Kong was to make it more convenient for global investors in Asia and China to trade its stock.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Large euro zone banks have been underreporting their risky assets by 275 billion euros by using their own models to quantify potential losses, the European Central Bank said on Monday.Since the 2008 financial crisis, regulators around the world have been picking apart the internal models that large banks use to calculate how much risk is on their balance sheet and, in turn, how much capital they need.

GameStop rallied on Monday after the brick-and-mortar video game retailer announced its succession plan as it seeks to pivot to e-commerce following a historic Reddit-fueled short squeeze earlier this year.Shares of GameStop jumped more than 8% in early trading, set to open at around $167.The company said Monday Chief Executive Officer George Sherman will be stepping down on July 31 or earlier upon the appointment of a successor. The board is leading a search to identify CEO candidates with the capabilities and experience to help accelerate the next phase of the company's transformation, GameStop said in a statement.While GameStop shares have come way off its record high of $483 in January, the stock is still up a whopping 720% for 2021. To take advantage of the massive rally, GameStop announced a $1 billion stock sale at the beginning of April to accelerate its e-commerce transition led by activist investor and board member Ryan Cohen, who is Chewy's co-founder.

Cost cutting at HSBC means top brass will now be rubbing shoulders with their subordinates.HSBC (HSBA.L) has moved to scrap the executive floor at its Canary Wharf headquarters, instead repurposing the private offices for client meeting rooms and collaboration spaces.Top bosses including chief executive Noel Quinn will now hot desk in an open-plan space two floors below, according to a report in the Financial Times.

A growing number of British businesses have voiced concerns over rising inflation as the balance of manufacturers expecting price increases climbs to a four-year high. New research by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) shows two in five businesses (38%) in the first quarter of 2021 expect to see price rises in the next three months. This is an increase from 25% in the previous quarter. In contrast, of the 5,800 respondents, only 5% of companies are anticipating a decrease.

The Dollar/Yen is trading lower early Monday after failing to confirm the previous session’s closing price reversal bottom. The move has put the Forex pair within striking distance of a change in trend.Lower Treasury yields and the lack of fresh economic news is behind today’s early weakness. The price action also suggests that investors believe the Fed’s assessment of the economy in that any surge in inflation is likely to be “transitory” and therefore, rates are going to remain at historically low levels.

In this articleSINGAPORE — Singapore's largest bank DBS Group Holdings said it's not practical to cut off clients with coal exposure in the short term.DBS on Friday announced that it aims to eliminate thermal coal exposure by 2039.To get there, DBS will cease taking on new clients that derive more than 25% of their revenue from thermal coal with immediate effect. And from January 2026, the bank will stop financing clients with more than 50% of their revenue from thermal coal — except for their non-thermal coal or renewable energy activities.Explaining the 50% threshold, DBS Chief Executive Piyush Gupta cited how it's "impossible" to expect energy majors BP, Exxon Mobil and Shell to reduce their oil business significantly in the next five years.

LONDON — British digital bank Starling has raised £50 million ($69 million) in funding from Goldman Sachs.The fresh cash comes on top of a £272 million investment round Starling announced last month that valued the online lender at £1.1 billion. The deal with Goldman is still subject to regulatory approval."Securing the support of another global financial heavyweight demonstrates the strength of demand from investors and represents yet another vote of confidence in Starling," said Starling CEO and founder Anne Boden.Starling is one of the U.K.'s biggest neobanks, a term used to describe the wave of fintech start-ups founded in the last decade with the aim of taking on the incumbent banks with branchless banking. It has more than £6 billion in deposits — up from £1 billion just over a year ago.

The Australian and New Zealand Dollars broke out of a tight range to hit three-week highs last week as their U.S. counterpart extended its broad retreat and upbeat data suggested the Australian economy had grown strongly last quarter. The Kiwi just went along for the ride as a dovish central bank and business survey pointed toward a weak economy. On Friday, both currencies suffered small losses as traders squared positions ahead of the weekend.

It was a relatively busy start to the day on the economic calendar this morning. The Japanese Yen was in action this morning. Later this morning, finalized industrial production figures from Japan are also due out. Barring a marked revision from prelim figures, however, the numbers should have a muted impact on the Yen and the broader market.Trade data was in focus this morning.In March, the trade surplus widened from ¥215.9bn to ¥663.7bn. Economists had forecast a widening to ¥490.0bn.

This is a very powerful rally. The combination of surprisingly strong economic reports and even more surprisingly strong earnings reports is pushing broad swaths of the U.S. stock market to new highs.Even the technicians are impressed."The vast majority of NYSE stocks are in intermediate-term uptrends, independent of short-term pullbacks and volatility," Michael N. Kahn of Lowry Research, the oldest technical analysis service in the U.S., wrote in a note to clients.Of course, the market hit new highs in January and February, but this, time it's different. Previous new highs in January and February were greeted with some hand-wringing: it was mostly big-cap tech stocks that were forcing the markets higher.

GBP/USD Video 19.04.21.GBP/USD is currently trying to settle above the resistance at 1.3865 while the U.S. dollar is losing some ground against a broad basket of currencies.The U.S. Dollar Index has recently made an attempt to get to the test of the nearest resistance level at the 50 EMA at 91.80 but failed to develop sufficient upside momentum and pulled back closer to the support at 91.50. A successful test of this support level will push the U.S. Dollar Index towards the next support at 91.30 which will be bullish for GBP/USD.

AUD/USD Video 19.04.21.AUD/USD continues its attempts to settle above the resistance at 0.7750 while the U.S. dollar is losing ground against a broad basket of currencies.The U.S. Dollar Index has recently managed to get below the support at 91.50 and is trying to settle below the next support level at 91.30. If the U.S. Dollar Index settles below this level, it will head towards the next support at the 91 level which will be bullish for AUD/USD.