Banks, Central Bank | featured news

Britain is pushing for changes to a proposed euro zone banking union to dilute the power of the European Central Bank, EU officials said, potentially hampering efforts to build the infrastructure urgently needed to underpin the euro.

China's economy hasn't shown any signs of rebounding in the third quarter, and domestic investment is unlikely to expand dramatically in the short term, a central bank adviser said.

The Federal Reserve, hoping to give another shot in the arm to the pallid recovery, announced it would launch a new round of a controversial bond-buying stimulus program. The central bank also further extended its pledge to keep short-term interest rates near zero, now through the middle of 2015.

Stocks edged slightly higher on Thursday, up for a fifth session, on better-than-expected jobless claims and trade data in the United States and hopes of further stimulus action from China's central bank.

Financial markets will still be waiting to see whether the bank’s president, Mario Draghi, has other moves in mind.

Central bankers and regulators will hold talks in September on whether the troubled global Libor interest rate can be reformed or whether it is so damaged that the benchmark of borrowing costs should be scrapped.

The central bank also said it would maintain its program of low-interest lending to euro-zone banks through the end of the year.

The European Commission will propose far-reaching powers for regulators to deal with failing banks on Wednesday, a step towards the banking union the European Central Bank has demanded to secure the euro's future.

China's central bank cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves on Saturday, freeing an estimated 400 billion yuan ($63.5 billion) for lending to head-off the risk of a sudden slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

China loosens its currency controls in a move that may spur gains in the value of the yuan. From Monday, the yuan can fluctuate up to 1% in trading against the US dollar from a fixed price set by the central bank, the People's Bank of China said.