End of day report March 23rd

HIGHLIGHTS

- BoE votes 7-2 (exp. 6-3) to lift its Bank Rate by 25bps to 4.25%, as expected; maintains guidance that if there were evidence of more persistent pressures, further tightening would be required
- ECB's Knot said ECB is unlikely to be done with rate hikes, thinks we need a hike in May but the size is uncertain
- Credit Suisse on the AT1 write down says for two series of securities accrued and unpaid interest is payable under terms and conditions, for 11 securities, no accrued and unpaid interest is payable
- Moody’s sees risk that U.S. banking ‘turmoil’ can’t be contained

SUMMARY

Bank stocks took a hit after Moody's put out a piece that there is a risk that the banking turmoil cannot be contained, which wiped out all the gains made earlier on the S&P...we have since stabilized after Treasury Sec Janet Yellen commented that "we are prepared for additional deposit actions if warranted; strong actions have been taken to ensure deposits are safe". This shows that clearly, things are not quite right and that we will only return to calm as long as nobody takes a peek under the hood....