• Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said policymakers are “going to be patient and watching, and waiting and seeing” before adjusting interest rates again.
• Still, the bank is intent on cashing in on maturing debt rather than re-investing it to attain a “substantially smaller” balance sheet, he said.
• Analysts now see the once widely expected March rate hike as off the table with numerous Fed speakers increasing their dovish tones.

(Source: Bloomberg)

• According to Fitch, the Colombian peso (COP) is expected to appreciate modestly in the coming months as oil prices trend higher and real GDP growth picks up.
• Over the longer term, the peso will likely trade sideways as higher energy prices and a narrowing real interest rate differential with the US offset one another.
• Fitch has revised their 2019 average forecast to COP3,172.9/USD, from COP3,010.9/USD previously. 

(Source: Fitch

• Total U.S. debt is about $21.9 trillion, of which $16 trillion is owed by the public. The sustained annual U.S. deficit is now believed to be more than $1 trillion.
• “I’m very worried about it,” Fed Powell said Thursday. “It’s a long-run issue that we definitely need to face, and ultimately, will have no choice but to face.”
• In part because of continued rate increases under Powell, the interest cost on that debt could start to become a bigger and bigger burden. 

(Source: CNBC)

• Receives Tenders for 97.9% of 8.250% Senior Notes due 2020 and 97.9% of 7.125% Senior Notes due 2022

(Source: PR Newswire)

• Yesterday’s trading session ended with more losers than winners with 50 stocks trading of which 18 advanced, 20 declined and 12 traded firm.

• All major indices experienced marginal declines, except for the Junior Market Index which advanced slightly (+0.64%) to close at 3,242.41.

• Interestingly, Indies Pharma dominated trading for the second time this week with over 23.2Mn units changing hands, representing 88.04% of Wednesday’s volumes. Remarkably, the stock traded firm, closing the day at $3.20 per share.

• INDIES also dominated trading on Monday with over 92.7Mn units traded or 97.17% of the day’s volumes.  Notably, only a few shareholders hold that many shares outside the founders.

• Meanwhile, Junior Market newbie, Fontana saw some action for the first time on its second day of listing, with 162 shares changing hands at a price of $3.17 per share, closing the day at with a 68.6% gain on its IPO price of $1.88.

(Source: JSE, NCBCM Research)

• Fitch forecast real GDP growth in Haiti will reach 2.4% in 2019 and 2.0% in 2020.
• Beyond agriculture and commerce, the textile industry will remain a key driver of growth, underpinning formal employment and exports.
• Domestic political instability and uncertainty over US policies will undermine investment and limit long-term growth potential.

(Source: Fitch)

• Yesterday’s meeting between President Donald Trump and Congressional Democrat leaders produced no progress towards resolving the government shutdown as talks collapsed soon after they began.
• Trump, who walked out of the discussion yesterday, is traveling to the Mexican border today to rally support for his stance on the wall. Barring a last-minute change of heart by either side, 800,000 federal workers will miss their paychecks tomorrow.
• Republicans in Congress may be starting to lose patience with the president’s position as they hold their own meetings in an attempt to find a solution to the impasse.

(Source: Bloomberg)

• Theresa May lost a vote in parliament yesterday which means she will have to quickly present her plan for what to do if she, as expected, loses a vote on the Brexit deal agreed with the European Union next week.
• With control starting to slip from the hands of the British Prime Minister, some now see a lower chance of a so-called “hard Brexit” on March 29.
• Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz became the first European Union leader to suggest that an extension to the deadline for the British withdrawal now needs to be considered.

(Source: Bloomberg)

• Knutsford Express Services Limited (KEX) has advised that the Company has successfully raised $150M via a private bond to fund expansion plans locally and overseas including the acquisition of a small bus charter company in Florida.
• KEX traded at a price of $12.50 per share at the close of yesterday’s trading session with gains of over 8.7% over the last month. 
• At its current price, KEX trades at a P/E of 29.76 which is above its Junior Market sector peer average of 22.09x.

(Source: JSE Website, NCBCM Research)

• At the end of December 2018, The Bank of Jamaica’s Net International Reserves (NIR) stood at US$3,005.41Mn (+3.7% or US$106.91Mn), which translates to   32.80 (+0.99) weeks of Goods Imports or 19.47 (+0.59) weeks of Good and Services Imports.

• The improvement in the BOJ’s NIR was primarily due to fact that it increased its holdings of Foreign Assets while keeping its Foreign Liabilities relatively constant.

• In particular, the Bank held Currency & Deposits of US$2,960.02Mn at the end of December 2018, representing an increase of US$100.29Mn when compared with the US$2,859.73 reported the previous month.

• On the other hand, amounts owed to the IMF, which was the Banks’ only liability item, increased marginally from US$526.07Mn at the end of November 2018 to US$526.63 at the end of December 2018.

(Source: BOJ)