Global markets were mixed overnight as US markets moved between small gains & losses.
The big news across Australasia yesterday related to the bank stocks which rallied when the Reserve Bank's new capital adequacy rules weren’t as harsh as some investors feared.
The Reserve Bank granted a longer transition period for lenders to adapt to new rules requiring them to hold more capital, and also stepped back from demanding all the extra capital be equity. While the RBNZ confirmed it will require Australia’s major banks to lift their ‘tier 1’ capital ratios to 16%, it increased the implementation period by two years to seven years and expanded the balance sheet items that would qualify.
ANZ – New Zealand’s biggest lender – said it would need to retain $1.5 billion of local profit...
