US stocks retreat as energy shares decline with oil

US  stocks retreated as energy shares led losses amid a drop in oil prices. The S&P 500 slipped 0.7% to 1,927.11. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 153.49 points (0.9%) to 16,461.32.

Inflation shy of goal means Fed can keep rates low

The  cost  of  living  in  the  US  barely  rose  in  September,  restrained  by decelerating prices for a broad array of goods and services that signal the Fed  can  keep  interest  rates  low  well  into  2015.  The  CPI  climbed  0.1% mom  in  September  from  -0.2%  in  August,  the  Labor  Department  report showed. The median forecast of survey conducted by Bloomberg called for no change in CPI.

Carney’s BOE majority holds firm on heightened euro-area risks

Mark Carney’s majority at the BOE  hardened its view on interest rates this month, saying increased risks from the euro area mean it’s not yet time to begin  raising  borrowing  costs.  Minutes  of  the  MPC’s  October  meeting showed officials voted 7-2 to keep the benchmark rate at a record low  of 0.5%. The MPC said pessimism about the global economy had increased and  there  was  “mounting  evidence  of  a  loss  of  momentum  in  the  euro area.”  For  Carney’s  majority,  that “increased the  risks to  the  durability  of the UK expansion in the medium term.”

ECB said to expand covered bond purchases from Spain to Germany

The ECB  bought Spanish covered bonds in a third day of asset purchases that has seen it acquire notes from Italy to Germany,  adding to French and Portuguese  securities  it  bought.  The  ECB  entered  the  €2.6trn  covered bond  market  as  part  of  efforts  to  improve  companies’  and  households’ access to financing. While policy makers could embark on further stimulus after  purchasing  the  securities,  there’s  no  specific  plan  to  buy  corporate bonds, ECB Governing Council member Luc Coene said.

Russian central bank to weigh higher rates on inflation

Russia’s central bank, grappling with the fastest CPI growth in three years, may  “seriously”  weigh  raising  borrowing  costs  if  inflation  expectations remain high, First Deputy Chairman Sergei Shvetsov said. CPI jumped 8% in September after the Ukrainian conflict triggered a ruble selloff, the US and the EU  imposed sanctions and President Vladimir Putin retaliated with a  ban  on  a  range  of  food  imports.  Policy  makers  were  targeting  price growth at 5% this year after missing their goal of 5-6% in 2013.

Slower Australian inflation signals RBA to keep record-low rates

Australia’s  core  CPI  slowed  in  Q314  as  the  removal  of  a  carbon  tax  cut power bills, giving the central bank scope to keep record-low interest rates. The core CPI rose 0.4% in Q314 from a revised 0.7% increase in Q214, below the median forecast of a 0.5% gain. The overall CPI advanced 0.5% from,  compared  with  a  0.4%  median  estimate,  report  showed.  Policy makers have left rates at 2.5% for the past 14 months as they aim to steer a transition in the economy and extend 23 years of growth.

WTI falls as US inventories increase more than expected

WTI  crude fell to the lowest in more than two years after an US EIA report showed US  inventories increased more than forecast.  Brent for December settlement fell US$1.51 (1.8%) to US$84.71 a barrel.

Source: Bloomberg