DEVELOPMENTS
* The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by
a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday, a decision that
will land amid a brewing political storm over the U.S. central
bank's oversight of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank.
* What Fed Chair Jerome Powell says at his 1830 GMT news
conference, 30 minutes after the rate announcement, could
determine if the recent calm in banking stocks and other
financial assets holds.
* Money markets see a 93% chance the Bank of England will
raise rates by 50 basis points when it meets on Thursday, up
from around 57% on Tuesday, after inflation unexpectedly rose to
10.4% in February from January's 10.1%.
* The CEO of hedge fund Man Group said the crisis in
the banking sector was not over and that a significant number of
banks will fail within two years, with smaller and regional U.S.
lenders and challenger banks in Britain at most risk.
* The CFOs of major energy traders Trafigura, Vitol, Gunvor,
Mercuria and Castleton said they did not expect a significant
hit to commodities finance, particularly as commodity prices
have dropped.
* Spain's central bank warned that uncertainty about the
strength of the global financial system was likely to weigh on
economic growth, although it could also potentially help ease
inflationary pressures.
* Germany's economic council said inflation could remain
high for longer or even pick up again if financial market
worries prevent central banks from raising interest rates.
* The European Central Bank will watch for signs of stress
in bank lending from the ongoing financial turmoil but a
full-blown crisis is unlikely for now, the ECB's top brass said.
* ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane said market jitters could
be "a non-event" for monetary policy, or affect it at the
margins, but that a full-blown crisis is "pretty much a tail
scenario at this point in time."
* The ECB has found nothing to warrant concerns about the
stability of euro zone banks, Belgian central bank chief Pierre
Wunsch said.
MARKET REACTION
* World stocks hit their highest in almost two weeks.
* Wall Street's opening was muted
ANALYSIS
* Market turmoil is doing central bankers' jobs for them
QUOTES
* "I think we will have significantly more banks that don't
exist in 12-24 months," said Man Group CEO Luke Ellis.
* "We've been torturing the data in all directions and honestly, what we see is no problem. "Even if banks would have to sell all of their obligations and take the losses, they would still have enough capital," ECB policymaker Pierre Wunsch said. (Compiled by Reuters editors)
