* Chinese leader Xi meeting with Russia’s Putin today in Moscow
* Central banks say they will boost liquidity to tamp down bank-crisis risk
* UBS is buying Credit Suisse in effort to tame risk of banking crisis
* S&P downgrades First Republic’s credit rating deeper into junk status
* US lawmakers will review merits of higher FDIC bank deposit insurance cap
* Lending to small firms and individuals expected to fall in wake of bank turmoil
* Gold rallies to 11-month high:

Nearly 190 banks are vulnerable to failure, warns a new study. The risk factor is the sharp rise in interest rates, which has eroded the value assets held at banks. “The recent declines in bank asset values very significantly increased the fragility of the U.S. banking system to uninsured depositor runs,” advise economists in a paper dated March, 13, 2023. “Our calculations suggest these banks are certainly at a potential risk of a run, absent other government intervention or recapitalization.”