GLOBAL NEWS-
British Prime Minister Theresa May wrote to European Council President Donald Tusk on Friday asking to delay Brexit until June 30 to allow divided British lawmakers to agree a withdrawal deal.“The United Kingdom proposes that this period should end on 30 June 2019,” May said in the letter.May said that if an agreement was reached before this date, then Britain proposed that the extension should be ended early.“The government will want to agree a timetable for ratification that allows the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union before 23 May 2019 and therefore cancel the European Parliament elections, but will continue to make responsible preparations to hold the elections should this not prove possible,” she said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States and China were close to a trade deal that could be announced within four weeks, while warning Beijing that it would be difficult to allow trade to continue without a pact.The two countries are engaged in intense negotiations to end a months-long trade war that has rattled global markets, but hopes of a resolution soared after both sides expressed optimism following talks in Beijing last week.Speaking to reporters at the White House at the start of a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, Trump said some of the tougher points of a deal had been agreed but there were still differences to be bridged.
The US and China are nearing an agreement to end their trade war and could reach one in four weeks, said President Donald Trump, as Chinese President Xi Jinping urged a quick end to negotiations.US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a trade deal with China getting very close and could be reached in about four weeks, but he is sticking to the points included tariffs and intellectual property theft.
Saudi Arabia is threatening to sell its oil in currencies other than the dollar if Washington passes a bill exposing OPEC members to U.S. antitrust lawsuits, three sources familiar with Saudi energy policy said.They said the option had been discussed internally by senior Saudi energy officials in recent months. Two of the sources said the plan had been discussed with OPEC members and one source briefed on Saudi oil policy said Riyadh had also communicated the threat to senior U.S. energy officials.The chances of the U.S. bill known as NOPEC coming into force are slim and Saudi Arabia would be unlikely to follow through, but the fact Riyadh is considering such a drastic step is a sign of the kingdom’s annoyance about potential U.S. legal challenges to OPEC.
In the unlikely event Riyadh were to ditch the dollar, it would undermine its status as the world’s main reserve currency, reduce Washington’s clout in global trade and weaken its ability to enforce sanctions on nation states.“The Saudis know they have the dollar as the nuclear option,” one of the sources familiar with the matter said.“The Saudis say: let the Americans pass NOPEC and it would be the U.S. economy that would fall apart.
German industrial output rose in February on stronger construction and capital goods production in positive news for Europe’s largest economy, which is suffering from trade friction and Brexit angst after narrowly avoiding recession last year.Industrial output rose by 0.7 percent on the month, compared to a forecast 0.5 percent increase, data from the Statistics Office showed on Friday. January’s reading was revised up to 0.0 percent from a previously reported contraction of 0.8 percent.On Thursday, Germany’s leading economic institutes slashed their forecasts for 2019 growth by more than half and warned that the economy could slow much more if Britain quits the European Union without an agreement.
The European Central Bank will delay any interest rate hikes further into next year than previously thought as euro zone economic growth and inflation prospects have dimmed, economists showed.That change comes only a few months after the central bank shut its monthly asset purchases, known as quantitative easing (QE), and March’s offer of new long-term loans, or TLTROs, to start in September.It is not very different elsewhere in the world, with growth in most major economies predicted to slow and central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, expected to hold off on policy tightening.The ECB is already on its longest break from changing rates and this week’s poll of more than 80 economists showed the central bank will delay any tightening even further.
Asian share markets consolidated their weekly gains on Friday as Sino-U.S. talks produced a lot of headlines but no conclusions, while caution ahead of U.S. payrolls and a holiday in China dampened volatility.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.1 percent but was only just off its highest since the end of August. The index was still up 1.8 percent for the week and 13 percent for the year so far.Japan’s Nikkei added 0.3 percent, to be 2.8 percent firmer for the week. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 edged up 0.1 percent.
Gold slipped on Friday, but was trading above the 10-week low touched in the previous session, as the dollar rose against the yen on signs of progress in the U.S.-China trade dispute and strong U.S. economic data.Investors are now awaiting the U.S. jobs numbers for more signals on the strength of the economy.Spot gold slipped 0.3 percent to $1,288.75 per ounce by 0540 GMT, after touching its lowest since Jan. 25 at $1,280.59 in the previous session. The metal was down about 0.2 percent so far this week.
Oil prices fell on Friday, with Brent slipping away from the $70 mark reached the previous day, pulled down by worries about progress in the U.S.-China trade talks.International benchmark Brent futures dropped 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $69.25 a barrel by 0455 GMT, having touched $70.03 in the previous session, the highest since Nov. 12.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 1 cent at $62.09. The contract fell 36 cents in the previous session, having hit $62.99 on Wednesday, its highest since Nov 7.