GLOBAL NEWS:-
India has begun paying Iran for oil in rupees, a senior bank official said on Tuesday, the first such payments since the United States imposed new sanctions against Tehran in November.Washington gave a six-month waiver to eight countries, including India, allowing them to import some Iranian oil.India, the world’s third biggest oil importer, wants to continue buying oil from Iran as it offers free shipping and an extended credit period, while Iran will use the rupee funds to mostly pay for imports from India.
Asian shares climbed to a 3-1/2-week high on Wednesday, supported by growing optimism that the United States and China can strike a trade deal to avoid an all-out confrontation that would severely disrupt the global economy.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 1.5 percent to its highest level since Dec.14.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.3 percent, while China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite and the blue-chip CSI 300 rebounded 1.5 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.U.S. stock futures also firmed.Wall Street’s S&P 500 gained nearly 1 percent on Tuesday, extending its rebound from 20-month lows touched around Christmas to more than 9 percent.
The Australian dollar rose to a three-week high on Wednesday as speculation swirled that Beijing and Washington might be making progress in resolving their trade dispute, lifting Asian share markets and risk sentiment.
The talk helped offset disappointing domestic data on home building which suggested the sector would be a drag on the economy in 2019 after several years of strength.The Aussie dollar AUD=D3 still edged up 0.3 percent to $0.7162, snapping resistance at $0.7150 and on track for the next chart barrier at $0.7200.
China approved five genetically modified crops for import on Tuesday, the first in about 18 months, as representatives from the Asian country and the United States met in face-to-face talks to try to resolve trade disagreements.Five other products, whose makers are known to be seeking approval of, were not given the green light by China’s agriculture ministry, however.Some that were approved, including two canola varieties, had been waiting for six years.
Others, like DowDuPont Inc’s Enlist E3 soybeans, are more recent and were developed to challenge the historic dominance of Monsanto Co, now owned by Germany’s Bayer, of the $40 billion U.S. soybean market.U.S. farmers will not plant soybean seeds in large quantities unless they are approved by China, which until the trade war imported 60 percent of U.S. soybeans.
Trade talks between the United States and China will continue on Wednesday, U.S. delegation member Steven Winberg said on Tuesday, as the world’s two largest economies seek to resolve a bitter trade dispute.The talks are going on well so far, Winberg, who is also U.S. assistant secretary for fossil energy, told reporters in Beijing where U.S. officials were negotiating with their Chinese counterparts.
The meetings are the first face-to-face talks since U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed in December to a 90-day truce in a trade war that has buffeted global financial markets.Imports at major U.S. container ports are leveling off after retailers’ months-long rush to bring in Chinese merchandise before higher tariffs hit, according to a retail trade report issued on Tuesday.
A shutdown of about a quarter of the U.S. government reached its 18th day on Tuesday, with lawmakers and the White House divided over Republican President Donald Trump’s demand for money for a border wall ahead of his prime-time address to push the project.
The growth of the global economy is expected to slow to 2.9 percent in 2019 compared with 3 percent in 2018, the World Bank said on Tuesday, citing elevated trade tensions and international trade moderation.The World Bank outlook comes as the United States and China have been engaged in a bitter trade dispute, which has jolted financial markets across the world for months. The two economies have imposed tit-for-tat duties on each other’s goods, although there were signs of progress on Tuesday as the two countries prepared to enter a third day of talks in Beijing.
World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim will join Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a private equity fund that invests in projects in wealthy and developing countries, the firm said on Tuesday, a day after Kim’s shock resignation from the bank.
European Union countries are expected to next week approve a scheme to limit imports of steel into the bloc following U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum entering the United States.The vote on Jan. 16 would put in place an effective cap on steel imports for three years to counter concerns of EU producers that European markets could be flooded by steel products that are no longer being imported into the U.S.
Gold prices held steady on Wednesday as a potential close to a months-long Sino-U.S. trade war lifted risk sentiment, countering expectations that the Fed would pause interest rate increases for this year.Meanwhile, palladium hit a record high at $1,340.50 an ounce during the session.
Spot gold slipped 0.2 percent to $1,282.97 per ounce by 0404 GMT, and U.S. gold futures settled down 0.1 percent at $1,284.5 per ounce.However, gold is seeing some headwind because of a gradual recovery in risk assets, as well as investors pricing in the U.S. Federal Reserve’s dovish signals.
Oil prices rose on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session on hopes that Washington and Beijing can resolve a trade dispute that has triggered a global economic slowdown.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures CLc1 were at $50.29 per barrel as at 0131, up 51 cents, or 1 percent from their last settlement. It was the first time this year that WTI has topped $50 a barrel.
International Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 42 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $59.14 per barrel.Both crude price benchmarks had already gained more than 2 percent in the previous session.“Crude continues to extend gains as early reports from Beijing regarding trade negotiations are fueling optimism around successful trade talks between the U.S. and China.
Cryptocurrency prices are trading virtually unchanged Tuesday, extending what’s been a relatively muted start to 2019 for digital assets.In Tuesday trading, a single bitcoin, BTCUSD, +0.66% the best-known cryptocurrency, was fetching $4,029.76, down 0.2% since Monday’s level at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken crypto exchange.