GLOBAL NEWS
Indian inflation is likely to have cooled to a 16-month low in November, according to a Reuters poll, as food and fuel prices fell, supporting the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to keep interest rates on hold at a policy meeting last week.The poll of 40 economists predicted retail inflation sank in November to 2.80 percent from October’s 3.31 percent. Forecasts in the poll, taken between Dec. 4-7, ranged between 2.26 percent and 4.00 percent.
Australia overtook Qatar as the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the first time in November, data from Refinitiv Eikon showed on Monday.In November, Australia loaded 6.5 million tonnes of LNG for exports while Qatar exported over 6.2 million tonnes, the data showed.Australia will further cement its top position as the final new project in the pipeline,said Royal Dutch Shell’s Prelude.
Qatar plans to boost its LNG capacity by early 2024 to 110 million tonnes a year, up from its current production of 77 million tonnes a year, by adding a fourth LNG production line.Qatar, which also exports around 600,000 barrels per day of crude oil, said earlier this month it would leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to focus on gas.
The European Central Bank is on course to raise its still-negative deposit rate in the third quarter of 2019 but economists’ conviction has faded over the past month as the chances of a recession have risen.A Reuters poll conducted Dec. 4-7 also showed economists are unanimous in saying the risk is low that the Governing Council will extend its more than 2.6 trillion euro ($2.96 trillion)asset purchase programme beyond this month, which would break its long-held guidance.Inflation, which the ECB targets at just below 2 percent, is forecast to slip next year to 1.7 percent, followed by 1.6 percent in 2020.
The Japanese economy contracted the most in over four years in the third quarter as companies slashed spending, threatening to chill the investment outlook in 2019 as the export-reliant nation grapples with slowing global growth and trade frictions.The slump in the world’s third-biggest economy adds to signs elsewhere in Asia and Europe of weakening momentum, with recent data in China and Australia showing a slowdown in growth and stoking concerns about the wider impact of the Sino-U.S trade war.Japan’s gross domestic product shrank at an annualized rate of 2.5 percent in the July-September quarter - the worst downturn since the second quarter of 2014.The capital expenditure component of GDP fell a sharp 2.8 percent from the second quarter, worse than the expected 1.6 percent decline and the preliminary reading of a 0.2 percent drop.
Hong Kong is on course to take the global IPO crown this year for the most money raised in stock market flotations, narrowly ahead of arch-rival New York, but its new listings have posted the worst performance among leading bourses, data show. Companies listing in Hong Kong have sold shares worth $31.4 billion so far this year, the highest total in eight years, compared with $30.2 billion on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).Two of Hong Kong’s biggest deals, Xiaomi and Meituan Dianping, which raised $9.7 billion between them, are down 19 percent and 26 percent respectively since their floats in July and September.
The dollar slid almost half a percent against the euro and the yen on Monday after soft U.S. payrolls data fueled speculation that the Federal Reserve may stop raising interest rates after a highly likely move next week.The dollar fell 0.4 percent against the yen to 112.30 JPY= edging near Thursday's 5 1/2-week low of 112.23.We have rising tensions between the United States and China over Huawei and the Brexit vote in the UK parliament. The risk-off mood is likely to prevail for now,” said Kyosuke Suzuki, director of forex at Societe Generale.Some Fed policymakers have struck a cautious tone about the economic outlook, possibly flagging a turning point in its monetary policy.
Global stocks extended their slump on Monday, with U.S. equity futures and Asian shares sliding on worries over slowing growth and fears that a fresh flare-up in tensions between Washington and Beijing could quash chances of a trade deal.
Gold prices held steady near a five-month peak hit early on Monday,Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,248.96 per ounce, as of 0432 GMT, after hitting its highest since July 11 at $1,250.55 earlier in the session.U.S. gold futures rose 0.1 percent to $1,254.2 per ounce.
Brent crude oil prices climbed on Monday after producer club OPEC and some non-affiliated suppliers last Friday agreed a supply cut of 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from January.Prices surged on Friday after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some non-OPEC producers including heavyweight Russia announced they would cut oil supply by 1.2 million bpd, with an 800,000 bpd reduction planned by OPEC-members and 400,000 bpd by countries not affiliated with the group.Despite the cuts, that was still a price forecast reduction of $6 per barrel as Bernstein reduced its crude oil demand forecast from 1.5 million bpd previously to 1.3 million bpd for 2019.