GLOBAL NEWS-
European Union leaders gave Britain six more months to leave the bloc, more than Prime Minister Theresa May says she needs but less than many in the bloc wanted, thanks to fierce resistance from France.The summit deal in Brussels in the early hours of Thursday meant Britain will not crash out on Friday without a treaty to smooth its passage. But it offers little clarity on when, how or even if Brexit will happen, as May struggles to build support in parliament for withdrawal terms agreed with the EU last year.With German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisting that Britain would not be forced out and that a chaotic no-deal departure must be avoided if at all possible, there was never any real doubt that May would get an extension.
British Prime Minister Theresa May was keen to stress that the extension to October 31,If May fails to win over lawmakers on the treaty or fails to hold an election, Britain will leave with no deal on June 1.
President Donald Trump’s trade war with China has U.S. companies shifting purchases of tariff-targeted products like furniture, refrigerators and car tires to countries such as Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan and Mexico, according to a new analysis released on Wednesday.Trump’s decision to slap tariffs of 10 to 25 percent on about $250 billion of Chinese goods has roiled U.S. retailers and manufacturers, who are scrambling to avoid potentially crippling cost increases.Overall U.S. imports of containerized freight from China fell 6.4 percent during the first quarter as buyers worked off product stockpiled ahead of tariff increases and rerouted orders to lower-cost countries.
The U.S. budget deficit widened to $691 billion in the first half of fiscal 2019 as spending outpaced an increase in revenue, highlighting the continued fallout on the government debt from President Trump’s tax cuts and the effects of an aging population.The budget gap increased 15 percent compared with the same October-March period a year earlier, according to the Treasury Department’s budget report released Wednesday.Receipts for the six-month period rose 0.7 percent while spending jumped 4.9 percent. For the month of March alone, the deficit narrowed to $147 billion, which was narrower than economist forecast in a Bloomberg survey and the $234 billion level the prior month.
A tale of two elections saw investors raise their bullish bets on the Indian rupee over the past two weeks while long positions on the Thai baht unraveled to their lowest this year.Foreign investors have plowed billions of dollars into India ahead of an election process spread over seven phases and ending only toward the end of next month with nearly 900 million people eligible to vote. The process begins on Thursday.Investors, who only turned bullish on the rupee at the start of March for the first time in nearly a year, have since raised their long positions to their highest since January of last year.
The first phase of the Lok Sabha elections kicked off today as polling for 91 seats across 18 states and two union territories began this morning. Simultaneous voting is also being held for assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha (first phase).Polling in all the Lok Sabha constituencies of Andhra Pradesh (25), Telangana (17), Uttarakhand (5), Meghalaya (2) and Arunachal Pradesh (2) besides lone seats in Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar, and Lakshadweep is being held.Eight seats in Uttar Pradesh, seven in Maharashtra, six in Bihar, five in Assam, four in Odisha, two each in Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal and one seat in Chhattisgarh are also going to polls.Voting for the 543 Lok Sabha seats is be held in seven phases: April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19. Counting will be done on May 23.
European Union leaders gave Britain six more months to leave the bloc, more than Prime Minister Theresa May says she needs but less than many in the bloc wanted, thanks to fierce resistance from France.The summit deal in Brussels in the early hours of Thursday meant Britain will not crash out on Friday without a treaty to smooth its passage. But it offers little clarity on when, how or even if Brexit will happen, as May struggles to build support in parliament for withdrawal terms agreed with the EU last year.
China’s economy will likely grow far faster than the official target of 6 to 6.5 percent this year due to stronger fiscal stimulus including tax cuts and faster debt sales, according to analysts at Jefferies Financial Group Inc.The pace of growth will normalize in 2020.While significant monetary easing may be less likely from here, growth momentum could push the stock market to test early 2018 highs, the analysts said. China’s economy has already shown signs of recovery, with a strong reading of manufacturing and improving risk appetite.
Asian stocks stepped back from near eight-month highs on Thursday and the dollar eased as European and U.S. central banks reinforced investor worries about the global economic outlook and trade protectionism.In a fresh escalation of trade tensions, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened new tariffs on goods from the European Union even as the Sino-U.S. trade dispute remains unresolved.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.3 percent after four straight days of gains took it to the highest since last August.Chinese shares were subdued with the blue-chip CSI300 off 1 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stumbled 0.6 percent.Australian shares also lost ground, pressured by political uncertainty after the country’s prime minister called a national election for May 18.
Gold edged lower on Thursday, but was trading close to a two-week peak scaled in the last session as dovish U.S. and European central banks fanned concerns on economic slowdown and kept global bond yields and the dollar under pressure.Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,306.58 per ounce as of 0354 GMT, after touching its highest since March 28 at $1,310.50 in the previous session.U.S. gold futures were down about 0.3 percent at $1,310.20 an ounce.
Oil prices fell on Thursday after U.S. crude stockpiles surged to their highest levels in almost 17 months amid record production.International benchmark Brent futures were at $71.57 per barrel at 0056 GMT, down 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last close.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $64.36 per barrel, down 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their previous settlement.U.S. crude inventories rose 7 million barrels to 456.6 million barrels in the last week, their highest since November 2017, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.