GLOBAL FX-
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he was ready to impose another round of punitive tariffs on Chinese imports if he cannot make progress in trade talks with China’s President at a Group of 20 summit later this month.Since two days of talks to resolve the U.S.-China trade dispute last month in Washington ended in a stalemate, Trump has repeatedly said he expected to meet President Xi Jinping at the June 28-29 summit in Osaka, Japan. China has not confirmed any such meeting.
Japan’s government is set to raise the sales tax as planned in October, while it stands ready to take flexible macroeconomic policy steps in case risks to the economy materialize, draft mid-year key policy guidelines obtained by analyst.The draft guidelines, to be formally endorsed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet later this month, also said the government will make “all policy tools” available to help the world’s third largest economy sustain a recovery trend.
China’s central bank said on early Tuesday it will sell yuan-denominated bills in Hong Kong in late June, in a move that some market analysts believed was aimed at stemming a sharp decline in the yuan currency.The yuan has weakened by more than 2.6 percent since the start of May, suffering its worst monthly performance in ten months in the wake of a major escalation in the Sino-U.S. trade dispute.
China’s iron ore imports rebounded in May from an 18-month-low in April, but were still well down on the same month last year as disruptions to output in Brazil and Australia hampered shipments.
Britain’s economy contracted sharply in April after the biggest decline in car production since records began, as manufacturers were unable to reverse closures planned to coincide with Britain’s expected departure from the EU.Early in 2019, many motor manufacturers had announced temporary shutdowns in April at their British plants, anticipating trade disruption around the time Britain was due to leave the European Union on March 29.In the event, Prime Minister Theresa May delayed departure with just days to go. She subsequently set a new date of Oct. 31 but that was too late for businesses to change their plans.
Mexico and the United States may explore additional steps next month to restrict illegal immigration from Central America, with the threat of tariffs hanging over Mexico if it does not do enough to satisfy U.S. demands, officials said on Monday.Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Brazil, Panama, and Guatemala may need to be brought in to help if a deal unveiled last week between Washington and Mexico fails to reduce the numbers of U.S.-bound migrants crossing Mexico.
Asian stocks made modest gains on Tuesday after the Trump administration shelved plans for tariffs against Mexico, lifting Wall Street, however, fresh U.S. trade threats against China are expected to limit any major investor sentiment boost.
Prices of safe-haven gold climbed on Tuesday in Asia despite gains in Asian stocks. for August delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, were up 0.2% at $1,332.25 per ounce by 12:02 AM ET (04:02 GMT).Gold snapped an eight-day streak in the previous session following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision not to go ahead with escalating taxes on Mexican imports.
Oil prices stabilized on Tuesday on expectations that producer group OPEC and its allies will keep withholding supply to prevent prices from tumbling amid a broad economic slowdown which has started eating away at fuel demand growth.Front-month Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $62.36 at 0023 GMT, 7 cents, or 0.1%, above Friday’s close.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $53.42 per barrel, 16 cents, or 0.3%, above their last settlement.