GLOBAL NEWS-
The Japanese economy grew faster than initially estimated in the fourth quarter as capital investment staged a quick recovery from a series of natural disasters in the previous quarter. However, despite the upward revision to growth, economists are likely to temper their optimism on the outlook given disappointing data on exports and factory output and with the economy expected to weaken due to the Sino-U.S. trade war.Japan’s gross domestic product rose an annualised 1.9 percent in October-December, more than the initial estimate of a 1.4 percent expansion and the median estimate for a 1.8 percent increase, data from the Cabinet Office showed. That followed a revised 2.4 percent annualised contraction in the third quarter, which was the biggest decline in more than four years.
The pound jumped and Asian shares rallied on Tuesday after the European Commission agreed to changes in a Brexit deal ahead of a vote in the British parliament on a divorce agreement.
Mario Draghi revealed the biggest cut in the European Central Bank’s economic outlook since the advent of its quantitative-easing program as policy makers delivered a new round of stimulus to shore up growth.The ECB President said the euro-zone economy will now expand only 1.1 percent this year, a drop of 0.6 percentage point from the forecast given out just three months ago. A package of assistance from new loans for banks to a longer pledge on record-low rates is intended to expand the institution’s existing stimulus.ECB said it would hold interest rates at subzero levels at least through December, months longer than previously signaled.
India wants to keep buying Iranian oil at its current level of about 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), as it negotiates with Washington about extending a waiver of U.S. sanctions past early May.India has reduced its purchases of Iranian oil, but has been in talks on extending a sanctions waiver, known as a significant reduction exception, a senior India official said in January.The talks come just as trade tensions rise between Washington and New Delhi. The United States is planning to end preferential trade treatment for India that allows duty-free entry for up to $5.6 billion worth of its exports to the United States.India is the biggest beneficiary of the Generalized System of Preferences, which dates from the 1970s, and ending its participation would be the strongest punitive action that Washington has taken against the country since President Donald Trump took office.Amid this, New Delhi is asking Washington to be allowed to still buy Iranian oil at current levels of around 1.25 million tonnes per month, equal to about 300,000 bpd.
Indian inflation likely accelerated in February but remained well below the central bank’s target, economists said, as only modest rises in food and fuel prices failed to drive a bigger lift from January’s 19-month low.showed consumer price inflation, due to be released at 1200 GMT on March 12, is expected to have picked up to 2.43 percent last month from January’s 2.05 percent.An overwhelming majority of economists polled predicted inflation would average below 3 percent, with forecasts ranging from 2.15 percent to 3.20 percent.If inflation comes in as expected, it would be below the Reserve Bank of India’s medium-term target of 4 percent for the seventh month in a row and closer to the lower end of its 2-6 percent buffer range for a fourth month.
Asian stocks shuddered lower on Friday after shockingly weak export data from China heightened market fears about a global economic slowdown, a day after European policymakers slashed growth forecasts for the bloc.Beijing reported exports in February tumbled 20.7 percent from a year earlier, far beneath forecasts of a 4.8 percent drop and more than erasing January’s surprise jump.Analysts cautioned the timing of the Lunar New Year made it difficult to draw a true signal from the noise but the scale of the miss was alarming.Adding insult to injury, China’s leading brokerage Citic Securities issued a rare “sell” rating on the Shanghai-listed shares of People’s Insurance Group of China (PICC) sending them down almost 10 percent.Shanghai blue chips quickly extended early losses to be down 2.9 percent, the sharpest daily fall since October, while the dollar climbed on the yuan.
European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom urged the U.S. to negotiate removing tariffs on industrial goods, including vehicles, as a first step to rebuilding trust in their trade relationship before tackling thornier issues such as agriculture.“There is a lack of trust at this moment and that is why we’re proposing instead of increasing tensions between us, instead of having these tariffs, instead of saying that Europe is a security threat to the American economy, OK let’s rebuild that trust,” Malmstrom said at an event at Georgetown Law School in Washington on Thursday.
“If we start with industrial goods, which is much less complicated and which will be beneficial for both sides, we maybe can rebuild that trust,” she said, adding there’s no appetite in the EU right for a full-blown trade agreement with the U.S.Malmstrom said the EU is willing to discuss autos in the negotiations, but she repeated the bloc wants farm products kept out of talks. The EU still doesn’t have a negotiating mandate, but Malmstrom said she hopes official discussions will start “soon.”The U.S. has also cited a lack of goodwill in the relationship as a hindrance to negotiations.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held a telephone call on Tuesday with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on key issues in their trade talks
Gold rose on Tuesday as the dollar weakened after the European Commission agreed to amendments to the UK’s Brexit deal, although gains were limited as the agreement also buoyed sentiment for riskier assets
Oil prices rose on Tuesday, lifted by healthy demand and output cuts led by producer group OPEC.A rally in broader financial markets also supported crude futures, although analysts still warned of risks to the global economy.