GLOBAL NEWS
British lawmakers crushed Prime Minister Theresa May’s European Union divorce deal on Tuesday, thrusting Britain deeper into crisis and forcing parliament to decide within days whether to back a no-deal Brexit or seek a last-minute delay.Lawmakers voted against May’s amended Brexit deal by 391 to 242 as her last-minute talks with EU chiefs on Monday to assuage her critics’ concerns ultimately proved fruitless.The vote puts the world’s fifth largest economy in uncharted territory with no obvious way forward; exiting the EU without a deal, delaying the March 29 divorce date, a snap election or even another referendum are all now possible.May might even try a third time to get parliamentary support in the hope that hardline eurosceptic lawmakers in her Conservative Party, the most vocal critics of her withdrawal treaty, might change their minds if it becomes more likely that Britain might stay in the EU after all.
The pound edged up on Wednesday after turbulence following the defeat of British Prime Minister Theresa May’s European Union exit deal, but investors braced for more volatility ahead of additional Brexit proceedings.
Japan’s machinery orders fell in January at the fastest pace in four months as the U.S.-China tariff war hit global trade, knocking demand from the country’s auto and telecommunications equipment manufacturing sectors lower.The 5.4 percent decline month-on-month in core machinery orders, a leading indicator of capital expenditure, was more than the median estimate for a 1.7 percent decrease and followed a revised 0.3 percent decline in the previous month. It was also the fastest month-on-month decline since September last year. Economists say uncertainty over Sino-U.S. trade policies would discourage an increase in capital expenditure in Japan’s corporate sector, which has up until recently been one of the better performing parts of the economy.
India’s consumer prices rose at a faster pace than anticipated in February, and remained below the Reserve Bank of India’s target for a seventh straight month, lending weight to expectations that the bank could again cut the key interest rate in April.India’s annual retail inflation picked up in February to 2.57 percent, after easing to a downwardly revised 19-month low of 1.97 percent in January, government data showed on Tuesday.Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast February’s annual increase in the consumer price index at 2.43 percent.February’s marginal increase in inflation stemmed from higher costs of housing, health, education services and fuel. Health and education costs rose more than 8 percent in February from a year earlier, the data showed.
The United States is working on a plan to lift tariffs from Mexican and Canadian steel and aluminum but preserve the gains that domestic producers have received from the duties so far, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.The United States imposed the “Section 232” tariffs on steel and aluminum nearly a year ago to protect domestic producers on national security grounds. A plan to lift tariffs on the metals from Canada and Mexico was once linked to the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement but ultimately was excluded from that deal. Since then, a number of U.S. lawmakers have said they did not believe the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) could win approval in Congress if the metals tariffs — along with and retaliatory duties on U.S. farm and other products — were left in place.
The United States and China may be in the final weeks of discussions to hammer out a deal to ease their tit-for-tat tariffs dispute, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Tuesday.Washington and Beijing have slapped import duties on each other’s products that have costs the world’s two largest economies billions of dollars, roiled markets and disrupted manufacturing and supply chains.The U.S. government is pressing for an end to practices and policies it argues have given Chinese firms unfair advantages, including alleged subsidizing of industry, limits on access for foreign companies and theft of intellectual property.“Our hope is we are in the final weeks of having an agreement,” Lighthizer, the top U.S. trade official, said during a U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday, though he cautioned that major issues remained.
Asian shares drifted lower on Wednesday as a risk-off mood settled on markets, while a frazzled pound awaited its fate ahead of yet another make-or-break parliamentary vote on Brexit.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.45 percent in slow trade.Japan’s Nikkei led the retreat with a fall of 1.2 percent as data showed domestic machinery orders fell in January at the fastest pace in four months.Shanghai blue chips slipped 0.5 percent following two days of gains. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 were off 0.2 percent and spread betters pointed to opening losses for the main European bourses.
Turkey’s first recession in a decade risks putting the central bank back into President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s line of fire.So far this year, the policy maker has been spared habitual verbal beatings from the growth-oriented president. But investors worry that as growth tanks before municipal elections later this month, the central bank will come under pressure to kick off an easing cycle sooner than warranted by the shaky inflation outlook.It’s not hard to see why: the economy faces an uphill climb, one probably unprecedented in an Erdogan era that’s been largely characterized by China-like growth rates. Real banking credit shrank by 7.2 percent on a quarterly basis in the last three months of 2018. Industrial production capped 2018 with its biggest plunge in more than nine years, and economic confidence languishes near the lowest level since the 2009 global crisis. Turkey’s largest companies have either completed or sought almost $24 billion in loan restructurings.
Iran will respond firmly to any Israeli naval action against its oil shipments, Iran’s defence minister said on Wednesday, in comments that came a week after Israel’s prime minister said its navy could act against Iranian oil “smuggling” to evade U.S. sanctions.U.S. President Donald Trump last year quit a nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed some sanctions, aiming to cut Tehran’s oil exports to zero. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told naval officers last week that Iran was still resorting to clandestine measures to ship fuel.Iran’s Minister of Defense Amir Hatami was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA that Tehran had the military capabilities to confront any Israeli intervention, and said the international community would also not accept such action.
Gold scaled a near two-week peak on Wednesday, after reclaiming the key $1,300 level in the previous session, as investors opted for the safe-haven metal after British lawmakers rejected an amended exit deal, while a weaker dollar lent further support.Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,304.26 per ounce, as of 0507 GMT, after touching its highest since March 1 at $1,305.69 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures rose 0.5 percent to $1,305.10 an ounce.
Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday, supported by planned cuts to Saudi exports and a reduced forecast for U.S crude output.International Brent crude oil futures were at $66.93 a barrel at 0039 GMT, up 26 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close. Brent touched $67.39 a barrel on Monday, its highest since Feb. 25.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $57.17 per barrel, up 30 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last settlement.U.S. crude oil production is expected to grow slower than previously expected in 2019 and average about 12.30 million barrels per day (bpd) the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday.