GLOBAL NEWS-
The ruble steadied against the dollar on Friday, supported by rising oil prices a day after the threat of new U.S. sanctions unnerved Russia’s financial markets. the ruble was unchanged against the dollar at 66.66 and traded at 75.20 versus the euro. The Russian currency touched 67 against the dollar on Thursday, its weakest since Jan. 15.U.S. senators this week introduced a bill that would impose stiff new sanctions on Russia over its policy toward Ukraine and allegations that it meddled in U.S. elections.anctions expectations brought the rouble down, but the Russian currency could now strengthen due to rising oil prices.
Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a defeat on her Brexit strategy on Thursday that undermined her pledge to European Union leaders to get her divorce deal approved if they grant her concessions.In a show of muscle, hardline Brexit supporters in her Conservative Party decided to abstain, handing her an embarrassing, albeit symbolic, defeat as she tries to renegotiate her deal with the EU.While it will not deter May from trying to secure changes on the most contentious issue of the deal - the Irish “backstop” - the vote does show that her pro-Brexit lawmakers are a major obstacle to passing any agreement.May was absent from the House of Commons for the debate and the outcome of the vote, which deepened the sense of political crisis over Britain’s departure, more than two years after voters opted to leave the bloc by a margin of 52 percent to 48.The crunch vote is now expected to come on Feb. 27, when May is due to return to parliament - and lawmakers who fear leaving without a deal could try to seize control of Britain’s departure from the EU.
China has pledged to end market-distorting subsidies for its domestic industries but offered no details on how it would achieve that goal, according to three people familiar with the U.S.-China trade talks in Beijing this week.China promised to bring all subsidy programs into compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, the sources said, but U.S. negotiators reacted skeptically, in part because China has long refused to disclose its subsidies.Without knowing exactly how the Chinese government finances industries and state-run companies, any reform promises would be difficult to enforce, said the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are confidential.The sticking point between the world’s two largest economies illustrates a core challenge in ending their seven-month trade war: Ensuring China’s pledges will translate into concrete action.
China’s factory-gate inflation slowed for a seventh straight month in January to its weakest pace since September 2016, raising concerns the world’s second-biggest economy may see the return of deflation as domestic demand falters.Consumer inflation, meanwhile, eased in January from the previous month due to falling food prices, official data showed on Friday. China’s producer price index (PPI) in January rose a meagre 0.1 percent from a year earlier, a sharp slowdown from the previous month’s 0.9 percent increase.
Asian stocks fell on Friday, retreating from four-month highs after data out of China raised concerns over deflationary pressures building in the world’s second biggest economy.The bearish impulse appeared likely to be passed on to European stocks, with spreadbetters expecting Britain’s FTSE to open 0.1 percent lower, Germany’s DAX 0.3 percent down and France’s CAC 0.2 percent down.Data released on Friday showed China’s factory-gate inflation slowed for a seventh straight month in January to its weakest pace since September 2016 amid cooling domestic demand.The broader equity markets had already been under pressure after Thursday’s weak U.S. retail sales figures triggered fresh doubts about the strength of the world’s largest economy.That offsetting some cautious optimism over trade talks in Beijing between the United States and China.
Asian spot prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) continued their downward spiral this week, hitting a 17-month low as the market moved further away from the peak winter-demand period and inventories remained high in the region.Spot prices for March delivery to Asia fell to $6.50 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) this week, down 20 cents from the previous week to their lowest since Sept. 8, 2017, trade sources said.April prices are estimated at about $6.30 per mmBtu.
Singapore’s economy grew at its slowest pace in more than two years in the fourth quarter, data showed on Friday, and the city-state’s trade ministry warned that manufacturing is likely to face significant moderation this year.Weakening growth momentum for Singapore’s open economy - a high-tech manufacturing base and transportation hub - underscores the risks to Asia’s export economies from a slowdown in China and Beijing’s trade war with Washington.Singapore’s growth pace is expected to slow in 2019 as manufacturing “is likely to see a significant moderation,” trade ministry official Loh Khum Yean said, adding that the important electronics and semiconductor sector were particularly vulnerable.
The Trump administration’s top two negotiators in trade talks with China will meet on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but there has been no decision to extend a March 1 U.S. deadline for a deal, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Thursday.The vibe in Beijing is good,” Kudlow told Fox News Channel of the U.S.-China talks that are set to conclude on Friday in Beijing. But Kudlow’s upbeat assessment contrasted with reports from two people familiar with the talks, who said progress has been difficult on the thorniest issues involving U.S. demands that China make sweeping changes to curb forced technology transfers and to enforce intellectual property rights.
U.S. oil prices rose on Friday, gaining for a fourth day on hopes of further supply cuts by major exporters, despite uncertainty about U.S.-China trade talks.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $54.79 per barrel at 0038 GMT, up 40 cents, or 0.7 percent, from their last settlement. They rose 51 cents, or 0.95 percent, on Thursday.
China will exempt 14 Brazilian firms including BRF and JBS Group from anti-dumping tariffs on imports of chicken products, provided sales are made above an undisclosed floor price, the commerce ministry said on Friday. The exemptions follow months of negotiations between Brazilian chicken producers and China, as Brazil sought to resolve an anti-dumping probe launched in August 2017, and were included in the ministry’s final ruling.A preliminary determination in June last year had placed duties of between 18.8 percent to 38.4 percent on all imports of Brazilian broiler chicken.Under the final decision, Beijing will maintain tariffs of between 17.8 percent and 32.4 percent from Feb. 17 for a period of five years.
Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece should fight high youth unemployment levels with labour market reforms, less bureaucracy for business and investment in innovation, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said on Thursday.Speaking in Germany, Lagarde said the structural reforms, with backing from the European Union, were needed to ensure that incomes in poorer members of the bloc catch up with their richer neighbours - a process referred to as convergence.Successful convergence would help the bloc weather a storm taking shape in the form of populist parties that are opposed to the EU, discord over immigration policy and pressure on the global trading order, she said.“The continent’s next generation, which is still suffering from the economic scars of the global financial crisis, is searching for quality jobs and a stable future,” Lagarde at a dinner on the eve of the Munich Security Conference.
India will take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure the “complete isolation” of Pakistan in response to an attack by an Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) that killed 44 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir on Thursday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday.This would include India removing most favoured nation privileges given to Pakistan under World Trade Organisation rules, he said.Pakistan-based JeM claimed responsibility for a car bomb that killed the police in one of the deadliest attacks ever in the India-controlled Kashmir region.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will consider lowering the tax rate on under-construction properties next week, finance minister Piyush Goyal said. A ministerial panel has firmed up its recommendations in this respect, which will be placed before the federal indirect tax body.Goyal said there have been extensive consultations and that a solution for giving tax relief on real estate projects will be arrived at soon.A ministerial panel led by Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel has favoured lowering GST on under-construction properties to 5% without credit for taxes paid on raw materials, down from an effective 12% at present with tax credits. The seven-member panel also favoured slashing the rate on affordable housing from 8% to 3%.
Safe-haven currencies including the Japanese yen made gains on Friday after dismal U.S. retail sales as the market awaited developments in trade talks between Washington and Beijing.The results of a meeting on Friday between U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and China’s President Xi Jinping could be important for foreign exchange investors.Markets earlier in the week had cheered U.S. President Donald Trump’s upbeat assessment of the talks but a lack of progress since then has bred a risk-off mood causing declines in the Australian dollar, a proxy for China risk.U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports from China are scheduled to rise to 25 percent from 10 percent if the two sides do not reach a deal by March 1.The dollar remained fairly robust, trading up 0.2 percent at 97.1 against a basket of major currencies. It fell on Thursday when poor U.S. retail sales suggested a sharp slowdown in economic activity at the end of 2018.
The Aussie and New Zealand dollars pared earlier gains, losing 0.3 percent to $0.7085 and $0.6816, respectively. Despite Friday’s losses, the kiwi is set to end the week higher by one percent. Earlier this week, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand sounded less dovish on policy than speculators had wagered on, leading traders to place bullish bets on the currency.The dollar index, a gauge of its strength versus six major peers was marginally higher at 97.07, after weakening by 0.12 percent in the previous session.
Gold traded in a tight $4 range on Friday as investors looked for signs of progress in ongoing U.S.-China trade talks, while concerns of a global slowdown in the wake of sombre economic data out of United States and China provided underlying support.Spot gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,313.66 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures gained 0.2 percent to $1,316.90.Spot gold is expected to revisit its Jan. 31 high of $1,326.30 per ounce, as suggested by its wave pattern and a retracement analysis, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.Gold had gained 0.5 percent in the previous session, its biggest intraday gain since Jan. 30, as disappointing U.S. economic data increased expectations that the Federal Reserve would stick to its dovish stance on monetary policy.
Brent crude oil prices hit 2019 highs above $65 per barrel on Friday, spurred by OPEC-led supply cuts and a partial shutdown of Saudi Arabia’s biggest offshore oil field.Brent rose as high as $65.10, pushing past the $65 mark for the first time this year, before edging back to $64.89 a barrel. That was still 0.5 percent above the last close.The international benchmark for oil prices is at a near 3-month high and set for a 4.5 percent gain for the week.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $54.61 per barrel, up 20 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last settlement.Traders said prices were pushed up by the partial closure of Saudi Arabia’s Safaniyah, its biggest offshore oil field with a production capacity of more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd).The shutdown occurred earlier this week, a source said, and it was not immediately clear when the field would return to full capacity.