GLOBAL NEWS-
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Wednesday he saw investment opportunities of more than $100 billion in India over the next two years as he began his first official visit amid tensions between arch foes India and Pakistan.India rolled out the red carpet for the crown prince as it seeks diplomatic support against Pakistan following a militant attack in the disputed region of Kashmir.
The crown prince was also given a lavish welcome this week in Pakistan where the two sides signed memoranda of understanding valued at about $20 billion to help prop up Pakistan’s economy.In a joint press appearance after talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the crown prince said terrorism was a common concern and Saudi Arabia was ready to share intelligence with India to tackle it.
The European Central Bank will discuss “very soon” whether to provide a new round of multi-year loans to banks but may not immediately decide on their terms, its chief economist Peter Praet said on Wednesday.“The discussion will come very soon in the Governing Council. It doesn’t mean we’ll take decisions... at that time,” Praet said about a new Targeted Long-Term Refinancing Operation (TLTRO).“I think clarity for the banking sector is (important)... but not necessarily on the parameters of the TLTRO because that’s complicated.”
China’s construction steel futures fell on Wednesday, as investors remained cautious about the strength of post-holiday demand from downstream users.Following the Lunar New Year holiday earlier this month, construction sites and manufacturing plants would typically restart business this week.“Major markets in China have not completely resumed (spot) trading and steel prices in most regions are hovering at a low level,” analysts from Galaxy Futures said in a note.Benchmark Shanghai rebar prices fell 2.3 percent to 3,590 yuan ($533.81) a tonne as of 0202 GMT.Hot-rolled coil, a manufacturing-grade steel product, fell 1.8 percent to 3,590 yuan.“Steel output is highly likely to increase after the holiday ... And the market focus will switch to demand strength from downstream users.
China will deepen reforms of its agriculture sector to promote its rural economy, the government said in its first policy statement of 2019, as it seeks to bolster growth and offset trade challenges.Beijing’s statement, released late on Tuesday, comes after the world’s second-largest economy saw its weakest growth in 28 years in 2018 and remains entangled in a trade war with Washington.
Japan’s exports posted their biggest decline in more than two years as China-bound shipments tumbled, fuelling concerns about slowing global demand as the business mood sours and orders for the country’s machinery goods fell sharply.Ministry of Finance data out on Wednesday showed Japan’s exports fell 8.4 percent year-on-year in January, a bigger decline than the 5.5 percent fall expected by economists in a Reuters poll.It was the sharpest annual decline since October 2016, and followed a revised 3.9 percent year-on-year drop last December.The data came after a key gauge of Japanese capital spending showed overseas orders for machinery fell the most in more than a decade in December, and business sentiment soured to a two-year low, as trade friction and slowing Chinese growth bite.Japanese exports to China, Japan’s biggest trading partner, fell 17.4 percent year-on-year.
The U.S. Federal Reserve said minutes of its January policy meeting would be released on Wednesday as scheduled though its offices in Washington would be closed due to bad weather.On its Twitter account, the Fed said: “Due to inclement weather, Federal Reserve Board offices in Washington, D.C. are closed today. The FOMC minutes will be released as scheduled at 2 p.m.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that trade talks with China were going well and suggested he was open to pushing off the deadline to complete negotiations, saying March 1 was not a "magical" date.Tariffs on $200 billion (153 billion pounds) worth of Chinese imports are scheduled to rise to 25 percent from 10 percent by March 1 if the world's two largest economies do not settle their trade dispute, but Trump has suggested several times that he would be open to postponing the deadline.
Asian stocks gained a tad on Wednesday after U.S-China trade talks resumed while investors awaited minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve for clues on policymakers’ thinking on interest rates and its balance sheet reduction policy.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 percent in early trade. Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.4 percent.In New York, the S&P 500 gained 0.15 percent, helped by upbeat results from Walmart while the Nasdaq rose 0.19 percent, logging its seventh straight session of gains.
Singapore’s expansionary budget for the coming year makes the central bank’s April policy decision slightly more complicated.The Monetary Authority of Singapore will need to decide whether to tighten policy in the face of steady economic growth and greater fiscal spending, or hold its stance because of growing global risks.
“The case for further monetary policy tightening is diminishing,” with weaker economic growth and trade data adding downside risks to the 2019 outlook, said Mohamed Faiz Nagutha, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:) in Singapore.The decision is still a “live” one though, he said, and the MAS “could surprise the market with a hawkish bias” given solid growth rates and core inflation at or above the historical average of 1.7 percent.
Germany and France have agreed a proposal for a common euro zone budget to be used to reward countries that successfully implement economic reforms and to finance strategic investments, German media reported on Tuesday.Handelsblatt newspaper reported that a joint French-German paper proposed that the euro zone budget should be part of the European Union's overall budget, but that the 19 members of the common currency area should pay into the joint euro zone budget in addition to their current contributions to the EU's.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper said that a working paper prepared for a Tuesday evening meeting between the German and French finance ministers envisaged the budget being used "to help weak member states with a need to reform."Other euro zone members would need to back the proposals before they became reality.
Gold prices held at 10-month highs on Wednesday, supported by global slowdown concerns and a weaker dollar, with markets eyeing the release of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting minutes later in the session.Spot gold was marginally lower at $1,339.61 per ounce, having touched $1,341.78 per ounce in the previous session, its highest level since April 20.U.S. gold futures dipped 0.2 percent to $1,342.6 an ounce.Palladium rose 0.3 percent to $1,484.00 per ounce, within striking distance of $1,500 after it hit a record $1,485.50 on Tuesday on concerns about a sharp supply deficit.
Oil prices were around 2019 highs on Wednesday, propped up by supply cuts led by producer club OPEC and by U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.But soaring U.S. production and expectations of an economic slowdown look set to cap prices.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures hit 2019 highs of $56.39 per barrel shortly after on Wednesday, up 30 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last settlement.International Brent crude futures were at $66.58 per barrel, up 13 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last close and not far off their 2019 high of $66.83 per barrel from Monday.Oil prices have been supported by supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).