August, 2019

• 28 August

  Federal Reserve should not enable Donald Trump

  US President Donald Trump’s trade war with China keeps undermining the confidence of businesses and consumers, worsening the economic outlook. This manufactured disaster-in-the-making presents the Federal Reserve with a dilemma: Should it mitigate the damage by providing offsetting stimulus, or refuse to play along? If the ultimate goal is a healthy economy, the Fed should seriously consider the latter approach. ...

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• 28 August

  India’s Modi gets real on the economic problems

  

  India’s economic numbers have for some time looked better than the facts warranted, feeding an overconfidence in New Delhi about the country’s prospects. Thankfully, that’s begun to change. The Reserve Bank of India, the International Monetary Fund, investment banks and ratings agencies have all recently cut their estimates of 2019 growth sharply. While some believe India’s official statistics may overstate ...

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• 28 August

  China’s Meituan joins Amazon’s virtuous circle

  

  Investors celebrating Meituan Dianping’s first quarterly profit have as much reason to cheer how the company got there as the numbers themselves. Surging revenue, market-share gains against rivals such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and success in controlling expenses all helped the Chinese food delivery and bookings provider post net income of 877.4 million yuan ($124 million) versus the 1.57 ...

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• 28 August

  European Union’s migrant policy is lost at sea

  

  In July 2019, more migrants drowned in the Mediterranean than in July 2015, at the height of the refugee crisis — and that despite a dramatically reduced number of arrivals. The 238 deaths are at least partly on the conscience of European politicians; the European Union badly needs a reasonable policy towards the nongovernmental organisations whose rescue ships provide pretty ...

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• 28 August

  Stocks mixed under cloud of trade feud; crude gains

  

  Bloomberg US index futures edged higher, stocks in Europe slipped and shares in Asia were mixed on Wednesday as investors awaited new developments in the increasingly unpredictable Sino-American trade war. Treasuries and the dollar were steady. Contracts on all three major US stock indexes gained, while technology companies and insurers led a decline on the Stoxx Europe 600 index. Benchmarks ...

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• 28 August

  UK stocks slide on Brexit worry as pound lifts FTSE

  

  Bloomberg Domestic UK stocks declined on growing anticipation of a no-deal Brexit after the British government sought to suspend parliament, while a weaker pound boosted the exporter-heavy FTSE 100 Index. The FTSE 100, which has moved inversely to the currency in recent years, climbed 0.3 percent in London, while the more UK focussed FTSE 250 Index lost 0.7 percent. Sterling ...

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• 28 August

  Deutsche Bank, reeling from global job cuts, hires in India

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG’s only retail banking franchise outside Europe is getting more investment, amid sweeping cost cuts and restructuring taking place elsewhere at the German lender. After receiving a 470 million euro ($520 million) capital injection earlier this year, Deutsche Bank’s Indian operation is set to hire about 140 people and boost its retail banking and wealth management operations. ...

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• 28 August

  RBA’s Debelle says threats to world trade are ‘significant risk’

  

  Bloomberg The Australian central bank’s No. 2 official warned that current threats to the global rules-based trading system were a major risk to both his country’s economy and the world’s. Australia has been a key beneficiary of global trade, as its current account approaches its first surplus since the 1970s, Deputy Governor Guy Debelle said in Canberra. The local currency ...

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• 28 August

  Yuan poised for worst month on record

  

  Bloomberg China’s yuan is headed for a record monthly plunge as an intensifying trade war with the US damages investor confidence. The currency has plummeted 3.9% this month against the dollar, the biggest loss since January 1994, when the modern exchange-rate regime was adopted. The slump past the 7 level for the first time since the financial crisis comes as ...

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• 28 August

  Colombia sees no room to lower interest rates

  

  Bloomberg Colombia has no leeway to join central banks around the world that are lowering interest rates to bolster growth, according to Ana Fernanda Maiguashca, a member of the central bank board. “Our inflation outlook, while not alarming, just doesn’t give us much space to provide greater stimulus to the economy,” Maiguashca said in a telephone interview. Central banks in ...

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