June, 2019

• 2 June

  We all need to calm down about rare earths

  

  Once every decade or so, the world goes through a collective freak-out about rare earths. The suite of 17 elements strung towards the bottom of the periodic table are notable in that they’re essential in several high-technology applications such as wind turbines, electric cars and lasers, and largely made in China. That makes them a scary-sounding weapon in economic and ...

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• 2 June

  RBI faces calls for rate cuts, liquidity boost

  

  Bloomberg India’s economic soft patch has put Asia’s most dovish central bank on notice, yet again. Growth cooled to 5.8 percent in the first three months of the year, the slowest pace in several quarters, according to a government report. That took the expansion in the fiscal year to March 2019 to 6.8 percent, lower than the 6.9 percent median ...

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• 2 June

  Fed watchers expect rate cuts this year

  

  Bloomberg Federal Reserve watchers said the central bank will abandon its patient policy stance and cut interest rates in coming months as President Donald Trump’s planned new tariffs on Mexican goods may drag down US economic growth. JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief US economist Michael Feroli now projects quarter-point rate reductions in September and December, while Barclays Plc’s Michael Gapen ...

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• 2 June

  Overreaction bets work best in China

  

  Bloomberg Betting on overreaction — assuming that stocks move too far on new information and will reverse course — is more successful in China than any other market, according to quantitative strategists at Morgan Stanley. Reversals of the trend seen during the previous few months tend to beat momentum trading, analysts including head of Asia quantitative research Yinan Zhang wrote ...

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• 2 June

  Deutsche Bank, UBS briefly explored merger

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG and UBS Group AG briefly explored the idea of a megamerger earlier this year that would have created continental Europe’s biggest financial institution, people with knowledge of the matter said. Top Deutsche Bank and UBS officials held preliminary discussions in recent months about a potential combination, according to the people, who asked not to be identified ...

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• 2 June

  Wells Fargo in talks to settle tax credit probe

  Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co is in negotiations to settle a US probe into procurement of low-income housing tax credits as its top lawyer tries to clean up issues before handing off the chief executive officer role. The US Justice Department is aiming to resolve an investigation into multiple banks’ alleged manipulation of tax-credit bidding in the next couple months, ...

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• 1 June

  Oil posts worst May in 7 years as global trade tensions grow

  

  Bloomberg Oil posted its worst May performance in seven years as global trade tensions escalat-ed, undermining the outlook for energy demand growth. Futures tumbled 5.5 percent in New York to a depth not seen in more than three months. Equities also plunged as investors deserted risky asset classes for the safety of gold and US Treasuries. President Donald Trump’s threat ...

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• 1 June

  Islamic nations condemn attack on Saudi oil ships

  Bloomberg Leaders of Islamic nations condemned attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities and ships off the coast of the UAE that have been blamed on Iran and its Yemeni Houthi allies, saying the international community should preserve the region’s stability. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation held a summit in Mecca a day after back-to-back emergency meetings of Gulf and Arab ...

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• 1 June

  Dubai’s Ramadan food trade hits AED8.3bn in Q1

  

  Dubai / WAM The latest statistics from Dubai Customs revealed the value of the emirate’s external trade in Ramadan foodstuff during the first quarter of 2019. The trade during the period amounted to as much as AED8.3 billion. The foodstuffs traded weighed a total of 1.5 million tonnes. The products included, meats, sugar, vegetables, flour, rice, nuts, bottled water, juice ...

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• 1 June

  DGCX records highest average open interest in three years

  

  Dubai / Emirates Busines The Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) saw a spike in Indian Rupee (INR) trading in May as the India election came to a close, leading the exchange to record a monthly average open interest (AOI) of 406,203 contracts in the month, its highest AOI since November 2016. Ongoing political tensions across Europe on the back ...

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