June, 2016

• 23 June

  China, US, EU pledge to tighten product safety in e-commerce

  

    BEIJING / AP US, European and Chinese regulators say they will jointly enforce product safety in online commerce, and an American official said they are making progress on crafting standards for hoverboards. The statement by American, European Union and Chinese officials reflects the rapid growth of international e-commerce, which the officials said “has created new challenges” in protecting consumers from …

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• 23 June

  N Korea mobilizes on 200-day economic speed campaign

    WONSAN / AP The bright red slogans hang from buses, government buildings and even some restaurants and gas stations, urging North Koreans to work harder to make the country’s 200-day “speed campaign” a success. “Have you carried out the plan for today?” one poster asks. It’s the second such drive this year, and while outside economists doubt their effectiveness, …

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• 23 June

  Stocks rise with US futures as pound gains while UK votes

  

    BLOOMBERG Stocks gained with U.S. equity-index futures and the pound strengthened to its highest level this year as the U.K.’s referendum on membership of the European Union got under way. European shares rose to a three-week high in above-average trading amid a vote that past opinion polls indicated was too close to call. A gauge of sterling advanced for …

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• 23 June

  Copper a bystander in commodities’ best start since 2008

  

    Bloomberg The best start to a year for commodities since 2008 is leaving copper in the dust. The metal is one of the weakest of the 22 raw materials in the Bloomberg Commodity Index of returns this year and the worst of the major metals. “If you look at where iron ore, coking coal or oil have gone this …

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• 23 June

  Boom turned gloom puts Turnbull on back foot in Oz mining state

  

    Bloomberg In the one-time engine room of Australia’s resources bonanza, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s election pledge of creating jobs and growth is ringing hollow for many voters. An economic downturn in Western Australia and claims the Liberal state government squandered the proceeds of the mining boom are a fillip for the opposition Labor party ahead of the July 2 …

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• 23 June

  US home prices increase 5.9% YoY in April

  

    Bloomberg U.S. home prices rose 5.9 percent in April from a year earlier as job growth spurred competition for a limited number of listings. Prices climbed 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from March, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said in a report on from Washington. The average estimate of 20 economists was for a 0.6 percent gain, …

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• 23 June

  Merlin creates largest Spanish REIT in merger deal with Metrovacesa

  

    Bloomberg Merlin Properties Socimi SA and Metrovacesa SA agreed to combine their commercial and residential property businesses, creating Spain’s largest real estate investment trust. Merlin shares rose the most in five months. Merlin will pay €1.7 billion ($1.9 billion) in stock to the banks that own Metrovacesa and get a controlling stake in the combined firms’ commercial-property portfolio, issuing …

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• 23 June

  Renters are making more, and landlords get it all

  

    Bloomberg A popular narrative of the U.S. housing market has been that big city prices are locking out young buyers, feeding a cycle in which a growing number of people are forced to rent at ever higher rates as demand overwhelms supply. Throw in the fact that wages haven’t kept pace, and you have a world where a wide …

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• 23 June

  ECB reinstates Greek waiver in boost for nation’s lenders

  

    Bloomberg The European Central Bank reinstated a waiver on Greek debt, allowing the nation’s banks more access to cheaper refinancing lines but stopping short of including such bonds in quantitative easing for now. The ECB “decided to reinstate the waiver affecting the eligibility of marketable debt instruments issued or fully guaranteed by the Hellenic Republic,” the institution said in …

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• 23 June

  UK exit saga looms over Europe as growth, inflation remain elusive

  

    Bloomberg Growth in the euro area’s private sector slowed more than economists predicted in June, with firms expressing concerns about uncertainty ahead of the U.K.’s vote on its European Union membership. A Purchasing Managers’ Index for manufacturing and services fell to 52.8 from 53.1 in May, London-based Markit Economics said on Thursday. The decline to the lowest level since …

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