January, 2018

• 2 January

  ‘Frankenstein’ gets spot on UK coin in 2018 collection

  Bloomberg The UK will make new coins this year to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein’’ as well as commemorate a century since women started gaining the right to vote. Designs on special two-pound coins will also honour the end of the First World War and the creation of the Royal Air Force in 1918, the UK’s Royal ...

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• 2 January

  Europe’s record factory growth puts the squeeze on resources

  

  Bloomberg Euro-area manufacturing growth accelerated to a record in December 2017, capping a solid year for factories which is now eating into production capacity. With export demand strengthening, IHS Markit’s monthly report on manufacturing showed both new orders and output were the strongest in 17 years. Germany’s gauge rose to a record and France improved. Global growth also got a ...

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• 2 January

  US stocks advance as dollar weakens against G-10 peers

  

  Bloomberg The dollar weakened against most of its G-10 peers, US stocks rose and Treasuries fell in the first official day of trading in 2018. European stocks started the year in the red, failing to capitalise on a positive Asian session as the strength of the region’s common currency weighed on exporters. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index opened higher ...

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• 2 January

  Stock markets in UAE, Qatar rise as year starts

  

  Reuters Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar rose as they opened for the first day of trade in 2018, while Saudi Arabia continued to slip after a hike in domestic gasoline prices. The Dubai index had a poor 2017, falling 4.6 percent, but it rose 1.2 percent on Tuesday as stocks in the blue-chip Emaar group, which ...

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• 2 January

  Hundreds detained as Iran says protests will fade soon

  

  Bloomberg Protests that have roiled Iran over the past five days will die down in a few days, according to a senior Iranian official, as authorities said hundreds of those involved in the unrest have been detained. The demonstrations broke out last week, starting in the holy city of Mashhad and spreading to other parts of the country, including the ...

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• 2 January

  Trump to hold Pak aid linked to action against terrorism

  Bloomberg The US will continue to withhold $255 million in military aid to Pakistan as the White House reviews the nation’s ‘level of cooperation’ in fighting terrorism, a National Security Council spokesperson said. The announcement came just hours after Trump in a tweet said the US has ‘foolishly’ given more than $33 billion in aid to the country and gotten ...

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• 2 January

  Israel’s changes law to make it harder to cede Jerusalem control in peace deal

  

  Bloomberg Israel’s parliament passed an amendment on Tuesday that would make it harder for it to cede control over parts of Jerusalem in any peace deal with the Palestinians, who condemned the move as undermining any chance to revive talks on statehood. The legislation, sponsored by the far-right Jewish Home coalition party, raises to 80 from 61 the number of ...

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• 2 January

  ‘EU can’t cherry pick post-Brexit trade deal’

  

  Bloomberg The European Union can’t pick and choose which bits of its economic relationship with Britain it maintains and which it eliminates in any future trade deal, UK Brexit Secretary David Davis said, throwing the words of EU diplomats back at them. Post-Brexit trade talks are due to start in March, with a year remaining until Britain’s scheduled exit day ...

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• 2 January

  US strategy to knock out North Korean missiles carries risk

  

  Bloomberg The Trump administration’s national security strategy calls for a more aggressive approach toward stopping a North Korean missile strike on the US: knocking the weapons out prior to launch. But it’s unclear that the US has the technology or on-the-ground intelligence to effectively carry out a preemptive strike in that kind of crisis situation. And if it fails, the ...

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• 2 January

  Next step in tax reform is repairing what’s wrong

  

  The Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 — commonly known as the Republican tax reform bill — has a number of good things in it. My Bloomberg View colleague Justin Fox has an excellent rundown. The corporate-tax rate cut was something that needed to happen for a long time, and mainly just follows the example set by other developed ...

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