May, 2016

• 31 May

  OPEC’s cheap oil strategy lures drivers back into gas guzzlers

  

    Bloomberg As OPEC ministers gather in Vienna, they may notice more sport utility vehicles on the streets of the Austrian capital than on previous visits. Last year, SUVs outsold any other type of passenger vehicle in Europe for the first time, according to auto industry consultants JATO Dynamics. The trend has continued in 2016, with demand for SUVs such ...

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• 31 May

  Treasuries lose their lead over shares as Fed moves towards shift

  

    Bloomberg Treasuries have lost their edge over stocks as the U.S. economy expands enough to push the Federal Reserve toward raising interest rates. U.S. government securities stagnated for a second month in May, leaving them little changed for the second quarter. The S&P 500 Index of shares has returned 2.3 percent since the end of March, based on data ...

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• 31 May

  Chilean retail sales jump 7.9% on early onset of winter

  

    Bloomberg Chilean retail sales rose at the fastest pace in two-and-a-half years in April as early rains and cold weather encouraged consumers to shop for winter clothes earlier than last year. Sales leaped 7.9 percent from the year earlier, the national statistics agency said on its website, compared with the 4.5 percent median forecast of 13 analysts surveyed by ...

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• 31 May

  Brazil’s April primary budget surplus exceeds all estimates

  

    Bloomberg Brazil’s central government posted a higher-than-expected primary fiscal surplus in April due to a seasonal windfall, a week after the government of Acting President Michel Temer obtained permission to close the year with the widest budget gap on record. The surplus before interest payments, which excludes results of states, municipalities and state-owned companies, reached 9.8 billion reais ($2.7 ...

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• 31 May

  Big airline LATAM suspends flights to Venezuela

    Santiago, Chile / AFP Latin America’s biggest airline LATAM said it will suspend its flights to crisis-hit Venezuela for an indefinite period, following a similar move by German carrier Lufthansa. Chile-based LATAM Airlines group and its Peruvian and Brazilian subsidiaries decided to cut the flights “due to the complex macroeconomic situation that the region is currently going through,” it said ...

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• 31 May

  Brazil Selic call raised for 1st time since December

  

    Bloomberg Brazil economists raised their forecast for the benchmark interest rate at year-end following inflation surprises that reinforced the challenge facing Brazil’s prospective central bank chief to rein in prices. Economists’ median forecast for the Selic at year-end rose to 12.88 percent from 12.75 percent the prior week, marking the first increase in the weekly Focus survey conducted May ...

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• 31 May

  Trump’s energy plan would distort global market

  

    Donald Trump gave a well-timed speech on Thursday, laying out his policies on energy. That day, for the first time in six months, oil hit $50 a barrel, and he was in North Dakota, which produces more oil than any other state but Texas. The audience there welcomed his calls for greater production of fossil fuels, an end to ...

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• 31 May

  South Korea, THAAD, and the China problem

  

    Many questions have yet to be answered regarding the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea. It has been widely reported that discussions regarding deployment have been underway since early March 2016 but after initial hopes of a quick resolution, no end to the discussions seems to be in sight. What will South ...

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• 31 May

  Bonds fall on Fed outlook as US stocks swing; crude climbs

  

    BLOOMBERG Bonds fell as the Federal Reserve seems intent to raise interest rates this summer amid signs inflation is picking up, while oil headed for its longest run of monthly gains in five years and stocks in the U.S. were little changed. Treasuries retreated in the first full day of trading since Fed Chair Janet Yellen said late Friday ...

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• 31 May

  Risky reprise of debt binge stars USA firms, not consumers

  

    Bloomberg Consumers were the Achilles’ heel of the U.S. economy in the run-up to the last recession. This time, companies may play that role. Among the warning signs: rising debt, lagging profits and mounting defaults. While the financial vulnerabilities aren’t likely to lead to another downturn soon, economists say they point to potential potholes down the road for an ...

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