Market

Bangladesh’s rapidly diminishing water resources pose a danger to its economic progress.
28Sep By Online DeskNo Comments
Asia, Market

Bangladesh’s rapidly diminishing water resources pose a danger to its economic progress.

Groundwater in the climate-vulnerable country is depleting faster than ever before, according to new research from WaterAid, falling by as much as three meters per year in some places. Consumption is set to reach 55 billion cubic meters per year by 2040, a 37 per cent increase from 2020 levels. Despite the recent political upheaval, Bangladesh has great economic potential, said Jonathan Farr, director at WaterAid’s Resilient Water Accelerator. “It has a very skilled, highly educated population,” he said, but too much of the country’s growth is fueled by increasing demand for water, in particular for rice cultivation and industries such as textiles.  Climate change is an added risk. Bangladesh experiences flooding from a web of tributaries feeding into the Ganges river, saline intrusion...
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Copper Breaks $10,000 Due to US Economic Strength and China Stimulus
28Sep By Online DeskNo Comments
Asia, China, Market

Copper Breaks $10,000 Due to US Economic Strength and China Stimulus

(Bloomberg) -- Copper rallied back above $10,000 a ton and iron ore broke through $100 after China’s top leaders stepped up efforts to revive economic growth for the world’s largest metals consumer. The price of copper rose more than 2% to a three-month high on the London Metal Exchange after the official Xinhua News Agency reported that China’s Politburo will push for the real estate market “to stop declining” and called for “forceful” rate cuts. That followed a Bloomberg report that China is considering a $142 billion capital injection into the biggest state banks. “They’re trying to restore confidence in their economy,” said Michael Cuoco, head of metals at StoneX Financial Inc. “They’re sending a message to their populace that they understand that there are problems and hardship...
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Wall St ends higher on positive US economic data
28Sep By Online DeskNo Comments
Market, USA, World

Wall St ends higher on positive US economic data

A string of robust U.S. economic data eased concerns that the Federal Reserve may be cutting rates aggressively to curb any slowdown. Weekly jobless claims fell more than anticipated, signaling a steady labor market, while the final reading of gross domestic product confirmed that the economy grew 3% in the second quarter. "It (the GDP number) just kind of reinforces that strong economic growth backdrop that we have been seeing," said Mike Dickson, head of research at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina. The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab closed up 23.11 points, or 0.40%, at 5,745.37, after rising to a record intraday high of 5,767.37. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 260.36 point...
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China questions Calvin Klein on cotton from Xinjiang
27Sep By Online DeskNo Comments
China, Market

China questions Calvin Klein on cotton from Xinjiang

China has announced it is investigating the company that owns US fashion brands Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein for suspected "discriminatory measures" against Xinjiang cotton companies. The move marks a new effort by Beijing to fight back against allegations from western officials and human rights activists that cotton and other goods in the region have been produced using forced labour from the Uyghur ethnic group. The US banned imports from the area in 2021, citing those concerns. China's Ministry of Commerce accused the firm of "boycotting Xinjiang cotton and other products without any factual basis". PVH, which owns the two brands and has a significant presence in China as well as the US, said it was in contact with Chinese authorities. It has 30 days to respond to off...
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China acknowledges new economic “problems” and promises to address the real estate industry.
27Sep By Online DeskNo Comments
China, Market

China acknowledges new economic “problems” and promises to address the real estate industry.

Beijing has this week unveiled a raft of measures to boost its ailing economy, which it has targeted to grow five percent this year -- an objective analysts say is optimistic given the many headwinds it faces. On Thursday, the ruling Communist Party convened a meeting of its top body, the Politburo, to "analyse and study the current economic situation". "Some new situations and problems have emerged in the current running of the economy," the Xinhua news agency reported after the meeting, which was attended by Xi. "We must view the current economic situation comprehensively, objectively and calmly, face difficulties squarely, (and) strengthen confidence," it added. Politburo members agreed on the need to "further improve the focus and effectiveness of policy measures" aimed at...
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Why China’s latest stimulus package is insufficient to address the country’s housing issue
27Sep By Online DeskNo Comments
China, Market

Why China’s latest stimulus package is insufficient to address the country’s housing issue

China's all-out stimulus package will fail to meaningfully reverse ongoing chaos in the nation's property market, JPMorgan said in new research. Though Beijing committed on Tuesday to reduce mortgage rates and downpayment rules, the bank said these efforts will not bolster housing consumption as hoped. "These measures are unlikely a game changer," strategists led by chief China economist Haibin Zhu wrote. "Hence we maintain a cautious view on near-term housing market outlook." For years, high debt and low demand have stalked China's housing sector, and both issues have proven near-impossible to shake. These conditions have led to massive developer defaults, and even notched comparisons to the 2008 financial crisis. Since Chinese real-estate accounts for as much as&nb...
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As per the government’s official estimate, the US economy grew at a pace of 3% last quarter.
27Sep By Online DeskNo Comments
Market, USA, World

As per the government’s official estimate, the US economy grew at a pace of 3% last quarter.

The American economy expanded at a healthy 3% annual pace from April through June, boosted by strong consumer spending and business investment, the government said Thursday, leaving its previous estimate unchanged. The Commerce Department reported that the nation's gross domestic product the nation's total output of goods and services growth picked up sharply in the second quarter from the tepid 1.6% annual rate in the first three months of the year. Consumer spending, the primary driver of the economy, grew last quarter at a 2.8% pace, down slightly from the 2.9% rate that the government had previously estimated. Business investment was also solid: It increased at a vigorous 8.3% annual pace last quarter, led by a 9.8% rise in investment in equipment. The U.S. economy, the world...
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China boosts markets by promising to provide further economic help.
27Sep By Online DeskNo Comments
Asia, China, Market

China boosts markets by promising to provide further economic help.

China’s leaders have vowed to intensify fiscal support for the world’s second-largest economy, fuelling markets with hopes of more intervention just days after the central bank announced the biggest monetary stimulus since the pandemic. The politburo, led by President Xi Jinping, pledged on Thursday to “issue and use” government bonds to better implement “the driving role of government investment”, in comments that come as analysts warn that China is in danger of missing its official economic growth target this year. The politburo usually does not hold economic sessions in September, suggesting “an increased sense of urgency” about growing deflationary pressures, Morgan Stanley analysts said. But they said China’s government did not yet appear to have reached a “whatever it takes” moment ...
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Bargaining chips: Taiwan’s implications of the Vance Doctrine
26Sep By Online DeskNo Comments
Market, USA, World

Bargaining chips: Taiwan’s implications of the Vance Doctrine

Donald Trump’s selection of JD Vance as his 2024 running mate has disquieted America’s security partners in Europe and Asia. If America’s 45th president returns as its 47th and a Vice President Vance holds sway, the implications for Europe are clear. Vance argues that President Joe Biden’s arming of the Ukrainians has passed the point of diminishing returns and that it distracts from America’s challenge of greatest import: China’s rise. But while Vance has called for a focus on Asia, what exactly a Vance-inflected foreign policy would mean for the region is not obvious. Vance’s well-documented body of thought on American society, governance, and strategy offers some clues, however, on how he would approach China, Taiwan, and related questions. The theme that ru...
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Through negotiations on minimum EV pricing, China and the EU want to avert a trade war.
26Sep By Online DeskNo Comments
Asia, China, Market

Through negotiations on minimum EV pricing, China and the EU want to avert a trade war.

BERLIN — Brussels and Beijing are engaged in intense 11th-hour negotiations on Chinese electric-vehicle subsidies, raising hopes in Germany that EU duties — and a wider trade war — can still be avoided, officials familiar with the talks said. The discussions are an attempt to solve an ongoing dispute over Beijing’s subsidies for Made-in-China EVs, which the EU says are artificially lowering prices and making it impossible for its own industry to compete. Under discussion is the idea of setting voluntary minimum prices that would offset the market-distorting Chinese subsidies, thereby rendering the planned EU duties moot. One official described the concept as a “surcharge“ that would balance out the Chinese state aid. A meeting between Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao an...
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