Market Archives - Page 18 of 20

Oil rally and Saudi price spikes could hurt refiners, stifling market recovery

5Jul

By Team FPNo Comments

Market, World

Oil rally and Saudi price spikes could hurt refiners, stifling market recovery

A view of the Marathon Petroleum Corp's Los Angeles Refinery in Carson, California, April 25, 2020 after the price for crude plunged into negative territory for the first time in history on April 20. Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images Oil prices pared gains on Monday, despite the weekend announcement by OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, that historic production cuts of 9.6 million barrels per day across the group would continue through July as the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on demand. The move spurred hopeful talk of a recovery for oil prices, which are down about 30% year-to-date after a 56% recovery for international benchmark Brent crude in the month of May. But data from refineries across several regions shows weak margins, or "crack spreads" — the difference between the ...

Virtual tours and opportunities: The Singapore property market during COVID-19

4Jul

By Team FPNo Comments

Market, Singapore, World

Virtual tours and opportunities: The Singapore property market during COVID-19

Singapore is now in the first phase of the post-circuit breaker period. Some sectors of the economy have reopened, but it isn’t quite business as usual in the property sector. Money Mind reports. SINGAPORE: Singapore is now in the first phase of the post-circuit breaker period. Some sectors of the economy have reopened, but it isn’t quite business as usual in the property sector. Developers’ show galleries remain closed, and property agents are still unable to conduct face-to-face meetings or viewings with prospective buyers. Amid these challenging operating conditions, new private home sales fell 12 per cent in the first quarter. In the same period, prices fell 1 per cent. Most market watchers expect prices to continue this downward trend. Ms Christine Sun, head of research and c...

Stocks close higher as opposing forces pull on the market — what investors should watch now

26Jun

By Team FPNo Comments

Market, World

Stocks close higher as opposing forces pull on the market — what investors should watch now

Opposing forces hit stocks on Thursday. The major averages closed sharply higher after a late-day surge, capping off a mixed trading session that grappled with rising coronavirus case counts in reopened states such as Texas, which said it would pause its efforts to try to stem the spread. U.S. stocks initially rose after banking regulators said they would ease some restrictions put in place after the 2007-2009 financial crisis, sparking an upward move in bank stocks that continued in the afternoon bounce. Here's what five market watchers had to say about Thursday's action: Deregulation danger Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chair Sheila Bair said the bank regulators' moves were "ill-advised": "I think they're significantly in the direction of deregulation. That's kind of bee...

China loses landmark WTO dispute against EU over market-economy status

24Jun

By Walter ParezNo Comments

China, Market

China loses landmark WTO dispute against EU over market-economy status

In a landmark development, China has lost a dispute to the European Union at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for a market economy status, as the former allowed the dispute to lapse.China spent four years fighting for market-economy status, a designation that would give it stronger footing with commercial partners while also curtailing their ability to retaliate over trade disputes.The Chinese government allowed a landmark World Trade Organization dispute — aimed at forcing the European Union to recognize it as a market economy in trade investigations — to lapse on June 15.The case was initially brought in 2016 and China lost an interim ruling on the matter last year.A note by the WTO Secretariat said: "At the request of China, the panel suspended its work on 14 June 2019 (WT/DS516/13). ...

[Market] Oil prices falls on U.S.-China tensions over Hong Kong

20Jun

By Team FPNo Comments

Asia, Market

[Market] Oil prices falls on U.S.-China tensions over Hong Kong

Soon after U.S President Donald Trump said he was working on a strong response to China’s proposed security law in Hong Kong, oil prices took a drastic downturn on Wednesday.Brent crude fell 47 cents, or 1.3%, to $35.70 a barrel by 1106 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 32 cents, or almost 1%, at $34.03. “As much as oil fundamentals are improving, there are still several flies in the bullish ointment. They include the latest uptick in U.S.-China tensions,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.“The threat of a fresh U.S.-China trade war is no longer just a tail risk and could spell disaster for risk assets,” he added.Gloomy forecasts over the economic impact of the pandemic also weighed on crude prices.The euro zone economy is likely to shrink between 8% and 12% t...

[Market] Singapore life insurance sales rise 10% amid Coronavirus scare

20Jun

By Team FPNo Comments

Asia, Market, Singapore

[Market] Singapore life insurance sales rise 10% amid Coronavirus scare

While Coronavirus has destroyed many lives and economies, Singapore's life insurance industry saw new business, in terms of total weighted premiums, grow 10 per cent to $965.8 million for the first quarter from January to March 2020.A year ago, total weighted premiums amounted to $877.8 million.“This comes as more consumers took action to secure their financial future in view of Covid-19's drastic impact on the global and local markets”, said the Life Insurance Association (LIA), Singapore."However, with circuit-breaker measures, climbing unemployment and an impending recession, the life insurance industry may see the knock-on effect in the coming quarters," LIA president Khor Hock Seng said.Sales of annual-premium policies grew 3 per cent year on year, resulting in $672.4 million in total...

As overseas markets ‘lockdown’, China exporters look inwards

20Jun

By Team FPNo Comments

Asia, China, Market

As overseas markets ‘lockdown’, China exporters look inwards

China exporters are now left in a crisis as the coronavirus hits its trading partners worldwide leading to cancelled shipments, returned goods and a dearth of new orders - accelerating a long-standing push towards domestic consumption.The world's second-largest economy is stirring back to life after virus cases dwindled from a peak in February, when activity came to a near-halt. But as China’s economy started to recover, lockdowns and restrictions in other countries has forced exporters to focus on domestic markets.Chinese online marketplace Taobao said the number of foreign trading companies opening stores on its domestic-focused platform spiked 160 percent from February to May.And policymakers - who have sought for years to wean the country off cheap exports and government spending in fa...

Pakistan bars Afghan goods, but exports freely into Afghanistan

15Jun

By Mike Trudell1 Comment

Market, Singapore

Pakistan bars Afghan goods, but exports freely into Afghanistan

Afghan traders and merchants on Thursday voiced their concerns about Pakistani products coming into Afghanistan flow as usual, but Afghan business people still not being able to export goods to the Pakistani ports.Merchants called on the Afghanistan government to take action and raise the issue of the barring of Afghan exports with the Pakistani government.“Our trucks have been stopped in Torkham for the past three months, we don’t know what to do, the products are on the verge of destruction,” said Hejratullah Hamdard, a merchant.“We don’t know when the government will take reciprocal action against Pakistan,” said Navid, a merchant.This comes as the harvest of vegetable and fresh fruits are at their peak in Afghanistan, and the Afghan traders are losing millions of dollars because of the...

China to restrict expansion of solar equipment producers

29May

By Joe RodriguezNo Comments

China, Market

China to restrict expansion of solar equipment producers

[Asia] China to restrict expansion of solar equipment producersChina’s industrial ministry on Friday said that to tackle overcapacity in the industry in the face of falling domestic installations, it intends to impose restrictions on expansion of solar equipment production.Surging manufacturing capacity helped to spark grid price parity, where electricity from solar and coal are priced the same, but also led to a severe supply glut in the Chinese market and encouraged producers to dump cheap Chinese products abroad."(We will) strictly control the solar equipment manufacturing projects whose sole purpose is to expand capacity," the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in a draft plan.China, the world's biggest manufacturer of photovoltaic products, had silicon wafer p...

Oil prices falls on U.S.-China tensions over Hong Kong

27May

By Mike TrudellNo Comments

Asia, China, Market

Oil prices falls on U.S.-China tensions over Hong Kong

Soon after U.S President Donald Trump said he was working on a strong response to China’s proposed security law in Hong Kong, oil prices took a drastic downturn on Wednesday.Brent crude fell 47 cents, or 1.3%, to $35.70 a barrel by 1106 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 32 cents, or almost 1%, at $34.03. “As much as oil fundamentals are improving, there are still several flies in the bullish ointment. They include the latest uptick in U.S.-China tensions,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.“The threat of a fresh U.S.-China trade war is no longer just a tail risk and could spell disaster for risk assets,” he added.Gloomy forecasts over the economic impact of the pandemic also weighed on crude prices.The euro zone economy is likely to shrink between 8% and 12% t...

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