Markets & Industries
ECB cuts all three key interest rates - 09/13/2024
The European Central Bank (ECB) reduced all three main interest rates at the conclusion of its meeting on Thursday. The ECB announced that the deposit rate has been reduced by 25 basis points to 3.5%, according to a statement. In March, the regulator stated that the gap between the main refinancing operations (MRO) rate and the deposit rate would narrow to 15 bps, down from the previous 50 bps,...
EU to cut duties on Chinese electric cars imports - 09/12/2024
The additional levies imposed by the EU on Chinese electric car imports will be somewhat reduced, writes Bloomberg citing sources. The revision process is linked to the acquisition of fresh data from businesses and might go for as long as the international dialog does. Specifically, the government observes that thee duties for Tesla will be somewhat lower than 8% (vs. previously projected 9%)....
Hedge funds sell equivalent of 23 million barrels of oil in August - 09/11/2024
In August, hedge funds and money managers maintained their pessimistic view on oil. OPEC analysts noted in their monthly report that a notable decrease in net long positions in July led to increased volatility and hastened the fall in oil futures prices, resulting in a 7% decline. Net long positions in ICE Brent dropped to their lowest levels since at least 2011. There was a lot of selling...
USA corporate bankruptcies in January-August hit the highest in 4 years - 09/11/2024
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence's calculations, the number of corporate bankruptcies in the US from January to August 2024 hit a four-year peak for the time frame, and was the second highest since 2010. 452 bankruptcies were reported in the country during the eight-month period, which was lower than the 466 recorded in the corresponding period in 2020 and the 604 in January-August...
JPMorgan analysts recommend investors to stick to defensive sectors - 09/10/2024
A group of analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co., headed by Mislav Matejka, thinks that investors in the U.S. stock market should raise their allocation of securities from defensive sectors due to the deteriorating U.S. economy. According to the experts, rates on shorter-term government bonds are dropping faster than rates on longer-term government bonds. This suggests that the market is...
JPMorgan worsens its recommendation for Chinese stock market - 09/06/2024
Experts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. have revised their advice for the Chinese stock market from "buy" to "neutral", citing the slowing growth of the Chinese economy, limited stimulus from the government, and the unknown factors of the upcoming U.S. presidential elections. JPMorgan's experts, headed by Pedro Martins, think that the potential for a fresh trade conflict between Beijing and...
WGC: World central banks bought 37 tons of gold in July - 09/04/2024
According to initial calculations by the World Gold Council (WGC), global central banks added 37.1 tons to their gold reserves in July. Poland (14.3 tons), Uzbekistan (9.6 tons), and India (5.4 tons) were the top purchasers. Jordan boosted its reserves by 4.3 tons, while Turkey enhanced theirs by 3.8 tons. Qatar saw an increase of 2.3 tons, and the Czech Republic's reserves grew by 1.6 tons....
Eurozone inflation falls to lowest since mid-2021 - 09/03/2024
According to Eurostat data cited by Bloomberg, annual inflation in the eurozone dropped to its lowest level since mid-2021, with consumer prices increasing by 2.2% in August compared to 2.6% in July. This aligns with the analysts' average estimate, as stated by the agency. Core inflation, excluding fluctuations in food and energy costs, dropped to 2.8% as predicted by economists, following three...
Bloomberg: OPEC+ is leaning toward increasing production in October - 09/02/2024
Delegates in discussions stated that OPEC+ countries are likely to boost oil production in October as per their earlier plans, Bloomberg reports. Reportedly, the OPEC+ countries are set to boost production by 180 thousand barrels per day in October. Simultaneously, the group has stressed multiple times that it may reject such a move due to the market conditions, with several analysts and market...
China suspends permits for construction of steel plants - 08/26/2024
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has halted the granting of permits for new steel plants until existing capacities are decommissioned, according to MarketWatch citing the ministry's announcement. Officials are working on a fresh method for capacity substitution, but the specifics are still unidentified. The existing system has been put on hold due to excess production...
