![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() by AFP Staff Writers Hong Kong (AFP) July 18, 2022
Stocks rose in Asia on Monday following a rally on Wall Street in response to data indicating US consumers remained resilient to surging inflation and higher interest rates, easing concerns about a possible recession. Speculation that Saudi Arabia will lift oil production after Joe Biden's visit last week also provided some relief as crude prices -- a key driver of inflation in recent months -- dropped. Still, investors continue to fret over the economic outlook with Russia's war in Ukraine showing no sign of ending, China locks down cities to fight a new Covid flare-up and central banks quickly tighten monetary policy. All three main indexes in New York raced higher on Friday after June retail sales came in above forecasts and banking giant Citigroup's April-June results beat expectations. While a strong set of economic data has of late boosted bets on the Federal Reserve lifting borrowing costs more, the latest figures were not seen as being big enough to warrant a sharper rate hike next week. Market analysts widely expect the bank to announce a 75 basis point lift, though some have suggested a one percentage point increase could be on the cards. Policymakers have made it clear their main goal is bringing inflation down from a four decade high, even if that stunts growth or even causes a recession. "Overall the robust US data... eased concerns about an imminent recession but is also unlikely to mount an additional case for a 100 basis point Fed hike," said SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes. "And it was about as goldilocks of a mix of headline data risk as one could have expected given the Fed's dilemma of balancing inflation versus growth." In early trade, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Jakarta and Wellington were all up. Tokyo was closed for a holiday. However, uncertainty remains rife on trading floors, with a new spike in Covid cases in China causing concern that officials will impose fresh lockdowns in major cities including Shanghai and Beijing. A two-month shutdown in Shanghai earlier this year hammered the world's number two economy and severely hit global supply chains. Lanzhou, the capital of northwestern Gansu province, has ordered its 4.4 million residents to stay home, while a county in Anhui province went into lockdown from Friday. Beihai in the southern Guangxi region on Saturday also announced lockdowns in parts of two districts that are home to more than 800,000 people. The expected blow to demand from the world's top crude importer has weighed on prices of the commodity, with both main contracts giving up most of the gains seen after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Adding to downward pressure on oil is speculation Saudi Arabia will lift production after Biden's visit, during which he called on the kingdom to help ease the price pressure that has sent inflation rocketing. SPI's Innes added that with a deal between OPEC and other major producers ending soon, output could see a big rise. "As long as the agreement is in effect, Saudi Arabia has made it transparent that individual producers with spare capacity should not exceed their quota to offset underproduction elsewhere within the group. "From October, however, this changes." Meanwhile, Libya is set to see a boost to output as months of outages come to an end, while the lifting of US sanctions on Venezuela could lead to a return of capacity from the South American country. - Key figures at around 0230 GMT - Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.8 percent at 20,455.99 Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,245.53 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0107 from $1.0088 Friday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.1898 from $1.1865 Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.96 pence from 85.00 pence Dollar/yen: DOWN at 138.13 yen from 138.54 yen West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.8 percent at $96.81 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $100.89 per barrel New York - Dow: UP 2.2 percent at 31,288.26 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 1.7 percent at 7,159.01 (close) dan/jta
![]() ![]() China growth falls to two-year low on Covid, property woes Beijing (AFP) July 15, 2022 China logged its slowest economic growth since the initial Covid outbreak Friday, expanding just 0.4 percent in the second quarter with lockdowns and property market weakness pushing the government's target further out of reach. Beijing has dug its heels in on a zero-Covid policy of stamping out virus clusters with snap lockdowns and long quarantines, but this has battered businesses and kept consumers jittery. The slowdown comes after China's biggest city Shanghai was sealed off for two months ... read more
![]() |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |