Economists pour cold water on Trump’s tariff arguments May 13, 2019 Economists have said US President Donald Trump’s argument that American consumers will not face higher prices after tariff increases shows “a fundamental misunderstanding of how tariffs work”. Read more: China retaliates with tariffs on $60bn of US goods Trump tweeted today: “Their [sic] is no reason for the U.S. Consumer to pay the Tariffs, which take [...]
UK business confidence lowest since 2012 as output drops for first time in 2019, says BDO May 13, 2019 Business optimism in the UK fell to its lowest rate since 2012 in April, according to a report released today, in a sign that the Brexit extension has done little to cheer up the country’s gloomy businesses. Read more: UK economy bounces back, but is growth just a ‘flash in the pan’? UK business output [...]
US-China trade deficit falls ahead of crunch negotiations May 9, 2019 The US’s trade deficit in goods and services with China decreased in March, in news that will cheer the Trump administration as it prepares to ramp up tariffs on its largest trading partner. Read more: Global markets in tailspin after Trump threatens huge China tariff rise The country's deficit with the rest of the world [...]
Trump claims China stalled on trade deal in hopes of dealing with Democratic president May 8, 2019 US President Donald Trump has claimed that China was seeking to U-turn on the trade deal struck between the two countries in the hope that it could renegotiate with a Democratic president following the 2020 election. Read more: Global markets in tailspin after Trump threatens huge China tariff rise He also said that China's vice-premier [...]
Chinese exports unexpectedly fall as pressure builds to reach trade deal with US May 8, 2019 China’s gigantic trade surplus unexpectedly narrowed in April, as the country’s exports fell 2.7 per cent year-on-year in a sign that pressure from the US was hurting the Chinese economy. Read more: Global markets in tailspin after Trump threatens huge China tariff rise Imports fared better, however, rising four per cent in April after a [...]
China is proving a tough market for western brands – here’s the common mistakes that companies keep making April 12, 2019 Last week, the International Monetary Fund upgraded its 2019 growth forecast for the Chinese economy to 6.3 per cent, up from 6.2 per cent. For comparison, the UK economy is only expected to grow 1.2 per cent this year. It’s worth noting these figures, because they highlight why many brands in the UK and elsewhere [...]
This investment clock says what assets to buy and when March 11, 2019 | City Talk By Tom Bailey from interactive investor. It’s inevitable that the unremitting global economic cycle will impact stock markets, but when? The economist Paul Samuelson once joked that the stock market has predicted nine of the past seven recessions. But while the over-reactive nature of equity market investors and their poor predictive powers ring true, there [...]
There are plenty of reasons for investors to be optimistic about China March 6, 2019 Since the election of Donald Trump, one story has dominated global markets news: the trade war between China and the US. As negotiations reached a critical phase last month, markets fluctuated as setbacks led to breakthroughs, only for talks to stall again. But while investors are right to worry about currents of protectionism in the world’s [...]
What does the year of the pig hold for stocks? History has some clues February 8, 2019 | City Talk Chinese stock markets are currently on holiday, with traders and consumers off celebrating the arrival of the Year of the Pig. But maybe equity markets across the world have something to celebrate, given the past performance of stocks during previous porcine-themed years. Statistically speaking, the Year of the Pig is a good one for stocks. [...]
Will 2019 be the year gold regains its shine? January 28, 2019 | City Talk Gold had a mixed year in 2018, quickly peaking around $1,366 in January, but falling as low as $1,160 by August. For a while it seemed that the correlation between risk-off appetite and gold prices had broken, with the yellow metal overlooked even in times of heightened uncertainty. But after a 7% recovery since early [...]