Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 12 December 2016
Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
Global
Chinese markets tumble more than 2% on new regulations (CNBC) Chinese and Hong Kong markets tumbled Monday (more under China, later below), while most other makets were little changed or higher.
Oil Surges as Saudis Eye Deeper Cuts While Non-OPEC Joins Deal (Bloomberg) Oil jumped to the highest since July 2015 after Saudi Arabia signaled it’s ready to cut output more than earlier agreed while non-OPEC countries including Russia pledged to pump less next year, strengthening the coordinated commitment by the world’s largest producers to tighten supply. Futures rose as much as 5.8 percent in New York and 6.6 percent in London. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said Saturday the biggest crude exporter will “cut substantially to be below” the target agreed last month with members of OPEC.
U.S.
Goldman Says Saudis Wrong to Rule Out U.S. Shale Oil Rebound (Bloomberg) Saudi Arabia is wrong to think that U.S. shale production won’t respond to higher oil prices in 2017, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. While crude may rise to over $60 a barrel if OPEC members and other nations cut production as promised, a rebound in U.S. shale output would bring prices back to $55, the bank’s forecast for the first half of next year, it said in a report. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Saturday he didn’t expect a big supply response from American shale producers in 2017. At the current U.S. horizontal oil-rig count, shale output is already on track to sequentially grow from the first quarter of 2017, according to Goldman. American producers can achieve 800,000 barrels a day of annual production growth at a price of $55 a barrel for benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude, “with limited outspend of cash flow and declining leverage,” the bank said. U.S. Rig counts have risen steadily since May.
C.I.A. Judgment on Russia Built on Swell of Evidence (The New York Times)
Will Trump’s backing revive moribund term-limits movement? (Pew Research Center) Donald Trump’s proposal for a constitutional amendment imposing term limits on members of Congress has drawn new attention to an issue that, after a burst of popularity in the early and mid-1990s, had been mostly dormant for nearly two decades.
Donald Trump’s Supreme Court picks will leave his mark on America’s biggest ideological struggles (Independent) Jubilant in the wake of his victory on Tuesday, Republicans are now counting on Mr Trump to use the power of the presidency to tilt the court back to the ideological right, beginning with nominating a conservative to fill the seat left empty by Antonin Scalia, who died in February. Mr Trump is likely to have other opportunities to stock the institution with jurists to his – and, presumably, to conservatives’ – ideological liking. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 83, Justice Kennedy, 80, and Stephen Breyer, 78, could all conceivably opt to retire in the next four years. If Mr Trump were to be re-elected for a second term, he will have an even greater chance of leaving a mark on the Court that could endure for a generation or longer.
UK
Job market shakes off Brexit blues as number of City roles up for grabs soars in November (City A.M.) Figures out today from professional services recruiter Morgan McKinley show a 6% year-on-year increase in professional jobs available for November, the first year-on-year rise recorded by the firm since June’s vote to leave the EU.
India
Headed home: workers abandon Indian building sites after cash crackdown (Reuters) Hundreds of thousands of Indian construction workers have returned home since Prime Minister Narendra Modi abolished high-denomination banknotes, leaving some building sites across the country facing costly delays. A month after Modi’s shock move to take away 86% of cash in circulation to crush the shadow economy, the growing labor shortage threatens to slow a recovery in India’s construction industry, which accounts for 8% of gross domestic product and employs 40 million people. Work at SARE Homes’ residential projects, spanning six cities, has slowed dramatically as migrant workers, who are out of cash and have no bank accounts to draw from, have little choice but to return to their villages.
Has demonetisation marked the return of Manmohan Singh? (Scroll.in) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s served all of 10 years as prime minister, under the United Progressive Alliance’s rule from 2004 to 2014. Now an outspoken critic in the Rajya Sabha over the government’s decision to invalidate high-value currency notes, calling it “organised loot“. Could he form the focus off a political opposition to Narendra Modi?
Japan
Japan protests against China’s allegations of dangerous conduct by fighter jets (Reuters) Japan said on Monday it had protested strongly against China’s allegations its fighter jets had engaged in “dangerous and unprofessional” behavior when they scrambled at the weekend as Chinese aircraft flew between Okinawa and Miyako islands. Chinese military aircraft flew over waterways near self-ruled Taiwan – seen by Beijing as a renegade province – on Saturday as part of long-range exercises, Taiwan said. Chinese defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said in a statement on Saturday that two Japanese F-15 fighter jets flew over the Miyako Strait and conducted “close range interference“, firing decoy flares and “jeopardizing the security of Chinese aircraft and pilots“.
South Korea
Korean Stocks Tied to Chinese Tourists Slump on Concern of Curbs (Bloomberg) South Korean stocks that rely on Chinese tourists slumped on concern local governments on the mainland are trying to limit the flow of visitors to the peninsula amid rising tension over a missile-defense system. The effort to suppress tourism comes as relations between Beijing and Seoul worsen over South Korea’s decision to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system with the U.S. The anti-missile system aimed at protecting South Korea from North Korean aggression will be deployed as soon as possible, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Oct. 20.
China
Chinese markets fall more than 2% on new regulations (CNBC) Shares in China took a tumble on Monday after regulatory curbs on aggressive share purchases by insurers ahead of the highly-anticipated FOMC’s two-day meeting starting Tuesday, while politics dominated news flows in other markets. Shares in China plunged after the insurance regulator said late last Friday that it would curb “barbaric” stock acquisitions by insurers, Reuters reported. The Shanghai composite dropped 2.49% or 80.41 points to close at 3,152.47 as the Shenzhen composite ended down 4.86% at 100.68 points at 1,929.32. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 1.35% by mid-afternoon.
Trump says U.S. not necessarily bound by ‘one China’ policy (Reuters) U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said the United States did not necessarily have to stick to its long-standing position that Taiwan is part of “one China,” questioning nearly four decades of policy in a move likely to antagonize Beijing. Trump’s comments on “Fox News Sunday” came after he prompted a diplomatic protest from China over his decision to accept a telephone call from Taiwan’s president on Dec. 2.