Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 08 August 2019
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, published Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
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Notice: We have changed the form of content coverage for Early Bird. We will provide discussion only for Asia Markets news and a small number (often 1 or 2) other articles. The remainder of the content will be headlines (with links) only.
Key Articles
​Global
- Asia stocks rise as China fixes the yuan at weakest level since 2008 (CNBC) Stocks in Asia mostly gained on Thursday as Chinese customs data showed a surprise jump in the country’s July exports despite a protracted trade war with the United States. Investors kept a close eye on the yuan, which crossed the psychologically important level of 7 per dollar again, after the Chinese central bank set a midpoint reference that was the weakest in more than a decade. The U.S. dollar index was lower at 97.553 but up from an earlier low of 97.482. Brent crude futures contract rose 2.19% to $57.46 per barrel while U.S crude futures advanced 2.78% to $52.51 per barrel. Gold prices crossed the $1,500-mark for the first time since 2013 on Wednesday but on Thursday afternoon, spot gold was lower and traded down 0.13% at $1,498.80. U.S. government debt yields were sharply higher Thursday morning, following a dramatic move lower in the previous session, as a flurry of central banks cut key interest rates.
U.S.
- Mayor Whaley ‘confused’ by Trump’s tweet of how she described his visit to Dayton (Dayton Daily News) President Donald Trump left Dayton saying Mayor Nan Whaley and Sen. Sherrod Brown “misrepresented” what happened when Trump visited with shooting survivors and first responders Wednesday at Miami Valley Hospital. See related articles under “Other important articles” below.
China
- China says U.S. dollar-denominated exports in July rose 3.3% from a year ago while imports fell 5.6% during the same period.
- Economists polled by Reuters expect July’s exports to fall by 2% from a year ago, and imports to decline by 8.3% over the same period.
- The better-than-expected trade numbers may not last, says Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at consultancy Capital Economics.
- China Imports From US Fall 19% in July Amid Trade War (US News & World Report) Chinese imports of American goods plunged in July as a tariff war with Washington intensified. Imports of U.S. goods fell 19% from a year earlier to $10.9 billion, customs data showed Thursday, though that was an improvement over June’s 31.4% fall. Exports to the United States declined 6.5% to $38.8 billion. Beijing has retaliated for U.S. tariff hikes in a dispute over trade and technology by imposing its own punitive duties and suspending purchases of American soybeans and other goods. The latest data follow President Donald Trump’s threat last week to extend punitive duties to an additional $300 billion of Chinese imports.
China’s total exports rose 3.3% over a year earlier to $221.5 billion, rebounding from June’s 1.3% contraction amid weakening global consumer demand. Imports shrank 5.6% to $176.4 billion, an improvement over the previous month’s 7.3% decline.
- China Imports are Declining (Trading Economics) While China’s exportrs are still increasing, although slowly, imports have been shrinking since the trade wars began.
Source: tradingeconomics.com.
- China Retail Sales Now Equal to U.S. (Twitter) But after many years of growth China’s retail sales have leveled off over the last 18 months.
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Other important articles
U.S.
- Trump’s openness to extensive background checks for gun buys draws warning from NRA (The Washington Post)
- ICE Raids Mississippi Food Processing Plant Hours Before Trump’s El Paso Visit (Huffington Post)
- Biden: Trump ‘fanning the flames of white supremacy’ (Associated Press)
- Trump Sounds Off on Sen. Brown, Dayton Mayor for ‘Misrepresenting’ Their Meeting (Townhall)
- Trump’s tweets after Dayton and El Paso shootings undercut visits (Los Angeles Times)
- Political violence is as American as apple pie (Fabius Maximus)
- Puerto Rico Supreme Court Overturns Pedro Pierluisi As Governor (Huffington Post)
- Puerto Rico swears in new governor, marking 3rd leadership change in a week (ABC News)
​UK
Turkey
Pakistan
- Pakistan downgrades diplomatic ties, suspends trade with India over Kashmir (CNN)
- Pakistan opposition leader Maryam Nawaz arrested: spokeswoman (Reuters)
India
Vietnam
Japan
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