Tag: Top International news

1. Tech Stocks Restart Rally; NASDAQ Up

After lagging behind stocks linked to economic re-opening, tech stocks rallied up as markets opened on Monday.

General markets lagged behind with S&P 500 trading flat. The U.S. jobs report is expected to show growth in payrolls in June on Friday.

Stoxx Europe is down by 0.47%

Dow Jones is down by 0.43%

NASDAQ is up by 0.61%

2. Israel To Reach Highest Ever Exports In 2021

According to the Economy Ministry of Israel, in 2021 the country’s exports will reach the highest-ever level of $120 billion against the $114 billion in 2020. The Ministry said goods exports and services exports are up 2% and 15% respectively. Software and computer service exports are the major contributors, up by more than 20%. 

3. Boeing Takes A Hit After The Delay In Certification For 777X

American multinational aerospace company Boeing fell more than 2% inthe  New York Stock Exchange(NYSE) on Friday after the delay in certification for its 777X Aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration asked the company to resolve multiple technical issues in the long-range, wide-body, twin-engine jet. 

4. China Launches 2 Units Of A Hydropower Station, Said To Be The World’s Largest

China on Monday announced the launch of two units of a hydropower station, said to be the world’s largest. The hydropower station is located on the Jinsha River, having a total cost of $34 billion. It will be operational in July 2022 and will generate an average of 62.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity every year.

5. . Nvidia Rises On Support To Buy The Chip Designer Arm Ltd.

American technology company Nvidia on Friday, moved 5% up in NASDAQ after the rise in support from ARM customers to buy the U.K.-based chip designer. In the September of 2021, Nvidia signed a deal with Softbank to acquire its stake in ARM for $40 billion. Broadcom, MediaTek, and Marvell Technology are ARM’s first customers to publicly support the takeover by Nvidia. 

6. Carnival Corporation To Sell $500 Million Shares

Cruise operator Carnival Corp. on Monday revealed the plans to sell shares worth $500 million(~Rs 3,700 crores) as they are preparing to resume the operations. The amount will be used to purchase ordinary shares of Carnival Plc, trading in the United Kingdom, and for general corporate purposes. 

7. The U.S. Carries out Air Strikes in Iraq and Syria

The United States carried out airstrikes in the early hours of Monday against two Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria. The Pentagon said these groups had conducted drone strikes against American personnel in Iraq in recent weeks.

The strikes were the second time that Mr. Biden has ordered the use of force in the region.

8. Malaysia Readies $36 Billion Stimulus Package as Lockdown Extended

Malaysia unveiled a $36 billion(~Rs 2.62 lakh crore) package to help people through a nationwide lockdown that is once again extended. The plan includes direct fiscal injection and will result in the government disbursing 10 billion ringgit in cash aid to the people by the end of the year.

Lockdown measures were set to end today, but they will not be eased until daily cases fall below 4,000.

9. Mixing Pfizer and Astra Covid Shots Creating Strong ImmunoResponse

A University of Oxford study has shown that mixing doses of Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and AstraZeneca creates a strong immune response. This can be used to tackle the scarcity of vaccine supply around the world. 

The ideal order is found to be Astra followed by Pfizer with a 4-weeks gap. AstraZeneca’s vaccine is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and marketed as Covishield.

10. Oil Prices fall Slightly Ahead of OPEC+ Meeting

Oil prices slightly fell on Monday after hitting their highest since 2018 before this week’s OPEC+ meeting. The spike in Covid-19 cases in Asia and Europe is also causing concerns of slowing demand to traders.

Even with the fall, Brent Futures are trading at $75.45/barrel now. Crude prices are not expected to fall, as OPEC’s output will likely trail global crude demand. To read more about OPEC+ and how they control crude prices, click here.

1. U.S. Markets Continue Rally

U.S. stocks moved toward closing their best week since April as trader’s pumped money into the fast unlocking economy. 

After last week’s sudden fall following the Fed Policy meeting, markets have recovered with tech stocks outperforming. These stocks are underperforming today as Financial, retail and commodity shares led gains in the S&P 500.

Stoxx Europe is up by 0.13%

Dow Jones is up 0.73%

NASDAQ is down by 0.034%

2. China To Lower Payment Fees For Small Firms 

People’s Bank of China(PBOC) said on Friday, China will lower the payment fees for small firms including bank account services, Yuan settlement, and electronic banking from September 30. The total fee reductions are estimated to be worth 3.72 billion dollars per year

3. Nike Posts Strong Quarterly Earnings

Multinational company Nike reported a net income of 1.5 billion dollars for the quarter ended May 31 against a net loss of 790 million dollars for the fourth quarter of 2020. Revenue rose 96% to $12.30 billion and was 21% higher compared to Q4 of 2019, the last quarter before the start of the pandemic. The company expects fiscal 2022 revenue at 50 billion dollars.

4. Geely Automobile Holdings Drops The Plan Of STAR Market Listing

China’s Geely Automobile Holdings on Friday dropped its plans to get listed for $3.1 billion in Nasdaq-like STAR Market. The company will reconsider the listing when relevant conditions are met.  The company didn’t provide any more details on the withdrawal of the application. 

5. Used-Car Retailer CarMax Reports Strong Q1 Results

Used-car retailer CarMax on Friday reported a strong 138% jump in revenue to $7.7 billion for the first quarter. This is due to the rise in dependency on personal vehicles over public transport. Net income rose to $ 436 million compared to $4.9 million a year ago.

6. Panasonic Sells $3.6 Billion Worth Stake In Tesla 

Panasonic sold a $3.6 billion worth stake in electric car maker Tesla in the year ended March. Panasonic bought 1.4 million Tesla shares at $21.15 each in 2010 for about $30 million. That stake was worth $730 million at the end of March 2020. The company is preparing to reduce its dependence on Tesla and raise cash for investments.

7. Natural Gas Continues Rally as Supply Lags

Natural gas markets around the globe are rallying as the world’s importers understand there is not enough supply. Unforeseen circumstances and faster than expected economic reopening is causing the rally in prices. Even in India’s MCX, prices of Natural Gas are rallying.

1. U.S. Markets Climb to Record Highs

U.S. stocks moved up with data signalling that economic recovery is in full swing. President Joe Biden and senators are close to an agreement on a $559 billion(~Rs 40 lakh crore) infrastructure plan to boost the economy.

The Federal Reserve is set to release results of a stress test on the banking system, with all major banks expected to pass.

Stoxx Europe is up by 0.89%

Dow Jones is up 0.67%

NASDAQ is up by 0.90%

2. Siemens Forecasts Higher Growth Target And Announces Share Buyback

German industrial manufacturing company Siemens on Thursday said it has raised the target for growing annual revenue to a rate of 5-7%, against Siemens’s previous target at 4-5%. The company made Rs 46,940 crore as revenue in 2020. A new Rs 26,547 crore share buyback, begins in coming October to 2026.

3. Blackstone Group Raises Its Buyout Offer For St. Modwen Properties

Private equity firm Blackstone Group raised its buyout offer for  British-based property investment and development business St. Modwen Properties to Rs 12,979 crore. The latest offer is Rs 578 per share against the previous offer at Rs 559 per share. St. Modwen Properties builds homes, owns and manages several industrial and logistics assets in Britain.

According to latest reports, this offer has been accepted by St. Modwen.

4. Starlink Will Go Public Only When The Cash Flow Is More Clear And Predictable: Musk

Starlink- The Space Internet Venture of SpaceX will go public only when its cash flow is clear and reasonably predictable,  Elon Musk said in a tweet. He thinks going public before that will be painful and bad for the shareholders. Starlink is a planned network of tens of thousands of satellites, expected to offer faster internet speeds.

5. Visa To Buy Banking Platform Tink For Rs 190 Billion

Payments technology company Visa on Thursday announced the agreement to buy the European open banking platform Tink for Rs 19,000 crores. Tink would retain its brand and management team, and its headquarters would stay in Stockholm.

6. Brazil’s Consumer Confidence Is At A Seven-month High: Survey

 A survey indicates that consumer confidence in Brazil in June increased to a seven-month high. The Getulio Vargas Foundation’s (FGV) consumer confidence index rose moved 4.7 points to 80.9 points in June, the highest since November last year

7. Accenture Beats Q3 Results Estimates; Raises Guidance

IT services major Accenture has reported better than expected results for the third quarter. Revenue is up 21% YoY to $13.3 Billion. The company also raised growth guidance for 2021 to 10-11% from 8.5% earlier estimated.

With Accenture reporting such great numbers, Indian IT services players also will see a positive outlook this quarter. Nifty IT closed more than 2.5% up today, and might continue to move.

8. India Urges OPEC+ to boost Oil Supply 

India has once again urged OPEC+ to increase supply while expressing “deep concern” over the high prices of crude. “High crude prices are adding significant inflationary pressure on India,” Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told OPEC on Thursday.

Top analysts expect the prices of crude to keep increasing from their current multi-year high levels. 

9. Biden Bans China-made Solar Products. Opportunity for India?

U.S President Biden’s administration has today imposed a very focused ban on Chinese-made solar products. The ban will affect the import of silica-based products from Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., and is aimed to confront human rights abuses in Xinjiang region. Out of the 4 major companies from the region, 3 have been blacklisted.

According to reports from UN experts, Uyghur Muslims and other minorities are being forced to work against their will in these regions. China has all denied allegations, as always. 

Interestingly, Mukesh Ambani said today that Reliance is heavily investing in green energy with heavy investments above Rs 75,000 crores in Jamnagar. 

10. Renault seals Battery-Supply Deal for France EV Hub

French automaker Renault is said to be sealing a deal with China’s Envision AESC to produce batteries for a future electric vehicle manufacturing hub in France.

The partnership is said to be a part of a larger plan to be announced by French President Emmanual Macron on Monday. Renault’s rush for batteries adds fuel to the fire of traditional car manufacturers pushing to EV tech. Waiting for such a revolution in India too!

1. Dow Jones Moves up Ahead of Powell’s Remarks

U.S. stocks moved up after a gap-down, with traders waiting for a testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in front of Congress.

Written remarks prepared by the Fed Chair indicate him maintaining his position that the current high inflation is temporary.

Stoxx Europe is up 0.32%

Dow Jones is up by 0.077%

NASDAQ is up by 0.067%

2. Daimler To Produce Its Own Batteries

German carmaker Daimler AG  is planning to produce its battery as the partnership with Chinese battery supplier Farasis Energy in 2019 failed to deliver lithium-ion battery cells on time. Self reliability will be very good for the company in the long run as the EV-Era is coming

3. Melrose To Return Rs 7400 Crores To Shareholders

Melrose Industries on Tuesday announced the plans to return nearly Rs 7,498 crores in cash to its shareholders after the company sold its Nortek Air Management business in April. Melrose has a style of acquiring and then turning around underperforming businesses before selling them.

3. Investment Corp. Of Dubai Reports A Huge Loss Last Year

The major investment arm of Dubai Govt,  Investment Corp. of Dubai(ICD) on Tuesday reported a huge loss of Rs 31,378 crores for last year against a profit of Rs 50,610 crores a year earlier.  ICD considers transportation and hospitality areas as the major contributors to the loss as they are affected significantly by the Covid situation. 

4. Aer Lingus Needs 10 Billion Rupees In Extra Liquidity To Sustain

The new Chief Executive of Aer Lingus said the company requires nearly ten billion rupees in extra liquidity to sustain itself. The company does not expect a near-term bounce back and it is losing 8 crore rupees every day. 

5. Gamestop Raises Rs 8,400 Crores

The largest Video Game retailer GameStop said on Tuesday it had raised nearly Rs 8,400 crore rupees in an offering of 50 lakh shares. The amount will be used for general corporate purposes as well as for investing in growth initiatives.  It was able to raise this amount after stock prices shot up this year following a short squeeze.

6. GlobalFoundries Invests $4 Billion in Singapore Chip Plant

GlobalFoundries Inc. is building a $4 billion(~Rs 29,000 crore) plant in Singapore to manufacture semiconductor chips. The company is still looking at Asia for expansion even despite President Joe Biden asking companies to bring semiconductor manufacturing to the U.S.

7. Vaccine Shortages Hit Global Supply; Poorer Countries Suffering

Covax, the global program meant to provide underdeveloped countries with Covid-19 vaccines is struggling after facing supply shortages. Many nations across Africa and Asia have run out of vaccines or are soon going to be. 

In the race between vaccine and virus, we have to remember this –  slowdowns in vaccination programs can leave room for newer and more riskier variants to emerge that could risk many lives including that of already vaccinated individuals.

8. Thai Parliament Allows Referendum as Protesters Plan a Comeback

Thailand’s parliament has unlocked a process for an overhaul of the constitution, one of the key demands by a youth-led protest movement that has swept the nation in the past year. Lawmakers in the Senate and the Lower House voted to endorse a bill that would pave the way for a public poll on rewriting the document. 

9. Bitcoin sinks below US$30,000 for 1st time since January amid China crackdown

Bitcoin fell below US$30,000 for the first time in nearly five months as China’s latest crackdown on cryptocurrencies weighed. The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 6.4 per cent to US$29,614, its lowest since Jan. 27. As of 1232 GMT it was down 4.2 per cent.

10. Billions Lost Between U.S-China Trade Tariffs: Report

In what is being called gross misrepresentation, global trades data is showing a big loss in tariff revenue for the United States. How big? About $10 Billion(~Rs 74,000 crores).

As new research from Federal Reserve economists show, China said it was selling more goods to the U.S. the U.S. reported buying from China. While firms in the U.S. could pay less in tariffs by under-reporting the value of Chinese imports, Chinese firms have been getting higher value-added tax rebates if they over-reported the value of exports, the economists argue.

The data mismatch has been visible after February 2020, and is an indication of why trade tariffs will do more harm than good.

1. U.S. Markets Move Back Up after Friday Fall 

Stocks in the U.S. market gained back with good momentum, as stability returned after last week’s all. Last week, the Federal Reserve’s comments had pulled global markets down. 

S&P 500 is in the green after 4 consecutive days of fall. New York Fed President John Williams and Boston Fed Eric Rosengren’s speeches are being watched this week to get more information on the interest rates plans.

Stoxx Europe is up 0.55%

Dow Jones is up by 1.57%

NASDAQ is up by 1.46%

2. Volvo Car Ties Up With Northvolt For Batteries

Volvo Car Group on Monday announced a joint venture partnership with Swedish battery maker Northvolt. The tie-up is aiming to develop and produce sustainable batteries for its electric cars and set up a Gigafactory in Europe to produce up to 50-gigawatt hours (GWh) per year in 2026.

3. IKEA and Rockefeller to set up Rs 7,400 crore funds for renewable energy

IKEA Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation are planning to set up Rs 7,400 crores to support renewable energy-related programs in developing nations. It aims to reduce 100 crore tons of greenhouse gas emissions and empower one billion people with distributed renewable energy. 

4. China becomes tougher on Crypto

The Central Bank of China said on Monday, it had asked many banks and payment firms like China Construction Bank, Alipay, etc to be harder on cryptocurrency trading. Last month, China announced many restrictions on coins, and the crypto world was affected adversely. At the time of writing Bitcoin(-4%) and Ethereum(-6%) are in the red, dragging down many other smaller coins down.

5. Full Recovery From Next Year: Wizz Air Of Europe

CEO of Wizz Air said on Monday, the company expects to recover fully from the pandemic hit from next year. Wizz Air is considered as the budget airline of Europe, will be benefited as travel volumes come back to normal levels. 

6. Germany’s Antitrust Watchdog announces an investigation on Apple

Antitrust watchdog of Germany announced an investigation on Apple, to find whether the company is exploiting its market position. Apple is the fourth company on the list after Google, Facebook, and Amazon. 

7. China Trucking Startup Said to Raise $1.6 Billion in U.S. IPO

Full Truck Alliance Co. has raised about $1.6 Billion(~Rs 11,860 crores) from offering Depository Receipts in the U.S. The company operates a truck-sharing app that connects merchants that need shipping with truck drivers. Full Track is backed by top investors including SoftBank Group and Tencent Holdings.

8. Global Vaccinations Cross 2.62 Billion Doses: Bloomberg

According to data from Bloomberg, more than 262 crore doses have been administered across 180 countries. The latest vaccination rate is roughly 3.9 crore doses a day. Enough vaccines to fully vaccinate 17.1% of the global population have been given but countries with higher income are seeing much faster vaccination rates.

Interestingly, India has given 75 lakh vaccine doses today after the revised vaccination guidelines kick in. This is more than 0.5% of the country’s total population in a day.

9. Taiwan’s Exports Slowing; May Be Sign of Stabilising Chip Shortage

Demand for Taiwan’s semiconductors and other electronic chips showed signs of a slowdown in May. Export orders went up 34.5% from a year earlier to $52.3 Billion in May but was still below expectations. Manufacturers around the world have been struggling to obtain electronic chips for their different products from smartphones to cars. 

This is a good sign for all such manufacturers, including India’s automakers – Maruti and M&M.

10. Morgan Stanley says Nifty bull run is only getting started

According to a report by global financial firm Morgan Stanley, the Indian market’s bull run still has a long way to go. “The ongoing bull market compares well with history. If this bull market is reminiscent of that in 2003-08, as we think given a likely fresh earnings cycle, it has more legs to it,” the report said.

For the coming year, Morgan Stanley’s top picks are consumer discretionary, industrials and financials.

1. The U.S. Market falls for the Fourth Day; Dollar Strengthens

Dow Jones is now down for the fourth straight day with today being the expiry of many index and stocks in the market, also known as quadruple witching day. Dow Jones is on its worst week since January after the Fed Announcement on Thursday triggered profit booking.

The dollar is strengthening with USDINR now at 74.12. Commodity prices are down sharply.

Stoxx Europe is down 1.48%

Dow Jones is down 1.49%

NASDAQ is down 0.66%

2. Oil Weakens As Dollar Shows Strength

Oil prices dropped continuously on Friday as the U.S dollar rises in view of interest rate hikes in the United States. Though demand is rising in the global markets, the U.K reporting rising Covid cases is a concern. At the time of writing, Brent Oil prices are showing some reversals.

3. Expecting To Repay The Covid Aid Soon, Says Lufthansa CEO

The CEO of German airline Lufthansa said, the company is expecting to repay the state aid it received during the pandemic, before Germany’s federal election in September. Lufthansa was crushed down due to low passenger volume during the covid crisis and then received the aid of Rs 81,296 crores from Germany and its other home countries.

4. U.K Retail Sales Drop Beyond Expectations

U.K retail sales fell 1.4% between April and May, as people started spending in restaurants rather than shops after the ease of lockdown restrictions. In annual terms, retail sales were 24.6% higher than in May last year, short of the median expectation for a 29.0% increase. U.K’s stock market index, FTSE, closed 1.76% down.

5. U.S. Opens Investigations Into Tesla Crashes

The U.S auto safety regulators on Thursday announced 30 investigations into Tesla crashes involving 10 deaths since 2016, where advanced driver assistance systems were suspected of use. 

Of the 30 Tesla crashes, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) has ruled out Tesla’s Autopilot in three and published reports on two of the crashes. Tesla didn’t respond to this.

6. U.K Opens Covid Vaccination For All Adults

The U.K on Friday opened up the country’s Covid-19 vaccination program to all adults, which is considered as the “final push” to offer protection against Covid.UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, “Offering all adults a jab less than 200 days after the program launched is one of our country’s greatest collective achievements”.

7. Michael Burry Warns Retail Traders of ‘Mother of All Crashes’

The hedge fund manager who shorted the U.S. housing market in 2008 has now warned retail investors about huge losses. He said that investors could lose money worth the size of countries if they crypto and ‘meme stocks’ like Gamestop crash. “All hype/speculation is doing is drawing in retail before the mother of all crashes”, he tweeted out.

Interestingly, he had turned bullish on GameStop in 2019, much before the current meme rally started.

8. Europe Opens Gates for Tourists from the U.S.

The European Union has officially lifted travel restrictions for U.S. residents, with confidence from higher vaccination rates. The delta variant of Covid-19 is still creating issues for European countries.

The move will be a huge boost for airlines including America’s Delta Air Lines and Europe’s Lufthansa. A reaction from stock prices of these companies can be watched to predict how our airline stocks might react to the re-opening of the economy. 

9. Japan Plans to end Virus Emergency in Tokyo

Japan plans to end the virus emergency in Tokyo, according to the first planned date of June 20. This is just a month before the hosting of the Summer Olympics in the country. The country is still struggling to contain the spread of Covid-19 with just 6.4% of the population being fully vaccinated. Many local protests had come out demanding cancellation of the games, but the Government is set to move ahead as scheduled.

10. Commodity Prices Lose Momentum

With iron ore and other metals prices being suppressed by China, investors are closely watching if the commodity market bull rally is over. Crude oil prices are being supported near the highs by limited supplies and Gold is moving according to Federal Reserve’s policies. “From a commodity-price perspective, I can see the structural argument still for prices to stay elevated or go higher going forward”, said Michael Widmer, from Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London.

1. Tech Shares Gain in U.S., General Market Falls

Tech shares gained in the day as investors turned defensive after the Federal Reserve announced future interest rate increases.

Federal Chair Jerome Powell yesterday accepted that inflation is posing risks, and said they had begun a discussion about slowing down bond purchases. Powell denied risk of any immediate interest rate increases, but the market has turned cautious.

Crude oil is trading at $72/barrel near fresh highs.

Stoxx Europe is down 0.15%

Dow Jones is down 0.68%

NASDAQ is up 0.88%

2. ByteDance’s Gross Profit Rises 93%

According to a Wall Street Journal report, TikTok Owner ByteDance’s gross profit surged 93% to Rs 1,40,078 cores last year. At the same time, the net loss for 2020 accounted for Rs 3,31,764 crores.

3. MSCI To Launch Crypto Indexes

Global securities Index publisher MSCI is preparing to launch cryptocurrency indices, Chief Executive Henry Fernandez said at a clubhouse event. This will be a big step towards global cryptocurrency acceptance

4. US Unemployment Rises For The First Time Since April

We have been seeing a declining unemployment rate for many weeks in the US. But in the last week ended June 12, US jobless claims jump for the first time since April by 37,000 to 412,000. Economists expect the unemployment rate to fall below 5% by the end of the fourth quarter.

5. Daimler Reveals The Shift To Electric Vehicles

The Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler revealed its plan to shift to EVs in the coming years. Manager Magazin said on Thursday, a new line of electric vehicles will be announced soon, and the production of fossil fuel vehicles will be cut down as a part of the electrification strategy.

6. Philadelphia Factory Activity Drops For The Second Consecutive Month 

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said the business activity index fell to 30.7 from 31.5 in May. Economists were expecting the activity at a value of 31. The index is used for examining the economic situation and the new data raises some concerns.

7. China’s Logistics Nightmare Threatening Global Inflation

The global shipping industry, already stretched by the pandemic is now being pushed to its braking point. The Suez Canal blockage, China’s Yantian Port being closed due to Covid-19 cases have caused high prices and delivery delays in the industry.

“The trend is worrying, and unceasing congestion is becoming a global problem,” A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, the world’s No. 1 container carrier, said on Thursday. Share prices of the company fell 2%.

8. Latin American Steelmakers Replacing China Imports

With the Chinese government trying hard to reduce pollution from the metal industry and higher prices, steelmakers in Mexico and Argentina are seeing an opportunity. Currently, Latin American countries have high dependency on cheap Chinese imports but this might soon change. 

Latin America Steel Association Chief Alejandro Wagner said that governments need to help them by reducing tax burdens and other business difficulties. The region’s steel industry is back to pre-pandemic production levels and sees this as the right time to cut China dependency.

9. U.K. Plans to Open Foreign Travel for Vaccinated Individuals

Airline shares in the U.K jumped as British officials are considering opening up international travel for passengers who’ve been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. This will surely provide a major boost to airlines and tourism businesses in the country which have been affected by the pandemic. 

However, the Prime Minister’s Office clarified today that no final decision has been reached.

10. Malaysia Considering Mixing Covid Shots

Malaysia is looking to mix different brands of Covid-19 vaccines to get better protection against the virus, according to Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. “It’s possible that we will end up doing this because a lot of countries are doing this to boost the neutralizing antibodies,” Khairy said about the process known as heterologous boost. 

He also added that they are waiting on more data, and won’t make a quick decision.

1. U.S Markets Move Down; Crude Oil at 2 Year High

Real estate, materials and health care sectors pushed S&P 500 index lower, with consumer data showing spending shifting to services. It is still a calm mood with low volatile movements ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision. 

Investors are looking for an announcement on if and when the Fed will slow the speed of bond purchases. 

Stoxx Europe is up 0.13%

Dow Jones is down 0.46%

NASDAQ is down 0.55%

2. H&M Sales Surge 62%

H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, said on Tuesday said the net sales grew in the fiscal second quarter by 62%, though the revenue is still below 2019 levels. In the year-earlier quarter, it had to close 4,000 of its total 5000 stores. Compared with the second quarter of 2019, H&M’s net sales went down 19%

3. U.K’s May Employee Numbers Look Good

As per the Tax data released on Tuesday UK reported its highest single-month employee growth in May. British companies added 197,000 employees in May taking the total to 2.85 crores.

4. French Court Fines IKEA For Spying 

French Court on Tuesday fined Rs 8.8 crores on IKEA for spying on its french employees. The Swedish company which is considered the world’s biggest furniture retailer has been spying on its french employees for more than seven years. Prosecutors were trying for double the amount as fine against the firm, which is owned by the Ingka Group.

5. Turkish Lira Falls After US-Turkey Meeting Makes No Progress

Turkish Currency Lira fell for the second day against the US dollar after the highly anticipated meeting between US President Joe Biden and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to solve the political issues. The Lira weakened more than1% against the dollar on Tuesday.

6. UK And Australia Agrees On Post-Brexit Trade Deal

Australia and the United Kingdom announced a free trade agreement Tuesday after the key elements of the deal were agreed by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a meeting in Downing Street. This is the first major bilateral free trade agreement by the United Kingdom since it left the European Union in January 2020. More details will be published in the coming days.

7. Tensions Increase Between U.S and China

In what is looking very bad indeed efor the global economy, the tensions between China and the U.S. along with their allies have been increasing. 

President Joe Biden is looking to have G7 countries present a united stance against China for trade, human rights and the pandemic. China called the U.S “very ill indeed”, and said “The G-7 had better take its pulse and come up with a prescription.”

 8. AstraZeneca’s Covid Cocktail Fails to Prevent Symptoms

According to a trial, AstraZeneca’s antibody cocktail was only 33% effective at preventing Covid-19 symptoms in people exposed to the virus. The cocktail failed the study.

The company said it’s running 5 other trials looking at other uses and to clarify the findings. In all cases, the cocktail itself was well tolerated by participants. Interestingly, the U.S. has already ordered up to 7 lakh doses of the medicine for delivery this year, even before the results were published.

9. China Sends 28 Fighter Jets Near Taiwan increasing Tension

China’s air force sent 28 aircraft close to Taiwan, in a measure to put further pressure on the country. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and repeatedly threatens military aggression. The Chinese Defense Ministry said in April that the navy would plan more drills.

10. Malaysia Targets Re-opening of Economy from October

Malaysia Expects to Fully Reopen Its Economy From the end of October. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin expects this reopening to go in full swing if new Covid-19 cases fall below 500 a day. The lockdown is already showing results, PM Yassin said. The Covid-19 curve has begun flattening, and the healthcare system is able to handle new cases. The current lockdown is costing the country $242 million/day.

1. U.S Markets Volatile; Bond Yields Fall

U.S. stocks remained volatile as the day begins in New York. Benchmark bond yields are around the lowest since March as investors show confidence.

Yesterday, the S&P 500 had touched an all-time high even with high consumer price inflation data. This is due to the hope that such inflation is mainly now just in categories associated with re-opening and will settle down later in the year.

Stoxx Europe is up 0.67%

Dow Jones is down 0.093%

NASDAQ is up 0.046%

2. Blackrock Will Soon Begin MF Business In China

U.S hedge fund giant BlackRock’s Chinese unit has won approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to start Mutual Fund operations. It is the first global asset manager to begin a wholly-owned onshore mutual fund business in China. Many other firms including Fidelity International, Neuberger Berman, and Schroders have also applied for the same.

3. China May Auto Sales Fall 3%.

China auto sales fell 3% in May from the same month a year ago. The industry has been reporting gains for thirteen consecutive months since April 2020. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) is still positive and expects China’s overall vehicle sales to grow 6.5% this year.

4. G7 plans to allocate a huge amount of IMF funds to Covid affected nations

G7- Group of Seven nations is planning to reallocate Rs 7,32,590 crores of the International Monetary Fund’s war chest to countries that are heavily affected by the Covid pandemic. This will be considered at a three-day summit in Cornwall, south western England, which begins on Friday. 

5. Travel Restrictions Will Ease From July 1: Germany

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Friday, the country is planning to lift the Covid travel restrictions for most countries from July 1. This will bring situations to normal as more and more citizens get vaccinated, he added. The government considers countries recording infection rates of 50-200 cases per 100,000 people in seven days as a less risk zone.

6. Oil Price Hit New Highs Over Demand Expectations

 Oil Prices on Friday hit a new multi-year high over expectations of demand rising. This rally is boosted by the ease in Covid restrictions and increased vaccination drives. At the time of writing this, Brent Oil is up 0.83% at $72.41 and U.S. crude is up 1.28% at $70.98 a barrel, a day after their highest close since October 2018.

7. Pakistan Proposes Budget to Boost Growth as Pandemic Recedes

Pakistan, like many other countries, has come out with a new budget that tries to put more money in the hands of people and boost economic activity. 

Pakistan forecasts a GDP growth of 4.8% for the next fiscal year against an estimate of 3.9% this year. The budget is an opportunity for Finance Minister Tarin to strengthen the weak economy, which is currently under a $6 billion(~Rs 43,000 crore) bailout from the International Monetary Fund(IMF).

8. Malaysia Extends Lockdown as Virus Surges

Malaysia has extended their nationwide lockdown by two weeks as daily Covid cases still remain high. Things are getting better but still new cases remain above the 4,000 daily target set by the government to end the lockdown. 6,849 new infections were recorded today.

The entire population of the country is similar to the population of the state of Kerala.

9. World Leaders Ready to Move Against China in Covid Issue

We had talked about how the U.S is pushing the investigations to find the origin of Covid-19 and China opposing these investigations. 

The G7 countries are ready to call for a fresh study into the origins of coronavirus this weekend. Yet so far they’ve been vague on what exactly they want. Biden had earlier gave intelligence agencies 90-days to answer “specific questions for China” regarding the virus. Beijing has repeatedly denied the Wuhan lab leak theory.

10. Ships Skipping Singapore as Supply Chains Collapse

Last week we talked about many delays in shipping due to Covid-19 lockdowns in southern Chinese ports. This is now inflating costs, and messing up supply chain timelines.

A cargo vessel operated by Cosco Shipping will be skipping a scheduled port stop in Singapore this month because of the China delay. These delays are pushing up shipping costs and threatening to indirectly push global inflation up as many supply chains rely on China.

1. U.S Markets Move Up; Increase in Inflation Reported

U.S. markets hit fresh all-time highs even with inflation data showing negative signs. Consumer Price Inflation came out at 0.6% higher than April, but better than the 0.8% jump in March to April. Core CPI inflation is at a 28-year high of 3.8% in May, from 3.0%. 

U.S weekly jobless claims came in at 3.76 lakh, at nearly a 15-month low level.

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the core CPI rose by a larger-than-expected 0.7%, according to Labor Department data Thursday.

Stoxx Europe is up 0.064%

Dow Jones is up 0.35%

NASDAQ is up 0.48%

2. Chip Shortage Issue May Get Solved In Q3: Volkswagen

Automaker Volkswagen expects the semiconductor supply issue which had affected the auto sector very badly, may ease in the third quarter. Murat Aksel, the head of procurement on the Volkswagen board said the company failed to build one lakh cars due to the chip shortage.

3. CMC Reports 2X Annual Profits

CMC Markets, a London-listed online trading platform reported a stunning profit before tax at Rs 2307 crores for the year ended March compared to a profit of Rs 1016 crores a year ago. Net operating income raised by 63%.

4. Inflation Is Under Control: China Central Bank Governor

China,s Central Bank Governor said inflation is under control in the country and there will be no change to the current monetary policy. He said that China’s interest rates are relatively low among developing and emerging economies

5. Biden will donate 50 crore doses of vaccine

US President Joe Biden is planning to buy and donate fifty crore doses of vaccines. U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech will be providing the vaccine and will be donated to 90 plus countries within 2 years. This is a good start and let us hope that other major economies will be a part of this

6. Altice Group Buys 12.1% Stake In BT Group 

Billionaire Patrick Drahi owned Altice Group has bought a 12.1% stake in Britain’s telecommunication giant BT Group. The deal is worth Rs 22,656 crores and put Altice ahead of Deutsche Telekom, which owned 12.06% of BT. Share of Bt ht a 17 month high after the news.

7. G-7 Countries Aim Quick Shift to Electric Cars

G7 countries are discussing big plans to shift the balance of car buying away from gasoline to greener vehicles by the end of the decade, as part of a package of measures to combat climate change.

Under one proposal contained in a document seen by Bloomberg, G-7 governments would “strive” to ensure that the majority of all new passenger car sales are not petrol or diesel-powered “by 2030 or sooner.” Yes, the language is very diplomatic and does not give a clear and specific direction. The countries are also divided on how specific these measures should be.

8. World’s food import bill to reach record highs as prices increase

The world’s expense for food import is expected to reach all-time highs this year, with price of common food increasing threatening worldwide inflation.

The cost of importing food is to rise 12% to $1.72 trillion(~Rs 122 lakh crore) according to a report by United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization. This is being led by increase in prices of grains, vegetable oils and more.

Developing countries are set to be worst affected, with a 21% jump in their costs, with just 6% increase for the richest ones.

9. China prepares laws to hit back Against U.S. Sanctions

Chinese lawmakers have approved new laws to work against any U.S. sanctions on the country.

The full text of the final legislation wasn’t immediately released. The country is trying to find new ways to fire back at the U.S. and other Western countries amid tensions over a range of issues including investigations into the origins of Covid-19. 

10. China Warns Commodity Traders of Risks

China’s banking regulator has warned retail investors to avoid trading in financial derivatives, in a try to stop inflation in commodity prices.

Retail investors who speculate on gold or metal futures are set to face losses like those saying property prices will never fall, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said.