WORLDWIDE : HEADLINES
China’s economy rebounds in second quarter after steep slump, consumption and investment still weak
BEIJING – China’s economy returned to growth in the second-quarter after a deep slump at the start of the year, data showed on Thursday, as lockdown measures ended and policymakers stepped up stimulus steps to combat the shock from the coronavirus crisis.
The world’s second-largest economy grew 3.2% in the second-quarter from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
The growth was faster than the 2.5% forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll, and followed a steep 6.8% slump in the first quarter, the first such contraction since at least 1992 when quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) records began.
Full coverage : REUTERS
WORLDWIDE : BUSINESS / FINANCE / ECONOMY
South Korea central bank holds rates at record low amid push to curb home price surge
SEOUL – South Korea’s central bank kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged on Thursday, as policymakers remain wary of further easing amid the government’s drive to cool property prices.
The Bank of Korea held the base rate KROCRT=ECI steady at a record low of 0.5%, it announced in a text message, in line with the forecasts of all 30 economists polled by Reuters. The rate is at the lowest since the central bank adopted the current system in 1999, having slashed a total of 75 basis points since March this year to fight the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The central bank has been working in tandem with the government to extend liquidity to businesses hit by the health crisis but is wary of rising debt and high property prices.
Full coverage : REUTERS
Asian shares fall despite China GDP beat as Sino-U.S. tensions, virus fears weigh
TOKYO – Asian shares and U.S. stock futures fell on Thursday, weighed down by concern about deteriorating U.S.-China relations and the economic cost of a resurgence in coronavirus infections that is prompting some places to reimpose containment measures.
Even news that China’s economy rebounded more than expected in the second quarter from a record contraction was not enough to pull regional equities out of the red.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid by 0.83%, while Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.49%. U.S. S&P 500 e-mini stock futures declined by 0.33%.
Shares in China fell 1.06% and Australian stocks shed 0.22% after the country’s jobless rate jumped to the highest since the late 1990s. Shares in Hong Kong, and Seoul also fell.
Full coverage : REUTERS
Oil prices slip after OPEC, allies agree to loosen oil supply curbs
TOKYO – Oil prices slid on Thursday after OPEC and allies such as Russia agreed to ease record supply curbs from August, though the drop was cushioned by hopes for a swift U.S. demand pick-up after a bigger-than-expected drawdown from the country’s crude stocks.
Brent crude LCOc1 fell 13 cents, or 0.3%, at $43.66 a barrel by 0015 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 dropped 18 cents, or 0.4%, to $41.02 a barrel. They rose 2% the previous day, helped by the U.S. crude inventories drop.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, agreed on Wednesday to scale back oil production cuts from August as the global economy slowly recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
Full coverage : REUTERS
Dollar nurses losses as investors wait for China data
SINGAPORE – The dollar nursed losses on Thursday and riskier currencies found support on signs of progress in developing a coronavirus vaccine, even as the virus itself continues to spread and investors fret over simmering Sino-U.S. tensions.
The growth-sensitive Australian dollar AUD=D3 held close to 70 cents and near a month high. The euro EUR= hovered just below a four-month top touched overnight on hopes that European leaders can agree on a recovery fund.
The mood pushed the safe-haven Swiss franc CHF= half a percent lower overnight and it lifted the crude price and oil exporters’ currencies along with it. The Norwegian krone NOK= rose to a one-month high of 9.2715 per dollar and the Canadian dollar CAD=D3 advanced to a week high of 1.1305 on the greenback.
Moves in Asian morning trade were small as markets waited for Chinese growth data due around 0200 GMT for the latest update on the recovery of the world’s second-largest economy.
Full coverage : REUTERS
