Lead prices likely to rule at levels similar to 2022
Lead metal prices have dropped by nearly 10 per cent since the beginning of 2023 and they will likely rule in the $2,000 a tonne region this year — similar to 2022, analysts say.On Friday, the lead three-month contract was quoted at $2,108 on the London Metal Exchange, while for cash the soft, malleable, ductile […]
Aluminium likely to rule firm in 2023 on supply woes, rising demand
Aluminium prices will likely rule firm in 2023 on supply constraints and rising demand, especially with China easing Covid-19 curbs, analysts say. Fitch Solutions Industry Research and Country Risk, a research unit of the Fitch Group, sees prices ruling at elevated levels but not rallying to the highs seen in 2022.Goldman Sachs, on the other hand, […]
Japan’s weak Q4 GDP rebound poses challenge for BOJ’s exit path
Japan Q4 GDP expands annualised 0.6% vs f’cast +2.0%Drop in capex, inventory behind weaker-than-expected reboundData underscore view Japan making delayed recovery from pandemicOutlook on growth, wages key to how soon BOJ exits easy policyTOKYO, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Japan’s economy averted recession but rebounded much less than expected in the fourth quarter as business investment […]
Morning Bid: Powell confesses ‘This time it’s different’
A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan.Jerome Powell calmed the horses, a bit.In attempting to parse last week’s blockbuster January jobs report, the Federal Reserve Chair on Tuesday reprised his take from last Wednesday’s policy meeting – essentially that another couple of Fed rate hikes were probably needed […]
Chinese moviegoers — starved for entertainment and craving normalcy — are set to put the country’s film industry back on top
While global and domestic businesses eagerly await the return of Chinese consumer spending, one industry in particular is already doing gangbusters. China’s box-office receipts this year have hit the 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) mark — the earliest in any year that it has ever done so. The explosion of moviegoing comes as authorities in […]
Global factory activity contracted again in January, highlighting fragile recovery
U.S. manufacturing sinks further in Jan, but few layoffs – ISMEuro zone factories have passed their trough in activity – PMIChina’s Jan factory activity shrinks – Caixin PMI surveyWASHINGTON/LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) – Manufacturing activity across the United States, Europe and Asia contracted again last month, underscoring the fragility of the global economic recovery, although […]
Veterans of 2011 U.S. debt-ceiling fight see tougher battle ahead
WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) – A Democratic president. A new Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives pushing for sharp spending cuts. A rapidly growing pile of debt – and a showdown that threatens to throw the global economy into turmoil.Sound familiar?Those elements driving the debate over raising the federal government’s $31.4 trillion debt […]
China central bank to roll over lending tools to spur growth
BEIJING, Jan 29 (Reuters) – China’s central bank said on Sunday it will roll over three lending tools to increase support for targeted sectors of the economy.The People’s Bank of China will roll over a lending tool for supporting carbon emission reduction to the end of 2024, and extend a relending tool for promoting the […]
Hong Kong home prices drop 15.6% in 2022, snap 13 years of gain
Jan 27 (Reuters) – Private home prices in Hong Kong, one of the most unaffordable territories in the world, fell 15.6% in 2022 in the first annual drop since 2008, official data showed on Friday.Prices in the Asian financial hub were weighed down by a weak economic outlook and rising mortgage costs, following a COVID-19 […]
Bullish bets on Asian FX as easing of China COVID curbs boosts outlook
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Chinese Yuan banknotes are seen in this illustration picture taken June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration By Tejaswi Marthi (Reuters) – Bullish bets on the Singapore dollar and the Malaysian ringgit further consolidated to scale five-year highs as a fizzling U.S. dollar rally and China’s pivot from its strict COVID-19 curbs boosted […]