Global prices of industrial metals fell 24 May after China warned commodities producers and brokers to “maintain market orders” and not drive prices higher. The world’s economic recovery now underway has pushed prices for lumber, copper, cobalt, and other key metals to record levels. In April, Chinese imports grew 43 percent compared to a year...
Tag: may 25 2021
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CHINA’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY SLOWS
China’s economic growth slowed in April because consumer spending remained weak. Industrial output rose 9.8 percent year on year, decelerating from March’s 14.8 percent; investment in fixed assets grew at 19.9 percent in January through April, compared to a year earlier, but slower than the 25.6 percent notched from January through March, the National Bureau...
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MAJOR BANKS FINED FOR COLLUSION
UBS Group, Nomura Holdings, and UniCredit SpA will collectively pay $450 million worth of fines for illegally colluding in trades involving European government bonds, under a ruling by the European Union. Seven banks traded information about customer prices and other sale-related details in advance of bond auctions, the European Commission found. The collusion took place...
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JAPAN’S RECOVERY FALTERS IN FIRST QUARTER
Japan’s economy, the world’s third-largest in 2019, contracted 1.3 percent in this year’s first quarter, a 5.1-percent annualized rate of loss, the Financial Times reported. The economy stumbled as the government declared a state of emergency in January that extended into March. The quarterly loss edged below analysts’ expectations of a 1.2-percent pucker and guaranteed...
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SHIPPING DELAYS HELPING TO INFLATE PRICES
Ports clogged with goods lined up to enter or leave are causing shortages of raw materials and consumer goods and contributing to inflated prices around the world. Globally, about 40 percent of container ships were entering ports on time in March, with average delays of more than six days as ships anchored offshore to wait...
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ECB HEAD DOWNPLAYS INFLATION
Price hikes clouding the world’s economic recovery “are of a temporary nature” and inflation will return to modest levels in 2022, Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), said in 21 May comments quoted by the Financial Times. “Underlying factors and fundamentals are certainly not there to let us… forecast that inflation will...
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ECB WARNS OF DANGERS FROM DEBT LOAD
The massive debts taken on by Europe’s businesses and governments to survive the economic shutdown raise risks of financial turmoil if the economic recovery does not go smoothly, the European Central Bank (ECB) warned on 19 May in its latest review of the continent’s financial stability. “There is a reality that [2020’s crisis] will leave...
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WEWORK LOSES $2 BILLION, 25 PERCENT OF ITS MEMBERS
WeWork, the floundering landlord that rents shared office space to gig workers and start-ups, nearly quadrupled its losses to $2.1 billion in this year’s first quarter, compared to $556 million vaporized during 2020’s first three months, the Financial Times reported. WeWork paid $494 million to cancel leases, escape unprofitable locations, and otherwise restructure its assortment...
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DISCOVERY INC. EXPANDS MEDIA EMPIRE
Discovery Inc., a leader in unscripted television programs such as “Shark Tank” and “Fixer Upper,” has acquired a 29-percent share of AT&T’s WarnerMedia division in a deal valued at $43 billion, according to various reports. WarnerMedia will be merged into Discovery, with AT&T shareholders, not AT&T itself, owning the other 71 percent of the new...