Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a daily press briefing that Beijing will respond “by lawful means” to the new restrictions imposed by the United States on Chinese diplomats. Washington said it would require senior Chinese diplomats to obtain approval from the Foreign Ministry before visiting any university …
Read More »US Extends Some Tariff Exemptions to China
The Trump administration’s threat of escalation against China came this time in disguise with seemingly positive news. The office of the US Trade Representative announced the extension of the deadlines for some exemptions from customs duties on a large group of Chinese goods. But this extension is until the end …
Read More »Mnuchin: Economy Urgently Needs Additional Financial Incentives to Fully Recover
US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said the economy desperately needs additional financial incentives to fully recover from the Covid-19 crisis, and Mnuchin added that parts of the economy still need additional support. Minuchin held Democrats in the House and Senate in Congress responsible for the failure of negotiations on a …
Read More »US: Markit Manufacturing PMI Improves to 53.1 in August
The IHS Markit’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the US improved from 50.9 in July to 53.1 in August to show that the economic activity in the manufacturing sector continued to expand at a robust pace. This reading came in slightly weaker than the previous estimate and the market …
Read More »Wall Street Set to Open Higher
US stocks should open slightly higher on Monday, as markets are on track to achieve their best August in more than 30 years. At 11:15 AM GMT, S&P 500 was up 8 points, or 0.2%, while the Dow Jones futures rose 47 points or 0.1%, And Nasdaq 100 futures gained …
Read More »Weekly Recap 24-28 AUG
Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech was what got most of the attention last week. Fed Chair’s comments included announcing a shift in monetary policy to support the labor market and the economy indicating that the Fed may keep low-interest rates for longer. The Dow Jones rose 0.6% to 28,653.8, posting …
Read More »US Merchandise Trade Deficit Hits Record High
The United States merchandise trade deficit increased during July to its second-largest level on record, Bloomberg reported. As imports returned to their pre-COVID-19 levels, the deficit increased to $79.3 billion in July from a revised $71 billion in June, according to data by the Department of Commerce on Friday. Imports …
Read More »US Pending Home Sales Rise in July
The United States Pending Home Sales Index increased by 5.9% to 122.1 in July, according to data by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday.
Read More »US: More Than 1 Million Americans Applied For Unemployment Benefits
There were 1,006,000 Initial Claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending August 22nd, the data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) revealed on Thursday. This reading followed last week’s print of 1,104,000 (revised from 1,106,000) and came in slightly worse than the market expectation …
Read More »US: Real GDP Contracts by 31.7% in Q2
The United States’ Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted at an annual rate of 31.7% in the second quarter, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis’ second estimate showed on Thursday. This reading came in better than the advance estimate of 32.9% and the market expectation of 32.5%.
Read More »