Seeking Alpha (December 11)
“As markets gear up for major central bank meetings this week, starting with the Federal Reserve on Dec.12-13, all eyes will closely watch for any change in the policymakers’ tone to predict when rate cuts will begin and by how much.” The consensus is that the Fed keep “federal funds target range steady,” with “rate cuts starting in May.”
Tags: Central bank, Consensus, Federal Reserve, Markets, Meetings, Policymakers, Predict, Rate cuts, Steady
Washington Post (December 10)
“China’s consumer prices fell the fastest in three years in November while factory-gate deflation deepened, indicating rising deflationary pressures as weak domestic demand casts doubt over the economic recovery.” Year on year and month on month, CPI fell a worse than expected 0.5%. “The year-on-year CPI decline was the steepest since November 2020.”
Tags: China, CPI, Deepened, Deflation, Domestic demand, Doubt, Economic recovery, Factory-gate, Fell, November, Pressures, Steepest, Weak, Worse
Financial Times (December 10)
“The world’s leading semiconductor companies are racing to make so-called “2 nanometre” processor chips that will power the next generation of smartphones, data centres and artificial intelligence.” While TSMC “remains the analysts’ favourite to maintain its global supremacy in the sector… Samsung Electronics and Intel have identified the industry’s next leap forward as a chance to close the gap.”
Tags: 2 nanometre, AI, Chips, Data centres, Gap, Intel, Leading, Next-generation, Processor, Samsung, Semiconductor, Smartphones, Supremacy, TSMC
Reuters (December 8)
“Since war broke out in Ukraine and the U.S. Federal Reserve began a rapid cycle of raising borrowing costs early last year, it has been exceedingly difficult in most parts of the world for companies to get initial public offerings off the ground. Many are getting ready in case an opportunity arises,” but conditions remain unpromising. So far in 2023, “new listings have raised just $114 billion,” which is “on pace to be the lowest amount since 2008” and marks a “dramatic fall from the $571 billion peak achieved just two years ago.”
Tags: $114 billion, $571 billion, 2008, 2023, Dramatic fall, Fed, IPOs, Lowest, New listings, Peak, Rate hikes, U.S., Ukraine, Unpromising, War
Investment Week (December 7)
“Japanese equities are comfortably multi-asset teams’ most favoured asset class according to our sentiment indicator. Its economy continues to be viewed as being relatively sheltered from the effects of interest rate rises seen elsewhere.”
Tags: Asset class, Economy, Equities, Interest rate, Japan, Most favoured, Multi-asset teams, Rises, Sentiment indicator, Sheltered
Wall Street Journal (December 6)
“2024 is the year the global spillover implications of China’s slowdown will sink in. Advanced economies will downgrade the importance of market access in China, and Global South nations will be forced to find other engines of development.” This will lead to “a new phase of geopolitical conditions, with the anchor assumption of a rising China and declining U.S. being retired. The implications of this will be far reaching and challenging to forecast.”
Tags: 2024, Advanced economies, Assumption, Challenging, China, Downgrade, Far-reaching, Geopolitical conditions, Global South, Global spillover, Implications, Market access, Slowdown, U.S.
Bloomberg (December 5)
“Moody’s Investors Service cut its outlook for Chinese sovereign bonds to negative, underscoring deepening global concerns about the level of debt in the world’s second-largest economy” The change in outlook “comes as China’s deepening property rout triggers a shift toward fiscal stimulus, with the country ramping up its borrowing as a main measure to bolster its economy. That has raised concerns about the nation’s debt levels with Beijing on track for record bond issuance this year.”
Tags: Bond issuance
New York Times (December 4)
The temperature is rising at COP28 as “climate concerns boil over.” Sultan Ahmed al Jaber lit the fuse with “contentious comments” that expressed “skepticism about the world’s ability to halt a rise in global temperatures by reducing the use of hydrocarbons.” Since the oil executive and Emirati politician is “presiding over the COP28 climate summit,” the remarks are “casting fresh doubts over the U.A.E.’s commitment to addressing the climate crisis.”
Tags: Al Jaber, Climate summit, Concerns, Contentious, COP28, Crisis, Doubts, Hydrocarbons, Oil, Politician, Rise, Skepticism, Sultan, Temperatures, U.A.E
Washington Post (December 2)
“The debate now is when the Fed will start cutting interest rates. Stocks ,, come by May. That would certainly help the housing market, which has frozen with mortgage rates at the highest levels in about two decades.”
Tags: Betting, Cutting, Debate, Fed, Frozen, Highest, Housing market, Interest, Investors, Mortgage rates, Rallying, Rates, Stocks
Institutional Investor (December 1)
“Competition to manage middle eastern sovereign wealth has become fierce.” Five of the top ten sovereign wealth funds (by assets under management} “are based in the Middle East” with “roughly $2.92 trillion in assets.” Given “bleak fundraising prospects in the U.S. and Europe, managers are tripping over themselves to reach sovereign wealth funds” in the Middle East.
Tags: $2.92 trillion, AUM, Competition, Europe, Fundraising, Managers, Middle East, Prospects, Sovereign wealth funds, Top ten, U.S.
