Americas markets wrap: Commodities producers fall on China worries
News of China’s widening trade surplus weighed on Latin American stocks today as investors worried that demand is slowing down in one of the region’s largest trading partners.
“China was seen as a key demand factor in keeping commodity prices elevated and the idea that the Chinese consumer would offset a weak consumer in Europe and the US is proving misplaced,” Paul Biszko of RBC Capital Markets told Reuters. Continue reading »
Tensions rise around Petrobras share issue
A couple of short interviews with Brazil’s oil & gas industry regulator published today show how tensions are building in the approach to a share issue planned next month by Petrobras, the national oil company, which analysts expect to raise at least $25bn.
Petrobras needs the money to help fund its huge capital expenditure programme, which includes starting work on the potentially enormous “pre-salt” fields discovered off Brazil’s coast in 2007. A new regulatory regime for the fields is making its way through Congress. At first sight it works strongly in Petrobras’s favour. But the national oil company is not getting everything its own way. Continue reading »
Argentine wheat farmers curse government intervention
World wheat prices have soared – but Argentine farmers aren’t celebrating.
In fact, there may never have been a worse time to grow grain in Argentina. Government controls prevent a quick ramping up of exports, while tariffs have increased over the past decade and are now set for further revision.
“I think producers are fed up,” says Ramiro Costa, chief economist at the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange. Continue reading »
Central and eastern European stocks fell on Tuesday, giving up gains made over the past week, in reaction to slowing imports in China and a related fall in the oil price.
Russia’s Micex index, which is sensitive to commodity prices, closed afternoon trading down 1.5 per cent at 1,397.66. Gazprom and Lukoil were both down over 2 per cent, as oil fell back under $80 for the first time in a week. Continue reading »
Deal of the day: Arcelor swoops, subject to conditions
By Sarah Syed of mergermarket
Might the world’s largest steel producer have just paid $110m for nothing?
ArcelorMittal’s purchase of Imperial Crown Trading may suggest so: ICT’s sole attraction is its 21.4 per cent share of prospecting rights in Sishen, Africa’s biggest iron-ore mine, and those rights could disappear due to ongoing legal action.
But ArcelorMittal is no amateur acquirer. Today’s deal is subject to conditions, most notably that the prospecting rights remain intact. Continue reading »
Luxottica hits Brazilian high streets
“No joint-ventures, no franchising, no licensing, no nothing. If these are countries of the future, we will make all the mistakes in the world, it will be a long-term strategy.”
That’s how the Andrea Guerra, CEO of Luxottica, the world’s largest eye-wear company, describes his approach to emerging markets.
And given such strident words, it’s little surprise that Luxottica is pledging to open its first store in Sao Paulo, Brazil “very shortly”. Continue reading »
Hungary’s GDP – a game of two halves
Hungary’s football team is gearing up to play England at Wembley on Wednesday evening and its soccer-mad prime minister Viktor Orban has every reason to feel confident.
Granted, the current Hungarian side is not a patch on the legendary bunch that put England to the slaughter in 1953, in what became dubbed “the match of the century” (Final score: Hungary 6-3 England).
But with the government on Tuesday raising its 2010 growth forecast, Orban certainly has the wind behind him as he bids to restore Hungary’s “economic self-rule”. Continue reading »
Privatising Pagcor’s casino business: a deal too good to be true?
Ramon Ang, the 56-year old president of San Miguel Corporation, one of the Philippines’ biggest conglomerates, has neither the time nor patience for policy advocacy, as chambers of commerce like to call lobbying these days.
This week he made an audacious offer that has forced the cash-strapped government think long and hard. Ang has said he would pay $10bn for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, a state-owned company that earns around 30bn pesos a year from running 13 casinos across the country. Continue reading »
Trade data: China bears growl
Chinese trade data for July came as something of a disappointment for the markets. The growing trade surplus could also see pressure on China’s currency policy return. But perhaps more worrying is what the numbers say about China’s domestic demand. As usual, the jury’s out. But the bear’s are sharpening their claws.
Long-term China bear Diana Choyleva at Lombard Research sees the latest figures as further evidence of serious trouble ahead. Continue reading »
Armageddon avoided, as Chinese property prices steady
So much for the expected Armageddon in China’s property market. Only last week there were reports that banks were being told to conduct stress tests against a scenario of a 60-per-cent drop in house prices in some cities. Investors fretted that the authorities knew something that they did not.
In fact, the surprise is how calm things remain. The government reported today that house prices in the country’s 70 biggest cities were flat in July compared to the month before, having fallen 0.1 per cent in June. No signs so far, therefore, of the sort of dramatic price drops that might lead to a slump in investment and put pressure on the banks. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* Google under probe in S Korea over data collection
* China trade surplus widens further
* India’s home ministry asks DoT to stop all 3G services
* Argentina’s `scorching’ growth helps GDP warrants trump bonds
* Hungary raises 2010 GDP forecast to +0.6% from -0.2%
Continue reading »
News that China’s trade surplus hit its highest level in 18 months weakened equities today, with the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific markets slipping from Monday’s three-month high. The Shanghai Composite fell 2.9 per cent to close at its lowest in two weeks, at 2,595.27.
China’s imports grew at 22.7 per cent in July, well below the 34.1 per cent growth in June. Traders saw the data as evidence of slowing domestic demand, while a weaker-than-expected export number added to fears of sluggish recoveries in Japan and the US. Continue reading »
Further reading: Mumbai oil, yuan, Asian telecoms
From the FT,
From elsewhere,
London headlines
* Home ministry asks dot to stop all 3G services
* China housing prices post slower growth in July
* Rural demand drives India car sales record
* News Corp sells control of China TV channels Continue reading »
| About this blog | Headlines email | Blog guide |
| Regulars | Series | Archive |
Stefan Wagstyl
Josh Noble
Rob Minto
Pan Kwan Yuk
Jonathan Wheatley
Heba Saleh