WORLDWIDE : HEADLINES
With eye on China, Japan’s Suga seeks tighter ties with Vietnam, Indonesia
TOKYO – Japan’s new leader will aim to beef up security ties when he visits Vietnam and Indonesia next week amid concerns about Beijing’s growing assertiveness, but is likely to steer clear of the harsh anti-China rhetoric used by U.S. counterparts.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, whose resume is scant on diplomatic experience, will follow in predecessor Shinzo Abe’s footsteps by making the two Southeast Asian nations the destination for his first overseas trip since taking office in September.
“I think it is important to show … we put more emphasis and importance on that region and we are interested in the security situation, especially in the South China Sea,” said former diplomat Kunihiko Miyake, a special advisor to Suga.
Suga is expected to visit Vietnam, chair of the 10-member ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), and Indonesia, its biggest economy, on a four-day trip from Sunday.
Japan must balance its deep economic ties with China with security concerns, including Beijing’s push to assert claims over disputed East China Sea isles [L4N2H62LS]. Abe oversaw an improvement in ties but some ruling party MPs want a tougher stance.
Full coverage: REUTERS
S&P 500 ends lower as investors eye stimulus impasse
The S&P 500 ended lower on Thursday after a rise in weekly jobless claims compounded worries about a stalling economic recovery and fading hopes for more fiscal aid before the election.
The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose to a two-month high last week, stoking fears the COVID-19 pandemic was inflicting lasting damage to the labor market.
A separate report showed manufacturing activity in New York State fell more than expected in October.
“Going into the fall it will be difficult for unemployment to make a lot of positive headway because of the lack of stimulus,” said Christopher C. Grisanti, chief equity strategist, MAI Capital Management in Cleveland.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he is willing to raise his offer of $1.8 trillion for a COVID-19 relief deal with Democrats in Congress, but the idea was shot down by his fellow Republican, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The CBOE volatility index, investors’ fear gauge, hit a one-week high and Wall Street’s indexes dipped for the third straight day. The S&P 500 is down about 3% from its Sept. 2 record high close.
Full coverage: REUTERS
WORLDWIDE : FINANCE / MARKETS
Oil falls as possible OPEC+ supply boost, COVID-19 spike weigh on sentiment
TOKYO – Oil prices fell on Friday on concerns that major producers will move ahead with plans to ease their supply cuts even as a spike in COVID-19 cases in Europe and the United States is curtailing demand in two of the world’s biggest fuel consuming regions.
Brent crude futures for December LCOc1 dropped 22 cents, or 0.5%, to $42.94 a barrel by 0154 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for November delivery CLc1 slid 16 cents, or 0.4%, to $40.8 a barrel.
Both benchmarks fell slightly the previous day; however, they are headed for small gains for the week
A technical committee of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied oil producers, a group know as OPEC+, ended a meeting on Thursday expressing concerns about rising oil supply as social restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19 limit fuel usage.
OPEC+ is set to reduce its current supply cuts of 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2 million bpd in January even as OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo admits fuel demand is looking “anaemic.”
Full coverage: REUTERS
Asian stocks under pressure, dollar in demand amid resurgent virus fears
Asian stocks came under pressure on Friday as investors sought safe havens, such as the U.S. dollar, fearing that a resurgence in coronavirus cases and a lack of additional U.S. fiscal stimulus would hobble the world economy.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s offer on Thursday to raise the size of a fiscal stimulus package to win the support of Republicans and Democrats helped narrow Wall Street losses, though many investors still believe a deal is unlikely before the Nov. 3 election.
“There’s a bit of worry there and also at what we’re seeing in America and in Europe regarding the virus and how it seems to be taking hold pretty significantly again,” said Grant Williamson, investment adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Stocks struggled to make gains in early Asian trade with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO down 0.02% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures NKc1 adding just 0.06%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures .HSIHSIc1 rose 0.36%. E-mini futures for the S&P 500 EScv1 rose 0.04%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 0.07%, the S&P 500 .SPX 0.15% and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.47%.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Dollar heads for weekly gain as pandemic recovery stalls
SINGAPORE – The dollar was headed for its best week of the month on Friday, as surging coronavirus cases and stalled progress toward U.S. stimulus had nervous investors seeking safe assets.
As fresh curbs to combat COVID-19 were introduced in Europe and Britain, the world’s reserve currency surged to a two-week high of 93.910 against a basket of currencies. It held just below that peak in Asian morning trade.
London enters a tighter COVID-19 lockdown from midnight, which with a curfew in Paris leaves two of Europe’s largest cities living under state-imposed restrictions.
The U.S. Midwest is also battling record surges in new cases as temperatures get colder, prompting authorities to set up a field hospital in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in case of an overflow of patients from hospital wards.
“Markets fear a slowdown in activity as new virus cases rise,” ANZ bank analysts Susan Kilsby and David Croy said in a note.
Full coverage: REUTERS
