• MTS Economic News_20180410

    10 Apr 2018 | Economic News

• The dollar bounced against the yen on Tuesday, with broader risk appetite improving after a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping promising to cut import tariffs eased concerns about a trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies.

The dollar was up 0.3 percent at 107.130 yen after going as high as 107.245. The greenback had fallen in the two previous sessions as rhetoric from Chinese and U.S. policymakers had kept markets wary.

The euro was steady at $1.2317 after rising about 0.35 percent the previous day, when it touched a six-day high of $1.2331.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies inched up 0.05 percent to 89.885 after shedding 0.3 percent on Monday.

• Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed plans to further open up the Chinese economy during a Tuesday address.
Those measures included lowering import tariffs for autos and other products, enforcing the legal intellectual property of foreign firms, and improving the investment environment for international companies.

Xi's address — from the Boao Forum for Asia, an annual summit that's been dubbed the "Asian Davos" — comes amid escalating trade tensions between China and the U.S. as the world's two largest economies take turns announcing punitive trade measures against each other.

• U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday promised quick, forceful action in response to a deadly suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, appearing to suggest a potential military response.

Trump told a meeting with military leaders and national security advisers he would make a decision by Monday night “or very shortly thereafter” on a response, adding that the United States had “a lot of options militarily” on Syria.

• U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that countries need to rise to the challenge of climate change.

Guterres, speaking at the Chinese Boao Forum for Asia on Hainan island, said that while globalization had helped reduce poverty, vast numbers of people had been left behind and he wanted a fairer outcome.

• Facebook (FB.O) Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s No. 1 mission during his appearance before U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday and Wednesday will be to defend against calls to regulate internet-based companies.

The prospect of new laws that restrict Facebook and other internet companies, however, is extremely unlikely not only because of a lack of political will and the effective lobbying of technology companies but because few lawmakers want to grapple with the sheer complexity of the technical issues involved.

Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify before a joint hearing of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committees.

• A former aide to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday denied a media report that he had intervened to help win approval for a friend of the premier to set up a new veterinary school, the latest twist in suspected cronyism scandal.

Abe’s support has been undermined by several scandals over suspected cronyism and cover-ups, raising doubts about how long he can remain in power and whether he can achieve his cherished goal of revising Japan’s pacifist, post-war constitution.

His domestic troubles are mounting ahead of a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump next week and an expected onslaught from Trump over Japan’s trade policies.

• Oil markets rose for a second day on Tuesday on hopes that a trade dispute between the United States and China, the world’s two biggest crude consumers, may be resolved without greater damage to the global economy.

Yet prices remain within recent ranges as oil markets still face an abundance of supply that puts pressure on producers to keep their prices competitive in order not to lose market share.

Brent crude futures were at $68.97 per barrel at 0417 GMT, up 32 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $63.76 a barrel, up 34 cents, or 0.5 percent.


Reference: Reuters,CNBC

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