• MTS Economic News_20181127

    27 Nov 2018 | Economic News

• The euro weakened against the greenback on Monday, giving up earlier gains, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi acknowledged slowing growth in the region.

The euro zone has lost some growth momentum but this was mostly normal and not enough to derail plans by the bank to dial back stimulus further, Draghi and two of his top lieutenants said on Monday.

Italy's governing coalition may reduce next year's budget deficit target to as low as 2 percent of gross domestic product to avoid disciplinary action from Brussels, two government sources said on Monday.

Sterling was also little changed against the greenback, after rallying on a deal for Britain to leave the European Union. Under the deal secured with EU leaders on Sunday, Britain will leave the bloc in March with continued close trade ties, but the odds now look stacked against it being approved by a divided British parliament.

The pound traded flat versus the dollar at $1.2821 at 1630 GMT and traded down 0.1 percent against the euro at 88.51 pence.

Elsewhere, the U.S. dollar traded at 97.074 against a basket of its peers. The dollar index was up from levels below 96.600 in the previous week.

• President Donald Trump suggested he could place a 10 percent tariff on iPhones and laptops imported from China, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Monday. He also said it's "highly unlikely" that he would delay an increase in tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on Jan. 1, just four days before a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

• Mario Draghi has insisted that the European Central Bank still plans to halt its €2.6tn stimulus programme at the end of this year, arguing that inflation is set to increase despite recent disappointing economic data.

Appearing before the European Parliament, the ECB president said the final decision to end the asset purchase programme would be taken next month “subject to” data confirming the bank’s prediction that inflation was going to “gradually rise”.

• Theresa May has defended her proposed Brexit deal in the Commons in the face of sustained criticism from the opposition and many Conservative MPs.

She said the deal delivered on the result of the EU referendum - and MPs will get to vote on it on 11 December.

But she admitted she was not "entirely happy" with the "backstop" contingency plan to avoid a hard border in Ireland.

Jeremy Corbyn said "ploughing on" with a deal opposed by the public and MPs was an "act of national self-harm".

The Labour leader suggested Parliament would have "little choice" but to reject the deal when MPs vote on it.

• Prime Minister Theresa May warned on Monday that Britain would be thrust into the unknown if parliament rejects the Brexit deal she has negotiated with the European Union, as lawmakers from all sides lined up to criticise the agreement.

• Donald Trump has delivered a weighty blow to Theresa May’s hopes of steering her Brexit deal through parliament, saying it sounded like a “great deal for the EU” that would stop the UK trading with the US.

Trump’s intervention caught Downing Street off-guard and is likely to weaken May’s hand at a time when she is seeking to get the deal approved by parliament, where she faces determined resistance from 89 Tory backbenchers who argue the deal does not secure sufficient freedom of action for the UK. A vote is due on 11 December after a five-day debate.

• The Italian government said on Monday it was sticking to its main 2019 budget goals for now as it awaits a cost analysis of its main spending measures, but left open the possibility of eventually cutting its deficit target.

• Special counsel Robert Mueller alleged Monday that former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort lied to investigators, violating his plea agreement, according to a court filing.

The special counsel and Manafort both asked the judge to sentence the former Trump campaign chairman.

A spokesman for the special counsel did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Mueller is investigating Russia's attack on the 2016 election as well as potential ties between the Kremlin and President Donald Trump's campaign. Trump has repeatedly denied that his campaign colluded with the Russians to undermine the campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton.

• Oil prices rose on Monday, clawing back some of the previous session's steep losses, although gains where capped by uncertainty over global economic growth and further signs of increasing supply.

Brent crude futures were up $1.67, or 2.8 percent, at $60.47 a barrel by 2:26 p.m. ET. Brent sank 6 percent on Friday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures ended Monday's session up $1.21, or 2.4 percent, at $51.63 a barrel. The gains partly made up for Friday's 7.7 percent drop.

Prices on Friday hit their lowest since October 2017 amid intensifying fears of a supply glut. Brent sank to $58.41 a barrel, while WTI fell to $50.15 a barrel.

• $50 oil is bad for the U.S. because it hurts American drillers and threatens to create problems in the credit market, Goldman Sachs' Jeff Currie warns.

President Donald Trump has been cheering oil's plunge into a bear market and urging Saudi Arabia to drive the cost of crude even lower.

Currie thinks Saudi Arabia and Russia will prevail in convincing Trump that price-boosting production cuts are necessary at this week's G-20 meeting.


Reference: CNBC, Reuters, The Guardian, BBC, Financial Times

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