After eight years in which interest rates in rich countries have kept close to all-time lows, a change of weather is in the air. Donald Trump’s election as US president and widespread expectations that the Federal Reserve will nudge rates higher this week have made their mark on the markets. The big question is whether short-term pressures for higher US interest rates are strong enough to overturn […]
Law Blog rounds up the morning’s legal news: Russia hacking: Lawmakers of both political parties vowed Sunday to investigate the extent of Russia’s meddling in the U.S., and particularly its elections. [WSJ] Cell-tower evidence: An appeal before the Connecticut Supreme Court highlights the divided legal landscape surrounding the validity of cellphone tower evidence used in criminal trials. [AP] […] (via WSJ)
MEXICO CITY China and Mexico pledged on Monday to deepen ties at a meeting between their top diplomats following last month’s U.S. presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who has tested Washington’s relationship with both countries. Before arriving in Mexico on Sunday, Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi met with members of Trump’s team in New York, including his pick for national security adviser, retired Army Lieutenant General […]
The top Republican in the US Senate has backed an investigation into allegations that the Kremlin engaged in a hacking campaign to influence November’s presidential election. It is the most serious break yet between President-elect Donald Trump and his party’s traditional leaders in Washington. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, said that Congress would probe the allegations following the disclosure of a Central Intelligence Agency report which […]
By Doina Chiacu and Gina Cherelus | WASHINGTON/NEW YORK WASHINGTON/NEW YORK The front-runner for secretary of state in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, Exxon Mobil chief executive Rex Tillerson, faces a struggle getting confirmed by U.S. senators concerned about his close ties to Russia. Lawmakers from both major parties also raised questions on Monday about former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton, who has been mentioned as a possible […]
Trading volumes across markets have soared following the US presidential election, a boon to Wall Street investment banks as money managers prepare for a new environment under the future Trump administration. Since the November election result, there have been seven days when more than $20bn of investment grade debt has traded hands — a level that had previously only been breached 18 times since data has been […]
By Alastair Macdonald | BRUSSELS BRUSSELS European Union leaders will set out plans this week for negotiating Britain’s exit, diplomats said, after national officials met late on Monday to prepare an EU summit statement. After the 28 national leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday, British Prime Minister Theresa May will leave and the other 27 will dine without her and agree principles on how negotiations with London […]
MANAMA, Bahrain — The political shock waves from the American presidential election are being felt here in the Persian Gulf, where diplomats, military commanders and other senior leaders say they are both fearful and excited about which Donald J. Trump shows up after he is sworn in as president on Jan. 20. Will it be, they ask, the President Trump who has vowed to cut off American […]
Donald Trump has named Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn to head the White House National Economic Council, marking his third top appointment from the ranks of the bank despite his pledge to sever links between Wall Street and Washington. The appointment of Mr Cohn, who serves as chief operating officer, leaves Goldman nursing another big departure from its leadership team just weeks after the news that the […]
WASHINGTON The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said on Monday his committee has been conducting “vigorous oversight” of the investigations into election-related cyber attacks and he did not see any benefit in opening more probes. “At this time I do not see any benefit in opening further investigations, which would duplicate current committee oversight efforts and Intelligence Community inquiries,” Representative Devin Nunes said […]
WASHINGTON Donald Trump on Monday criticized Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet program as too expensive, the latest attack by the U.S. President-elect on large defense contractors. Lockheed shares dropped 5.1 percent and shares of several other defense contractors also tumbled. “The F-35 program and cost is out of control,” Trump said on Twitter, echoing campaign promises to cut waste in federal spending. “Billions of dollars can and […]
Crude oil surged to the highest in 17 months amid efforts to cut production, pushing up the outlook for global inflation and sending 10-year Treasury yields above 2.5 percent for the first time since October 2014. Chinese equities tumbled. Oil jumped more than 4 percent in New York and London after Saudi Arabia signaled it will cut output by more than previously agreed amid a weekend deal to […]
The prospect of a more aggressive Federal Reserve and a surge in the oil price hit global bonds on Monday, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note above 2.5 per cent for the first time since 2014. Treasuries have led a sharp sell-off in sovereign bonds since Donald Trump’s victory in last month’s US election, raising the prospect that Fed officials will have to raise […]
The Chinese government has warned Donald Trump that the two countries will have “nothing to discuss” if the US president-elect’s incoming administration decides to discard the four-decade old “One China” policy. “Adherence to the One China policy is the political bedrock for development of [bilateral] relations,” Geng Shuang, a foreign ministry spokesman, said on Monday. “If compromised, there will be nothing to discuss on co-operation in major fields.” […]
The recent deal to keep Carrier jobs in the United States is not at all unusual. It only received so much press because Trump made it a campaign issue and saw an opportunity to record a big early PR victory before he even took office. Government and corporations cooperate, negotiate deals, scratch each others backs, kickback ill-gotten gains, and function as a career advancement funnel for corrupt […]
By Joyce Lee | SEOUL SEOUL South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn will begin getting official briefings from aides of President Park Geun-hye on Monday, having assumed presidential authority in a caretaker role following her impeachment by parliament last week. Hwang has sought to calm anxiety over national security and to reassure financial markets while Park’s presidency is held in limbo pending the outcome of a Constitutional […]
By Howard Schneider | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Federal Reserve inaugurates the Trump era this week with a near-certain interest rate increase and new economic forecasts providing a first glimpse into whether the U.S. election has reshaped the central bank’s growth and inflation outlook. Fed fund futures show a 97 percent probability that the Fed will lift rates by a quarter of a percentage point at the end […]
December 12, 2016 by: Andrew Byrne in Skopje Macedonia’s election results hung in the balance on Monday morning, with former prime minister Nikola Gruevski’s ruling party holding a narrow lead over the leftwing opposition but both claiming victory. With 98 per cent of votes counted by early Monday morning, the conservative VMRO DPMNE party had 37.9 per cent compared with 36.6 per cent for Zoran Zaev’s SDSM […]
HONG KONG, December 12 Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary John Tsang has resigned his post pending an announcement he will run for the city’s top job next March, Cable TV news reported on Monday. The resignation ends months of speculation on whether 65-year-old Tsang, currently topping popularity polls, wanted to run for Chief Executive of Hong Kong. It comes after unpopular incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced last […]
Monday 02.15 GMT Overview Markets around Asia were mostly higher, buoyed by a surge in oil prices and following on from another set of records for Wall Street on Friday. Hot topic Ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Wednesday, government bond yields are hovering at their highest levels in months. Of note, the yield (which moves inversely to price) on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury […]
First it was the Fed, then the ECB (which last week tapered when it reduced the monthly amount of bond purchases under its QE program). Now attention shifts to the Bank of Japan, because as the WSJ writes, one of central banking’s most aggressive easers – Kuroda’s Bank of Japan – may soon have to think about tightening for the first time since 2007. While it has […]
BISHKEK Kyrgyzstan has voted in favour of constitutional changes boosting the power of its government, the Central Election Commission said on Sunday, citing preliminary results of a national referendum. The commission said that with most ballots counted in the Central Asian nation of six million, about 80 percent of voters had supported the package of constitutional amendments proposed by allies of President Almazbek Atambayev. Voter turnout was […]
As Democrats continue to spin the fake news narrative, because it’s simply impossible that Hillary (the candidate who lost both Wisconsin and Michigan to a Socialist in the Democratic primary) lost fair and square, Former US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, penned an op-ed in the Washington Post yesterday that suggested registering RT and Sputnik as “foreign agents,” claiming that they “campaigned openly for one candidate, Donald […]
Photo Mayor Nir Barkat of Jerusalem says he is optimistic that when Donald J. Trump is president, he will move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, whose status is contested by Israel and the Palestinians. Credit Associated Press/Tsafrir Abayov The mayor of Jerusalem says that he is optimistic that once Donald J. Trump becomes president, the United States will quickly move its embassy in […]
