Economy

Saturday, August 31st 2019 - 17:54 UTC
The “Amazon fires of uncertainty” in Argentina: can they get worse?

Argentina’s battered bonds were driven still lower on Friday after a credit rating cut from Standard & Poor’s triggered automatic selling mechanisms at big pension funds. Risk spreads blew out to levels not seen since 2005 while the local peso currency extended its year-to-date slide to 36%, forcing renewed central bank market intervention and intensifying worries about Argentina’s ability to honor its dollar-denominated debt.
Saturday, August 31st 2019 - 09:20 UTC
Trump: US economic pressure helping Hong Kong protestors; steeper tariffs on Chinese goods “are on” as of this Sunday

US economic pressure on China was responsible for preventing the authorities from carrying out a harsher crackdown against demonstrators in Hong Kong, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday.
Saturday, August 31st 2019 - 08:55 UTC
Factory activity in China shrinks in August for the fourth month running

Factory activity in China shrank in August for the fourth month in a row, official data showed on Saturday, as the United States ramped up tariff pressure and domestic demand remained sluggish.
Saturday, August 31st 2019 - 08:50 UTC
Trump again blasts the Fed over inaction as the Euro slides against the dollar

United States President Donald Trump on Friday accused the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of inaction as the Euro slid in value against the dollar, something he said gave European countries a big trade advantage.
Friday, August 30th 2019 - 09:58 UTC
S&P declares that Argentina's extension of maturities implies a “selective default”

Credit risk agency Standard & Poors announced on Thursday that it was slashing Argentina’s long-term credit rating another three notches into the deepest area of junk debt, saying the government’s plan to “unilaterally” extend maturities had triggered a brief default.
Friday, August 30th 2019 - 09:55 UTC
No end to uncertainty: Argentine bonds plunge and the country risk soared to 2.276 points

Argentine bond prices fell on Thursday and the country risk soared to levels not seen since 2005 after the government announced plans to extend maturities on an estimated US$ 100bn in debt, raising fear of a full-blown financial crisis.
Friday, August 30th 2019 - 09:50 UTC
Tierra del Fuego protests Falklands display at the coming agricultural show in Uruguay

The extreme south Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego has sent letters to the Foreign Ministry and to the Malvinas, Antarctica and South Atlantic Department expressing concern about a Falkland Islands stand at the British pavilion in the coming international agriculture show in Prado, Montevideo, Uruguay to take place between September 3 and 15.
Friday, August 30th 2019 - 09:43 UTC
Brazil economy rebounds in second quarter spurred by construction and industrial production

Brazil’s economy rebounded strongly in the second quarter after having shrunk in the first, official figures showed on Thursday, indicating Latin America’s largest economy comfortably avoided falling back into recession.
Friday, August 30th 2019 - 08:57 UTC
Court bids in London, Edinburgh and Belfast to stop the “coup”, suspension of parliament; more street protests programmed

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's suspension of parliament just weeks before Britain's EU departure date faced legal challenges on Thursday amid a furious outcry from pro-Europeans and MPs opposed to a no-deal Brexit.
Thursday, August 29th 2019 - 10:50 UTC
Argentina announces it will “re profile” IMF loan and sovereign bonds' maturities

Argentina will negotiate with holders of its sovereign bonds and the International Monetary Fund to extend the maturities of its debt obligations, as a way of ensuring the country's ability to pay, Treasury Minister Hernan Lacunza said on Wednesday.