Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday called for minimum retirement ages significantly lower than those proposed by his predecessor, sparking concerns among investors that he will back watered-down pension reform legislation.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Jay Powell took steps to reassure financial markets on Friday, saying that the US central bank would be patient about rate rises. He also defended his independence, saying he would not resign if requested by US President Donald Trump.
Apple has rattled investors with news that its sales have been slowing, blaming economic weakness in China. In a surprise disclosure, the iPhone maker said it anticipated revenue of about US$ 84bn for the three months to 29 December. In November it forecast sales of at least US$ 89bn - a prediction that had already disappointed investors.
Oil prices jumped as much as 3% on Friday to win back a chunk of the ground they lost in the previous session, but growth in U.S. crude stockpiles and ongoing concerns about the global economy kept markets under pressure.
Latin American currencies failed to gain against a weak dollar on Tuesday, as cautious investors pared exposure ahead of the end of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day meeting on Wednesday, while Latin American stocks ticked up in line with their U.S. peers.
Wall Street indexes continued their slide in Thursday’s volatile session as investors worried about rising interest rates and braced for a trade war hit to corporate earnings a day ahead of the quarterly reporting season kickoff.
United States share markets suffered on Wednesday their sharpest one-day falls in months, as fears about rising interest rates, inflation, trade tensions intensified. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the declines, sliding 4%, or 315.9 points, to 7,422. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 also fell by more than 3%, with losses accelerating towards the end of the day. Netflix fell 8%, while Amazon slid 6%.
Brazilian markets surged on Tuesday as stronger polling for far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro and a Congressional farm caucus endorsement boosted expectations that he may block the leftist Workers Party from returning to power.
The markets of China, Ukraine, Argentina, South Africa and Turkey are the most vulnerable among all developing countries in terms of financing needs, reserve adequacy, asset valuation, institutional quality and trade resilience, according to a review by the analysts of the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
World stock markets plunge Friday and the Euro hit an 18-month low against the dollar, on growing fears that the austerity packages unveiled across Europe could tip the continent back into recession and stifle global economic recovery.