MACRO ECONOMIC NEWS

WISHING A LOVING DAY AHEAD. LOVING IS ADDITIVE AND ADDICTIVE.

Macro Economic News 03 Apr 2018

A New Chapter in the financial markets will begin today as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will begin publishing a new short-term market interest rate - Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or S.O.F.R. - that was created as a robust alternative to the maligned London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor.

U.S. stocks just had their worst second-quarter start in a long time as tech continues to get hit and U.S.-China trade tensions remain front and center. Asian markets look set to come under pressure after U.S. stocks had their worst start to a second quarter since the Great Depression. Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar fluctuated, while the VIX rose to around 24 from just under 20 Thursday.

FINANCIAL TIMES

[I]  Leadership vacuum at Social Mobility Commission assailed

[I]  Momentum admits anti-Semitism ‘more widespread’ than it thought

[I]  Budget cuts and low pay behind strike say UK criminal barristers

[I]  Women more likely to be unemployed than men

[I]  Russian central bank plans ‘bad bank’ for $19bn in toxic assets

[I]  China moves its factories back to the countryside

[I]  China’s targeted tariff retaliation threatens Trump heartland

[I]  Swiss bankers’ hopes for EU access dashed by Brexit

[I]  Japan business sentiment dips on stronger yen

[I]  Return of volatility is a healthy resetting of markets

 

REUTERS

[I]  India imposes 10 percent tax on import of key smartphone components

[I]  India pushes state banks to find own funding sources after $32 billion bailout

[I]  Trump to unveil China tariff list this week, targeting tech goods

[I]  White House pushes preliminary NAFTA deal in Peru next week - Bloomberg

[I]  Asia's cryptocurrency arbitrage boom fizzles, but profits persist

[I]  China hits U.S. goods with tariffs as 'sparks' of trade war fly

[I]  Trump's consumer watchdog proposes to trim agency's power

 

BLOOMBERG 

[I]  Trade Tension With China, U.S. Pushes South Korea Toward Vietnam

[I]  China Urges More Trade Talks as Tariffs on U.S. Goods Begin

[I]  Medicare to Boost Private Plan Payments by 3.4% Next Year

[I]  U.S. Trucking Prices Are About to Rise Even More

[I]  Trump’s Tariffs Are Hurting American Factories After Prices Skyrocket

[I]  China Space Lab Mostly Burns Up on Re-entry in South Pacific

[I]  Japan's Central Bank Wants You to Be Wary of Cryptocurrencies

[I]  Trade Concern Seeps Into Canadian Consumer Confidence Numbers

[I]  Subprime New-Car Buyers Suddenly Go Missing From U.S. Showrooms

[I]  Indonesia May Need to Follow Fed Hikes, Ex-Finance Chief Says

[I]  Goldman Cuts Japan Equity Forecasts as Foreign Investors Flee

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL

[I]  U.S. Pork Producers, Fruit Growers Brace for China Tariffs

[I]  U.S. Factories Report Strong Demand

[I]  Under Trump, a Strong Economy but Murky Policy Outlook

[I]  These Developing Countries Are Getting Old Before They Get Rich, with Dire Consequences

[I]  Iowa’s Employment Problem: Too Many Jobs, Not Enough People

[I]  Indian Women Seize Spending Power: ‘I Just Tell My Husband I Am Buying This Stuff’

[I]  Mall Vacancies Reach Six-Year High as Retail Slump Batters Local Economies

 

BUSINESS LINE

[I]  RBI lifeline allows banks to stagger bond portfolio losses to four quarters

[I]  In top gear, automakers post highest-ever sales in FY18

[I]  Core sector growth up 5.3% in February

[I]  Pendency of patent applications declines

[I]  Petrol price at all-time high, but govt unlikely to cut excise duty

[I]  E-way bill off to a smooth start, says Hasmukh Adhia

[I]  Disqualified directors: Firms get more time to fall in line

[I]  3,900 cos not cooperating on debt rating: Crisil

[I]  SEBI may soon allow fund houses to invest in gold futures

[I]  Rating agencies see improvement in credit quality in FY18

[I]  Water shortage hits summer sowing in Gujarat

[I]  Water level in key reservoirs at 28% of total capacity

[I]  SIDBI to enter trade finance, provide loans online

[I]  Helping novices win the first round with funding veterans

 

ECONOMIC TIMES

[I]  Banks' bad loans tick up to $146 billion in December

[I]  With 99.49 lakh new tax filers, income tax returns surge 26% in 2017-18

[I]  Direct tax mop up at Rs 9.95 lakh crore in FY18, misses revised estimates

[I]  Direct tax collections exceed target in FY18, Rs 9.95 lakh cr with 17% growth

[I]  India requests US for exemption from steel, aluminium tariffs

[I]  Core sector growth up 5.3% in Feb as cement, refinery outputs pick up

[I]  Highway construction hits record 10,000 km in FY18

[I]  Government to assess electronic bus cost after local auto cos voice concerns

[I]  Government confident of meeting 3.5% fiscal deficit target of FY18: Adhia

[I]  E-way bill for smooth inter-state goods movement rolls out

[I]  States allowed to set up crop insurance firms to execute PMFBY

 

BUSINESS STANDARD

[I]  Reserve Bank of India allows banks to spread bond losses

[I]  Govt rules out any immediate excise duty cut to cushion petrol prices

[I]  Will meet fiscal deficit target of 3.5% of GDP for 2017-18: Hasmukh Adhia

[I]  Cement, steel push core sector growth to 5.3% in February

[I]  Sugar production in Maharashtra is set for a new record for crushing season

[I]  Gold import bill rises 13% at $34 bn in FY18, trend set to continue in FY19

[I]  Emerging markets get thumbs up after staring down tough quarter

[I]  Trade war: Trump administration to unveil China tariff list this week

[I]  Trade war intensifies as China imposes tariffs of up to 25% on 128 US goods

 

MARKETS (07:45 am)

[I]  SGX NIFTY Fut: 10193;  USDINR DGCX: 65.1650;  DJIA Mini: 23621;  FTSE 100 Fut:  6923;  NIKKEI 225 Fut: 21204;  EUR-USD: 1.2304; Crude Oil (WTI): 63.17;  Gold (Spot): 1339

Best Regards, ARBIND

03 Apr 2018