Austria on Wednesday became the first euro zone country to price a public sale of debt below the European Central Bank’s deposit rate, as expectations of more ECB stimulus and worries over the global economy push yields in the bloc to new lows. Source: Reuters
Economics
Canada’s bank regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, on Tuesday raised the capital requirement level for ‘systemically important’ banks in the country by 25 basis points, to 2%. Source: Reuters
- U.S. industrial production fell in April, dragged by a big drop in factory output as production of autos and auto parts continued to slide.
- The Federal Reserve says industrial output — reflecting total production at factories, utilities and mines — dropped 0.5% in April.
- Industrial production also fell 0.5% in February.
“The main installations have been completed, the shut-off valves have been installed, so we can assume that the project will be completed by the end of 2019,” said project spokesman Jens Müller. Source: The Local Deutschland
Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom will start filling the Power of Siberia (Sila Sibiri) natural gas pipeline that connects Russia to China from September 1, Gazprom Transgaz Tomsk said in its corporate magazine on March 14, as cited by Prime. Source: Intellinews
Index provider MSCI Inc. said it would quadruple the contribution of mainland Chinese companies’ to its benchmarks, a move that makes shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen all but unignorable for many international investors. Source: MarketWatch
Japan’s industrial output contracted in November and partially reversed the previous month’s gain, while retail sales slowed sharply as increasing global risks drag on demand and threaten the country’s export-reliant economy. Source: Reuters
Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) says it has suspended the delivery of aircraft engines to “countries with unclear usage” in the wake of reports that some of those engines are being used on Turkish combat drones deployed by Azerbaijan in fighting against Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. Source CBC
Protesters turned out by the hundreds in Turin, Milan and other Italian cities to vent their anger, sometimes violently, at the latest pandemic restrictions. Source Cumnock Chronicle
The number of Chinese boats allegedly illegally fishing for flying squid has been increasing rapidly in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off Ishikawa Prefecture’s Noto Peninsula.
In the first nine months of this year, 2,586 Chinese fishing boats received warnings from the Fisheries Agency to leave the Yamatotai area in the Sea of Japan, nearly four times more than a year before. Source Japan Times
Beijing said Monday that it will impose sanctions on American companies — including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon — that have been involved in selling weapons to Taiwan.
Speaking at a press conference Monday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian called on the United States to stop selling arms to the self-governed island and to cut military ties with the government in Taipei. Source CNN
“I call on my people here. Never give credit to French-labelled goods, don’t buy them,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday joined calls for a boycott of French goods, ramping up a standoff between France and Muslim countries over Islam and freedom of speech. Source The Hindu
Several Arab companies withdraw French products from supermarkets in response to Macron’s statements on Islam.
Several Arab trade associations have announced a boycott of French products, in response to recent comments made by President Emmanuel Macron on Islam.
Earlier this month, Macron pledged to fight “Islamist separatism”, which he said was threatening to take control in some Muslim communities around France. Source AlJazeera
Greek battleships have encircled Kastellorizo, the island at the centre of a territorial dispute with Turkey, and several uninhabited islets to shield Greek territory against Turkish attempts to survey for hydrocarbons, according to Greek media. Source Ahval
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced that he had asked the prefect to take legal action. Jérémie Bréaud the LR mayor of Bron, a town in the metropolis of Lyon (Rhône), is targeted by death threats. “We’re going to behead you , ” was tagged in Chassieu, a neighboring town, with the identity of the chosen one. “Fuck la mumu” , we can also read, in reference to the municipal police. The whole thing is accompanied by insults. Source Actu17
A man was arrested with a drone and two blocks of explosives but also detonators, near Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle), during a customs check. He now sleeps in prison. What intentions did this man have? Aged 22, this inhabitant of the metropolitan area of Montpellier (Hérault) was arrested on October 7 during a customs check at the Gye tollgate, on the A31 motorway, near Nancy, reports Midi Libre. Source Actu17
Following the act in France, Swedish teachers are now emphasizing the importance of freedom of expression in teaching. At the same time, there is some concern that similar acts may occur here as well.
– It is not a question of, but when, says teacher Olof Linton. Source SVT Nyheter
Greece’s Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias has written to the European Union asking it to consider suspending the EU’s customs union agreement with Turkey, the Greek state news agency ANA reported on Tuesday.
Dendias wrote to the European commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, asking him to look at the measure in response to Turkey’s repeated violations of the agreement, the agency said. Source Aljazeera
The European Union is backing former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to head the World Trade Organization, sending a signal of trust in Africa, an EU official said on Monday.
Okonjo-Iweala and South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee are vying to be the first female leader in the WTO’s 25-year history, replacing Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, who quit a year earlier than expected at the end of August. Source Reuters
The US State Department on Oct. 20 widened the scope of sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline and warned companies involved in the final installation that they face sanctions if they do not wind down activities within 30 days. Source Spglobal
Whether or not S&P Global Ratings downgrades Italian debt this week is a coin toss, according to Deutsche Bank AG.
“We think it’s a 50-50 call as both an unchanged outlook as well as a downgrade could be justified,” wrote Ioannis Sokos, a strategist at Deutsche, citing S&P’s outlook criteria from April. Source Bloomberg
Gazprom supplied 2.3 bln cubic meters of natural gas to China over the Power of Siberia gas pipeline in January – August 2020 after the deliveries started in December 2019. Daily gas deliveries from Russia to China over the Power of Siberia gas pipeline were above contractual commitments for the first time on Monday, Gazprom said. Source Tass
Investors queued up to buy Italy’s new three-year bond on Tuesday, even though they will get nothing back until early 2024.
The sale of Rome’s first benchmark government bond with a zero coupon, meaning it offers no interest payments, is the latest sign of red-hot demand for riskier eurozone debt, as investors bet that the European Central Bank will scale up its asset-purchasing programme. Source FT
- Central bank is developing its own e-yuan as it seeks to hasten the transformation of China’s economy
- Digital currency being used for transactions ranging from bill payments to government services in pilot tests Source South China Morning Post
Denmark gave the green light Thursday to the Russia-led Nord Stream 2 consortium to operate its Baltic Sea gas pipeline in Danish waters, the country’s energy agency announced.
“Nord Stream 2 AG has been granted an operations permit for the Nord Stream 2 pipelines on the Danish continental shelf,” the energy agency said via a statement. “The permit has been granted on a number of conditions to ensure a safe operation of the pipelines.” Source Deutsche Welle
he Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) raised 487.5 million euros on Wednesday through the auction of 26-week treasury bills at a uniform yield of -0.10%. Source Ekathimerini
About 40,000 workers in the airline industry are facing layoffs on Thursday unless Congress comes up with another aid package Source ABC
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts notified the Florida unemployment department Tuesday of impeding layoffs across the theme park’s properties that includes nearly 10% of its employees across the state. Source Click Orlando
U.S. and European oil majors’ commitment to moving away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy threatens oil supplies and prices, Russia’s state-run oil giant Rosneft has said, according to the Financial Times. Source Moscow Times
