Liu Caiping and Han Wei via Caixin | Domestically listed Chinese stocks failed to make the grade for inclusion in a key emerging markets stock tracker after their third attempt in three years, as index complier Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) said more time was needed to see if recent reforms to China’s market will be effective.
Mari Pinardo / Raúl Poza | The global context of trade suffers a slowdown but that’s not in all countries and Spain is an exception. Chris Papageorgiou, who is Deputy Unit Chief at International Monetary Fund, recently pointed to The Corner that “probably this expansion is not more things being exported, is less things but more expensive.”
The aversion to risk has reached such a point that the German 10-year government bond yield has moved into negative territory for the first time in its history. The bund is one of the most sought after safe-haven assets, which has caused its yield to plummet to -0.02%. The only advantage of negative interest rates is that they might force Germans to reconsider their investment habits.
Tao Jingzhou via Caixin | It’s been 15 years since China joined the World Trade Organization and yet China is still waiting for the WTO to grant market economy status. During this period, some Chinese businesses have expanded overseas while others have been accused of flouting international anti-dumping rules.
James Alexander via Historinhas | The Federal Reserve and other central banks like to see themselves as “data-dependent”. They sit in objective judgement of the facts of the economy as revealed by “data” and then portentously decide whether to attempt to alter the future facts with monetary tightening or loosening.
“Monetary stimulus is driving European sovereign debt towards irrational levels which are no reward for the risks involved and make any correction phases more dangerous,” say analysts at Intermoney.
Inversis | Spanish oil giant Repsol SA will sell its 42,000 supply points of LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) at 63 million euros. It plans to divest €6.2 billion in nonstrategic assets and cut spending by 38% “without altering its company profile” as part of its 2016-20 strategic plan.
Citi | FinTech Remain Hot: According to the latest data published on 25th May by CB Insights and KPMG, there was a revival in FinTech investments in 1Q16 from a soft 4Q15. A total of 218 investments were made by VC-backed FinTech companies in 1Q16 raising $4.9bn in funding globally, almost doubling yoy and up 160% qoq. The trend for FinTech is noticeably more resilient than total VC funding for all sectors (-8% yoy). Total FinTech investments (including PE, hedge funds and corporate investments) were at $5.7bn, up 97% yoy and 84% qoq.
Julius Baer Research | | Marketplace companies active in the Sharing Economy such as Uber and AirBnB (both not listed) are combining social networks, Big Data analytics and mobile accessibility. Last week, the European Commission (EC) issued guidelines to harmonise the often wildly different treatment faced by businesses trying to shake up sectors ranging from accommodation to transport across the Eurozone.