Andrew Sheng via Caixin | The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has declared that the global economic recovery is broadening amidst buoyant markets. Its global financial stability report argued that there is a good chance for a sustained recovery and the eventual normalization of monetary policy.
US President Donald Trump eventually nominated Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell as next chairman of the Federal Reserve. Governor Powell has never dissented from the policy actions of the FOMC during his five years as a voting member. However, it remains to be seen how he will make his own mark on the US central bank.
Peng Qinqin, Wu Hongyuran and Dong Tongjian via Caixin | China’s first sale of sovereign dollar bonds since 2004 was met with a strong investor appetite, even absent a credit rating, suggesting confidence in the country’s economy, according to bond-market analysts.
BBVA Research (Boyd Nash-Stacey/Nathaniel Karp) | The FOMC is poised to undergo a nontrivial change in leadership and composition with four new regional Fed members rotating into voting roles and with a potential change in leadership.
The global use of energy would have grown 12% in 2016 without the efficiency improvements achieved since 2000, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
There is a huge increase in income and wealth for the richest 1%, and a continued decline in income and assets for the poorest 10%. Politically speaking, this is a bombshell.
Pablo Pardo (Washington) | Why has the US continued to pump “unconventional” oil to such an extent that it seems almost certain that this will be the year when it beats its production record? It is also an example of the extent of the US economy’s madness with the Federal Reserve’s expansive monetary policy over the last 10 years.
The IMF has just upped its forecast for global growth by one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.6% and 3.7% respectively for this year and the next. The message from the supranational organisation is relatively positive: over 75% of the world is seeing an acceleration in its rate of growth.
Wang Tao via Caixin | The much-anticipated 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China began on Wednesday, with its general secretary, Xi Jinping, delivering a quinquennial report setting the tone for the party’s ideology and policy agenda for the coming years.
Two observations in oil market deserve closer attention these days, says analyst Norbert Rücker, Head Commodity Research at Julius Baer: the US official weekly petroleum market report, and the increased geopolitical uncertainties coming from Kurdistan’s independence vote and the US pressure on the Iran nuclear deal.