International trade

Stock markets around the world have rallied sharply as hopes of a peace deal in the US-China trade war rise. Shares on Wall Street hit intraday highs on Monday after Donald Trump and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, agreed to resume trade negotiations following a meeting at the G20 gathering of world leaders in Japan at the weekend. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped almost 200 points in afternoon trading in New York, an intraday record, before closing up 117 points at 26,717. The wider S&P 500 index of major American firms closed at a record high of 2964. On a day of gains for bourses around the world, the FTSE 100 closed 76 points higher at 7,502. Trump said over the weekend that the meeting with Xi had been “excellent” and that the relationship with China was “right back on track”. The president promised there would be no additional tariffs on Chinese imports for now – a key concern among investors. China also agreed to hold back from … [Read more...] about Global markets rally as hopes of US-China trade deal rise

Time is running out, and Democrats are dragging their feet on the new North American trade deal. They’d rather focus on impeachment. Americans disagree.It might be — in the Democrats’ eyes — a short-term political win, but tanking the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) would cause lasting damage U.S. producers — including Texas farmers and ranchers.Let’s be clear: It’s the District of Columbia that is consumed with impeachment talk and political posturing. The Democrats make a serious mistake if they think scuttling the free trade deal will win them any points in the heartland — in the districts they say they represent.ADVERTISEMENTOutside of Washington, the rest of us are far more concerned with living our lives. The holidays are coming up; we have gifts to buy, trips to budget for and meals to plan. Failure to pass the USMCA could affect all of those.More fundamentally, Texas and American exports are threatened by congressional … [Read more...] about Democrats and the trade deal

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada posted a slightly narrower trade deficit in October as both exports and imports climbed, Statistics Canada said, data that could support the Bank of Canada’s greater confidence in the outlook for economic growth. FILE PHOTO: Ships are seen docked in the St. John's Harbour in St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Wattie Canada posted a trade deficit of C$1.08 billion ($0.82 billion) in October, less than the C$1.37 billion deficit that analysts had forecast. The September deficit was revised upward to C$1.23 billion. Exports rose by 0.8% to C$49.9 billion, while imports were up by 0.5%. “Trade remains sturdy and unlikely to add or subtract meaningfully from Q4 growth,” Robert Kavcic, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said in a note. “There’s little here to alter this week’s Bank of Canada tone, which has shown increasing disinterest in cutting rates.” On … [Read more...] about Canada’s trade deficit narrows in October as both exports and imports rise

Read this article in German. Pick a country — one far away whose name you can't spell — and pretend you're the president. Citizens in a poor, provincial region want better healthcare. Your officials have budgeted $12 million (€9.7 million) in foreign aid to build some hospitals. They have some idea which diseases stalk the area. But not how many people live there. Your sole wish is that all your citizens live long and prosperous lives. So how many hospitals should you build — and where? Many governments confront such questions on a daily basis. But without accurate population data, few come up with convincing answers. Almost half the world's nations do not fully register births and deaths. They know little about their citizens — how many live in the country, where they were born, how old they are. Without a comprehensive death log, they do not know who dies of what. In these regions, basic governance becomes a question of … [Read more...] about International development: Poor data hold back human progress

* U.S. private sector payrolls report misses expectations * U.S. ISM services index falls in November * U.S.-China trade deal still in focus * Sterling gains lifts euro as well * Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh (Recasts adds new comment, U.S. data, FX table, updates prices, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON) By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The dollar fell to a one-month low on Wednesday, undermined by weaker-than-expected U.S. private sector job growth data that followed soft manufacturing numbers earlier in the week that fueled worries the world's largest economy could slip into recession. The U.S. currency also slid to a four-week trough versus the euro and earlier dipped to a two-week low against the yen before recovering to trade slightly higher on the day. "We have seen big U.S. data misses this week and that doesn't help dollar sentiment," said Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto. A private survey showed on … [Read more...] about FOREX-Dollar falls to one-month low on weak U.S. data; trade deal in focus