Briefing from National Security Advisor Bolton
In a tweet fron So. Carolina Senator, he says that national security advisor Bolton is warning him about escalating tensions with Iran. He tweets:
Lindsey Graham: Escalating tensions with Iran
Archives of “May 20, 2019” day
rssFord to cut 7000 salaried jobs
Major restructuring in the US automaker
Ford has announced that they will cut 7000 salaried jobs in a major restructuring. Of the 7000 cuts around the world, 2300 will be in the US. The cuts will be made by the end of August.
Looking at Ford’s stock price, the price moved above the 50, 100 and 200 day MAs back in March/April (and also above a downward trend line. The pair tested an old floor at $10.44 over the last few weeks. A move above that area would be more bullish….
Huawei $ 2027 Spread to Benchmark
US equity futures slip on speculation that China will retaliate against Huawei measures
S&P 500 futures turn negative on the day
European stocks are also hitting its day’s lows after speculation earlier and that has sent USD/JPY to its lows near the 110.00 handle currently as well. The only bright side for risk sentiment is that Treasury yields have yet to really respond, as 10-year yields are still up by about 1 bps at 2.402%.
Otherwise, sentiment is starting to turn south again as US-China trade tensions continue to stick around. The speculation earlier didn’t exactly come from an official source but is enough to send jitters across markets for now.
Should the news be made official, I reckon the tremors will reverberate even more. As such, tread with caution as we’re most likely going to see trade tensions ramp up further before they get any better moving forward.
The children are our best hope
China says ‘wait and see’ for countermeasures on Huawei case
Comments by China’s foreign ministry
Although markets are less phased by US-China tensions to start the week, let’s not forget that the situation is still far from being resolved and the Huawei case (sanctions) last week certainly doesn’t help to ease those tensions.
Nikkei 225 closes higher by 0.24% at 21,301.73
Tokyo’s main index retains gains but finishes near the lows
The gains in Japanese stocks were mostly helped by the better-than-expected Q1 GDP report but as investors are given time to digest the less pretty details, the earlier optimism started to wane. Equities in the region are more mixed as Chinese stocks are trading lower but overall risk sentiment remains more neutral as US equity futures are slightly higher.
That’s seeing yen pairs a little more underpinned but the positive tones among risk assets aren’t really overwhelming as we begin the session. As such, USD/JPY is holding just a tad higher at 110.15 currently.
European stock futures are also flat in early trades so let’s see how markets develop in the sessions ahead before settling on a fresh direction to start the new week.
How to measure an effective culture
The culture cycle at 3M
Former PBOC official says China should not allow yuan weaker than 7
Former People’s Bank of China official Sheng Songcheng
Writing a piece in China Business News.
- says the yuan falling through 7 may shake the confidence of markets
- increase pressures on capital outflows
- devaluing the yuan has only a small positive impact on trade
—
Not dropping under 7 is a popular view. Not there yet anyway.
USD/CNY was set at 6.8988 today by the PBOC.
CNY has been weak.
Meanwhile USD/CNH (CNH is the offshore)
