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India reports record daily new coronavirus cases of 66,999 in latest update today

  
  Analysis
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That brings the total confirmed cases in the country to nearly 2.4 million

India is among the countries that have been hit the hardest by the pandemic as the struggle to balance between the health crisis and the economic fallout is particularly stark.

As for the health crisis, the bright side is that over 1.6 million of those infected has recovered from the disease. However, the spread is still outpacing the number of recoveries:
India
At the start of July, India reported ~220,000 active cases in the country. That figure is now ~643,000. The only positive – if you really want to look at it that way – is that the mortality sits at just ~1.9%. That is better than the ~3.2% seen in Brazil and the US.
In the bigger picture, as long as the health crisis worsens in India, it will have an impact on the global economic situation in general. Before the pandemic, there have been talks that India’s share of global growth might rival that of US, China in the next decade.
They were already among the top five – some would argue top three – contributors of global growth over the past few years, so any major setback to India will also be a setback for the global economy in that sense.

Full statement of the BOE August monetary policy meeting decision

  
  Analysis
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The full statement by the BOE on its August policy decision

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sets monetary policy to meet the 2% inflation target, and in a way that helps to sustain growth and employment. In that context, its challenge at present is to respond to the economic and financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. At its meeting ending on 4 August 2020, the MPC voted unanimously to maintain Bank Rate at 0.1%. The Committee voted unanimously for the Bank of England to continue with its existing programmes of UK government bond and sterling non-financial investment-grade corporate bond purchases, financed by the issuance of central bank reserves, maintaining the target for the total stock of these purchases at £745 billion.

The Committee’s projections for activity and inflation are set out in the accompanying August Monetary Policy Report. Although recent developments suggest a less weak starting point for the Committee’s latest projections, it is unclear how informative they are about how the economy will perform further out. The outlook for the UK and global economies remains unusually uncertain. It will depend critically on the evolution of the pandemic, measures taken to protect public health, and how governments, households and businesses respond to these factors. The MPC’s projections assume that the direct impact of Covid-19 on the economy dissipates gradually over the forecast period. Given the inherent uncertainties regarding the evolution of the pandemic, the MPC’s medium-term projections are a less informative guide than usual.

Global activity has strengthened over recent months, although it generally remains below its level in 2019 Q4. Covid-19 has continued to spread rapidly within a number of emerging market economies, however, and there has been a renewed rise in cases in many advanced economies. (more…)

Japan trade balance for June Y -268.8bn (expected Y -11.9bn)

  
Analysis, Economy
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Japanese data, exports worse than expected, imports fall lower than expected leading to a blow out on the deficit for the month

Japan trade balance for June Y -268.8bn

  • expected Y -11.9bn, prior Y -838.2bn

Trade balance adjusted Y -423.9bn

  • expected Y -331.1bn, prior Y -601.0bn

Exports -26.2% y/y

  • expected -24.7% y/y, prior -28.3%

Imports -14.4% y/y

  • expected -17.6% y/y, prior -26.2%
Japan is an export powerhouse, this miss on exports is suggestive of a global economy in even worse shape than may have been thought.

China confirms 80% tariff on Australian barley

  
  Analysis
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The news that China was to impose an import tariff on Australian barley broke back on May 10

The tariff imposition has been announced in a statement from China’s Ministry of Commerce
  • anti-dumping tariff would be 73.6 per cent
  • while the anti-subsidy tariff would be 6.9 per cent
  • will remain in place for five years
This from China is in retaliation for Australia leading calls for an investigation into the origin and spread of COVID-19. China also halted imports of Australian beef last week as part of their response.
 The news that China was to impose an import tariff on Australian barley broke back on May 10 

US negotiators offer to cut Chinese tariffs by up to 50% on $360B in imports – WSJ sources

  
  Analysis
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Breaking report

  • US would reimpose original tariff level if China fails to carry out pledges
  • Would also cancel planned Dec tariffs
  • US tariff offer made in recent days as both sides seek trade deal
  • US asking China for firm commitments on increased US products
Aside from the ‘firm commitments on purchases’ we don’t know what the US is asking for from China. We also don’t know if it’s acceptable to Beijing. Looks like they’ve left the ball in Xi’s court but I’d assume (hope?) they already had some indication from China about what they wanted.
What’s also important to note here is that this would be a pretty substantial phase one trade deal. Lowering tariffs by 50% on $360B in imports would be a big step. The total tariffs right now are on $550B of goods with China countering on $185B billion.
It’s not clear which tariffs these might be as the US added tariffs in sequences on $34B, $200B, $300B and $125B along with some tweaks at various points. Chances are that this is mostly from the Sept 1 round of $125B. China had previously demanded the US remove these but the compromise here might have been that these stay on at a lower rate (it would be 5%) with tariffs from previous rounds being cut.
Update: The full story is out right now with a few more details
  • The tariff-reduction offer was made in the past five days or so
  • US side has demanded that Beijing make firm commitments to purchase large quantities of US agricultural and other products, to better protect US IP rights and to allow greater access to China’s financial-services sector
China has already taken action on Items #2 and #3. I doubt firm commitments on purchases is a deal breaker but the WSJ report notes that China has balked at firm purchases because they run counter to WTO rules. In the bigger picture, the US demanding China violate the WTO is part of the US strategy to undermine the WTO.

OECD trims 2020 global growth forecast to 2.9% from 3.0% in September

  
Analysis, Economy
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OECD with an updated forecast on the global economic outlook

Global
  • 2019 global GDP growth at 2.9% (unchanged)
  • 2020 global GDP growth at 2.9% (previously 3.0%)
  • 2019 US GDP growth at 2.3% (previously 2.4%)
  • 2020 US GDP growth at 2.0% (unchanged)
  • 2019 China GDP growth at 6.2% (previously 6.1%)
  • 2020 China GDP growth at 5.7% (unchanged)
  • 2019 Eurozone GDP growth at 1.2% (previously 1.1%)
  • 2020 Eurozone GDP growth at 1.1% (previously 1.0%)
  • 2019 UK GDP growth at 1.2% (previously 1.0%)
  • 2020 UK GDP growth at 1.0% (previously 0.9%)
  • 2019 Japan GDP growth at 1.0% (unchanged)
  • 2020 Japan GDP growth at 0.6% (unchanged)
The September forecasts can be found here. If anything, it shows that the dark clouds surrounding the global economy are starting to settle for a bit – not getting significantly worse at the very least.
However, any significant rebound is still far away and needs more convincing so let’s see how sentiment changes if we do or do not get a “Phase One” trade deal.

Near-deal from May now being used as benchmark on how much tariffs to be rolled back – report

  
  Analysis
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US contemplates removing more tariffs than anticipated

China and the US are discussing linking the size of tariff rollbacks to the preliminary terms set in the deal that failed in May, according to Bloomberg who cites two people familiar.
The White House is still debating the precise percentage internally but the report says a deal would at least include removing the Sept tariffs and eliminating the planned Dec tariffs.
China has demanded that all tariffs imposed after May be removed immediately and those from beforehand be lifted gradually.
The report says that some of the $250B in tariffs imposed in 2018 are under consideration to be rolled back and that opposition to the move has softened. Overall, the White House is looking at the tariffs holistically and debating on whether to remove somewhere between 35% and 60%. Those percentages fall inline with what percentage of the overall deal Phase One accomplishes.
For reference, the US currently has tariffs on $360B in goods. That number was $250B before the May talks fell apart. On May 10, the US also raised the tariff rate on those $250B in goods to 25% from 10%.

Overall this report reflects a generally positive take and shows that both sides are working on a deal and perhaps closer than anticipated. This is the first indication they’re working off the May text but it’s also a hint that the US may remove more tariffs than anticipated. It would be a great signal for markets if anything from May or earlier was lowered.

Ross and Soros twin towers the market

  
Analysis, Education, US Market
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dynamite1Wilbur Ross and George Soros are out today calling for crash of commercial real estate.Read more here:

 

Billionaire investor Wilbur L. Ross Jr., said today the U.S. is in the beginning of a “huge crash in commercial real estate.”

“All of the components of real estate value are going in the wrong direction simultaneously,” said Ross, one of nine money managers participating in a government program to remove toxic assets from bank balance sheets. “Occupancy rates are going down. Rent rates are going down and the capitalization rate — the return that investors are demanding to buy a property — are going up.” (more…)

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