Reuters Insider - Asia Insight: US-China trade deal officially still on

Kingsoft

08/05/2020 10:47

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Source: Reuters Insider

Description: Top officials in the US and China say the Phase 1 trade deal
between the countries is still on, despite growing tensions over COVID-19.
Short Link: https://refini.tv/3fvu1DT

Video Transcript:

Hello. Welcome to your Asia Insight. I'm Joel Flynn. Our top story this
Friday. Trade officials from the US and China have both agreed to strengthen
cooperation. This is despite escalating tensions between the two countries.
Representatives from both sides have a telephone call on Friday morning. China
said they had agreed to improve the atmosphere for implementing the phase one
deal. It comes though as President Donald Trump and other top US officials
have blamed China for the COVID-19 outbreak. China also finalized rules last
night to open up its financial markets further. Beijing is scrapping quotas
under two major inbound investment schemes. That gives some foreign
institutions, I'm an unlimited access to Chinese stocks and bonds. All of that
helped buoy Asian markets at MSCI's broadest broadest index of shares outside
Japan was up in afternoon trading in Asia, while shares in the Chinese
mainland gained as well on the back of that positive trade news. Japan's
Nikkei though, was the outstanding performer in the region by the end of
Friday, up more than 2.5% for the session, offsetting losses from earlier in
the week. Data out of Japan though, painted a worrying picture for the
economy. Household spending plunged in March while service sector activity
shrank at a record pace in April. The figures reinforce expectations that the
COVID-19 pandemic is tipping the Japanese economy into a deep recession.
Analysts said Japan was already in a fragile state before the outbreak of
disease thanks to last year's sales tax hike. Australia expects to exit social
distancing measures by July. The Aussie government announced that it would
ease lockdown measures in three stages. It brought in heavy restrictions back
in March, which some have credited with limiting the spread of the coronavirus
down under. So I think it is important that we all hold our nerve. That's why
I was saying before, these are cautious first steps, but important first
steps. You can stand under the doona forever and you'll never face any danger
but we've got to get out from under the doona at some time and if not now,
then when?

All right, let's take a look at some corporate news now. Indian police have
filed a complaint against Korean chemical manufacturer LG Chem, accusing it of
negligence and homicide. That's over a leak at one of the company's subsidiary
plants in the state of Andhra Pradesh that began leaking toxic gases again
last night, according to a local official, prompting a wider evacuation of the
nearby area. At least 11 people have died following a leak on Wednesday night.
Singapore, second largest lender has posted a big slump in earnings. Profit at
overseas Chinese banking corp fell to a seven-year low in the first quarter,
down 43%. OCBC more than doubled its loan lost provisions thanks to the
coronavirus. It also warned of a very uncertain economic outlook. And Chinese
cloud computing firm Kingsoft has just raised $510 million in its US IPO. The
company is the first Chinese organization to list in the US since the
coronavirus outbreak sent markets tumbling. Better-than-expected demand
prompted Kingsoft to increase the number of shares on offer. The deal price
shares at $17 each in the middle of its range, valuing the firm at $3.7
billion. All right, that's it from your Asia Insight. I'm Joel Flynn and this
is Reuters