Reuters Insider - Asia Insight: Shares rise on Fed dovishness; growth concerns linger

PNB Gilts

21/03/2019 15:01

Click the following link to watch video: https://share.insider.thomsonreuters.com/link?entryId=1_q1f87wqk&referenceId=1_q1f87wqk&pageId=ReutersNews
Source: Reuters Insider

Description: Shares in Asia rose on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve
abandoned forecasts for any interest rate hikes this year,
but concerns over
U.S.-China trade talks and slowing global growth continued to weigh on
investor confidence.
Short Link: https://reut.rs/2FhwPTW

Video Transcript:

Hello, and welcome to your Asia Insight. I am Angeline Ong. Straight to the
markets and shares rose after the Fed abandoned plans for any interest rate
hikes this year. But concerns over US-China trade talks and slowing global
growth continued to weigh on investor confidence. Donald Trump says he'll keep
tariffs on Chinese goods even if he reaches a deal with Beijing, just to make
sure China is sticking to the rules. MSCI's Broadest Index of Asia Pacific
shares outside Japan edged up more than 0.5 percentage point, before slipping
back a little in late trade. Chinese blue chips spent the morning swinging
between small losses and gains to end the day modestly higher. Well, KOSPI are
in solid gain as chipmakers supported the broader market. The stock market in
Tokyo is closed for vernal equinox. Thailand's annual exports unexpectedly
rose in February, after contracting for three consecutive months. Exports were
5.9% higher compared with the same month a year ago. However, imports tumbled
by just over 10%, leading to a trade surplus for the month of $4 billion. A
fugitive Indian businessman Nirav Modi is being held in prison in London,
pending an extradition hearing. It's claimed that Modi and his uncle, who ran
large jewelry businesses, defrauded Punjab National Bank of as much as $2
billion. The bank says the pair had conspired to raise credit by using illegal
guarantees issued by rogue PNB staff. Modi and his uncle, who have both denied
wrongdoing, left India before the details of the fraud became public. Now
China's President, Xi Jinping, started tour of Europe today in Italy. He'll
sign an accord with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, hooking Italy up to his
belt and road infrastructure project. He'll end the trip in Brussels where
he'll take part in the China-Europe Economic Summit. China's Foreign Ministry
says Europe has become more important than ever to China's economy. 

Trade between China and the EU reached a record high of $682.2 billion in
2018. The EU has been China's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive
years. Last year, the EU invested $10.4 billion in China, a year-on-year
increase of 25%. The two sides are making progress in negotiations on the
China-EU investment agreement. 

Sources say Italy is likely to become the first G7 country to borrow in the
Chinese $12 trillion bond market. They expect the two countries to sign an
accord for Rome to issue so-called Panda Bonds, debt sold by foreign entities
to investors in China. And industry body representing asset managers in Asia
is urging China to lift foreign ownership caps in listed companies. In a
policy paper, the financial lobbyist, ASIFMA says regulators should abolish
the 10% individual and 30% aggregate foreign ownership ceilings. China says it
has no plans to lift the limits. Well, let's take a look at some companies in
the news. The Chinese carmaker Geely has posted an 18% jump in annual profit.
Earnings came in at a record $1.9 billion, boosted by higher sales of SUVs and
family cars. Geely says sales in China are likely to remain flat this year.
Evidences emerging from the black box recorders as to why Indonesia's Lion Air
Boeing MAX jet crashed. It seems the pilots weren't able to find the checklist
to correct the plane's nose-down attitude. The plane had experienced the same
problem on previous flights, but had been fixed. Questions are being asked as
to why pilots have not communicated the problem before the fateful crash that
killed 189 passengers and crew. Tencent is set to report its biggest quarterly
profit drop in 13 years. Its failure to launch new video games because of a
Chinese clampdown cut revenue growth. Tencent also operates the country's most
popular social media platform WeChat. And that's it from your Asia Insight.
I'm Angeline Ong, and this is Reuters