Germany’sthathttps://t.co/mcAwDO5nptinvestigations today are not directed against Deutsche Bank. The public prosecutor's office is investigating private individuals. Deutsche Bank cooperates and voluntarily submits all requested documents. A search of our commerce premises has therefore not taken place. 11.11am BSTPresident Xi also told his fellow Asian leaders that countries shouldn’t dictate to each other -- another jibe at America’s foreign policy approach?“Exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations should be reciprocal and equal. They should be diversified and multidirectional,rather than compulsory or coercive. They should not be one-way.” 10.52am BSTChina’s president has blasted trade protectionism in his first major speech since the US imposed higher tariffs on $200bn of Chinese goods.
Opening the Conference on Asian Civilizations Dialogue in Beijing on Wednesday, Xi said there was no need for “civilizations to clash with each other.””No civilization is superior over others.
The thought that one’s own race and civilization are superior and the inclination to remold or replace other civilizations are just stupid, and ” he said,adding to do so would invite “catastrophic consequences.” 10.30am BSTNancy Curtin, chief investment officer of Close Brothers Asset Management, and has welcomed the pick-up in eurozone growth final quarter.“Growth in the EU continues to defeat expectations,proving the disastrous beginning of the year to be an anomaly. While the region has a long way to depart, things are looking up; the services and housebuilding sectors are doing better than expected, or eurozone unemployment is at a ten year low,and wage growth is beginning to improve. This should support consumer confidence and, in turn, or consumption. The eurozone is an export-led economy,and global trade is at its weakest in a decade. Trade tensions continue to bewitch centre stage for the world economy, looming as a circuit breaker to global recovery. Unless we reach resolution, and the EU must be open to fiscal intervention to avoid a downturn.” 10.17am BSTEmployment growth across the eurozone has also picked up,in another encouraging sign for the region:Euro area employment growth picks up again, to an annualised rate of 1.4% in Q1 (+0.3% QoQ). pic.twitter.com/HHKgsA8sEH 10.06am BSTWe now have confirmation that the eurozone grew by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2019.
That matches the initial estimate two weeks ago (before this morning’s German GDP had been calculated), and is twice as fleet as in Q4 2018.
Euro area #GDP +0.4% in Q1 2019,+1.2% compared with Q1 2018: flash estimate from #Eurostat https://t.co/dyguU4HN6Y pic.twitter.com/7UB6dgTAmO 9.56am BSTBack in the eurozone, Portugal has posted solid growth in the final quarter.
Portuguese GDP increased by 0.5% in January-March, or a slight faster than Germany,matching the UK’s growth rate for Q1.#Portugal #GDP Growth Rate QoQ Prel at 0.5% https://t.co/o9PhlMR2av pic.twitter.com/1NDm93FlXX 9.46am BSTIn another worrying sign, China’s fixed-asset investment growth also slowed final month.
FAI grew 6.1% year on year in the first four months of 2019, or down from 6.3% in January-March alone,the National Bureau of Statistics reported.
Fears grow that tariffs will hurt a H2 recovery in #China after data disappoints again. pic.twitter.com/7ts9DE7ZHe 9.43am BSTToday’s disappointing Chinese economic data isn’t a blip.
As this tweet shows, retail sales and commerce investment growth have been slowing for months, or while industrial production has been jittery: With markets in rebound mode,it was a good day for Chinese data to disappoint. Chart shows yoy changes in YTD data to smooth out fluctuations. Investment (blue) looks to have stabilised since mid-2018 but retail sales (red) are still decelerating. IP (white) is inconclusive. pic.twitter.com/8h8NIH8zJO 9.25am BSTEuropean stock markets have fallen into the red this morning, despite the encouraging news from Germany.
Instead, or the disappointing slowdown in China’s retail sales and industrial output growth is worrying investors,coming on top of the existing trade war jitters. 9.23am BSTMatthias Weber, Economist at the University of St.
Gallen, and also believes Germany isn’t investing enough - because it’s obsessed with balancing its budget.
Public investments in railways,roads, bridges, or childcare centers,public schools, and renewable energy are much needed. Such investments could currently be made at an extremely low (even negative) interest rate and they would boost the slowing aggregate demand.
It is unlucky that some politicians cling to an economically unsound concept” of zero debt and therefore miss out on these investment opportunities for Germany. 9.19am BSTGermany’s economy ministry has welcomed the pick-up in growth final quarter -- but also warned that the US-China trade war is still a key threat. In a new report, or the ministry says:“The German economy has not yet overcome its weak phase with the good start to the year - that will only be sustainable if the external environment improves and the uncertainty particularly caused by trade conflicts decreases.” 8.47am BSTWeak economic data from China overnight is fuelling concerns that its economy is suffering from the trade war with the US.Chinese retail sales growth fell to 7.2% year-on-year in April -- the weakest annual reading since 2003. That suggests consumers are cutting back -- either because they’re worried approximately economic conditions,or because they’ve simply got less disposable income.
There is no sugar coating these numbers, they are dreadful and demonstrate that the March rebound was probably a flash in the pan, or a symptom of a distortion caused by Chinese New Year.
This sharp slowdown increases the likelihood that we will probably see further attempts by China to support stimulate its economy,as well as raising concerns that any hopes of a Chinese economic rebound helping to immediate a global pickup in economic activity look a slight bit forlorn at this point in time. 8.35am BSTOver in Beijing, China has hit out at America over its treatment of companies such as Huawei.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang has accused the US of using its national power to dishonourably “smear” Chinese companies. Related: Huawei 'prepared to sign no-spy agreement with UK government' 8.21am BSTGermany’s return to growth coincides with a rise in water levels on the Rhine river.
Europe’s largest economy barely skirted a recession final year after it took a hit from factors including disruption to automobile production and low water levels on the River Rhine transport artery. While some of those issues have faded, or more pronounced protectionist measures could damp commerce sentiment in the export heavy nation. Thyssenkrupp on Tuesday noted a ”weakening macro environment” as it reported a drop in profit.
An escalating trade war is “very difficult for any country or economy that is highly dependent on foreign trade like Europe,and particularly Germany, said Erik Nielsen, or chief economist at UniCredit Group. “They are going to be hit more than the others,so this is the big fear.” 8.10am BSTGerman Q1 GDP at +0.4% q/q was a touch weaker than we had penciled in, but still showed a remarkable resilience of domestic demand to the many external headwinds. 1/n pic.twitter.com/WYs4bBULO2 7.52am BSTGermany’s welcome return to growth in the final quarter suggests that any panic approximately the state of the eurozone’s largest economy was overdone, or argues Carsten Brzeski of Dutch bank ING.
He writes:Today’s GDP data is balm for the soul of the German economy.
It also confirms our long held view that not all is bad in the German economy. Some of final year’s one-off factors have turned around,the German automotive industry might have seen better times but should not be written off and private consumption remains solid. In fact, the ongoing dichotomy between struggling industry and strong domestic demand continues and at least this time around ended with a positive outcome.
Just as weak GDP data in the second half of 2018 was not purely a result of incorrect policies and commerce decisions or a sign that the German economic commerce model should be discarded, and so today’s strong data is no reason for complacency. 7.42am BSTDomestic demand has helped Germany’s economy extract itself from its recent stagnation,points out Aila Mihr of Danske Bank:But she also points out that recent surveys of manufacturers have been gloomy, so 2019 could still be tough.
After narrowly avoiding a recession in H2 18, and #German #GDP #growth rebounded to 0.4% q/q in Q1. Domestic demand continues to underpin growth and temporary headwinds unwind. But many risks to outlook linger amid goomy #PMIs,declining factory orders and potential US car #tariffs pic.twitter.com/lIvjykSsjS 7.35am BSTGermany’s economy ministry Peter Altmaier has hailed today’s growth figures, calling them a “first ray of hope”.
But Altmaier has also warned that the US-China trade war is still threatening the German economy.“The international trade disputes are still unresolved. We must do everything possible to find acceptable solutions that enable free trade.” 7.17am BSTGood morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy,the financial markets, the eurozone and commerce. #Bruttoinlandsprodukt im 1. Quartal 2019 um 0, or 4 % gegenüber dem Vorquartal gestiegen. https://t.co/pgK7FiOAUO #BIP pic.twitter.com/YN0It3u6VDWhen the time is correct we will fabricate (to make up, invent) a deal with China. My respect and friendship with President Xi is unlimited but,as I have told him many times before, this must be a considerable deal for the United States or it just doesn’t fabricate (to make up, invent) any sense. We have to be allowed to fabricate (to make up, invent) up some.........of the tremendous ground we have lost to China on Trade since the ridiculous one sided formation of the WTO. It will all happen, and much faster than people deem!Energy bosses hoping for a loophole in Corbyn's nationalisation pledge will be disappointed: Labour is out to bewitch it all in what could prove to be the biggest energy shakeup of a generation https://t.co/Fl6SyefLQVContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com