Economy Financial News

By Carolyn Cohn and Jonathan Saul

Bim Afolami has been appointed as the economic secretary to the Treasury of the United Kingdom, where he will have authority over policies that impact the adoption of digital assets and central bank digital currencies within the country.

Joe Biden and Xi Jinping head into their big meeting at a country estate on Wednesday hoping to stabilise US-China relations after a period of tumult, but the US president also is prepared to confront his counterpart on difficult issues such as trade, Beijing's burgeoning relationship with Iran and human rights concerns. The two leaders, who will meet on the sidelines of a summit of Asian-Pacific leaders, last spoke a year ago. Since then, already fraught ties between the two economic superpowers have been further strained by the U.S.

The crypto exchange Blockchain.com has successfully raised $110 million in its latest Series E funding round. This substantial financial boost was led by Kingsway Capital, a UK-based investment management firm.

battery plant and an anticipated 450 permanent jobs.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier David Eby made the announcement Tuesday, touting the partnership with battery cell maker E-One Moli as a step towards developing B.C.’s clean economy.Under the deal, B.C. will fund up to $80 million for the new advanced manufacturing facility, which the province said will be the first of its kind in western Canada.The federal government is putting up $204.5 million through the Net Zero Accelerator Initiative, which is aimed at supporting companies that can help Canada reach its greenhouse gas emission targets.The plant will anchor E-One Moli’s North American operations and create a B.C.

SRF and Aarti Industries have seen 11-18 % rise in their share prices since their October Lows. The outlook for the specialty chemical manufacturers is improving and they are expected to have seen earnings to have bottomed out. The weak demand from developed markets led to increased concerns about specialty chemical manufacturers during the first half of FY24.

this note published in 2014 that the idea that the BJP is a more market-friendly party than the Congress (a prominent member of the INDIA alliance) has very little evidence supporting it at least in terms of capital flows. In the six years of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule from April 1998 to April 2004, the Sensex, these economists wrote, grew at compound annual growth rate of 5.9% per year. During the years under the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) regime, this rate more than doubled to more than 16.4%.

India, the US and 12 other members of the IPEF grouping have signed a supply chain resilience agreement that would provide benefits like potential shifting of production centres in critical sectors and mitigating risks of economic disruptions from supply chain shocks. The agreement was signed in San Francisco, where Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is attending the ministerial meeting of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework For Prosperity (IPEF).

Xi Jinping, US President Joe Biden has said that for him, the idea of a successful meeting is to get back on a normal course of corresponding, and being able to pick up the phone and talk to one another whenever there is a crisis, US-based ABC7 news reported. Even though Biden has a full schedule for the 30th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, his meeting with Xi Jinping on Wednesday is the most crucial one. Their four-hour meeting is scheduled to take place at San Mateo County's Filoli Estate. «To get back on a normal course of corresponding, being able to pick up the phone and talk to one another when there's another crisis,» Biden said, shortly before departing for San Francisco on Tuesday. «Being able to make sure our militaries still have contact with one another,» he told reporters at the White House. According to ABC7 News, there are reports circulating that say that an agreement could be announced on Wednesday that would address source material involved in the illegal fentanyl trade. Prior to their respective trips to San Francisco, Biden hosted meetings with fellow APEC leader Joko Widodo of Indonesia on Monday at the White House. The president of the most populous Muslim nation in the world, Widodo, has been vehemently critical of Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip; thus the visit to the Oval Office came at a rather uncomfortable time, reported ABC7 News. In contrast, Biden has not wavered in his support of Israel's right to self-defence in the wake of the 1,200-death onslaught on October 7 by Hamas terrorists.

Mukesh Aghi, CEO of the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) told PTI that it is important that communication starts between the US and China, the two largest global economies. The much-anticipated summit between Biden and Xi will take place on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which the US is hosting in San Francisco from November 11 to 17. “I think the summit is important both from President Biden's perspective and also President Xi's perspective. China is struggling with its economy.

Thailand is pitching a multibillion-dollar project that will significantly cut shipping times between the Indian and Pacific oceans by bypassing the Malacca Strait— one of the world’s busiest sea lanes. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told investors in San Francisco on Monday that the project can cut travel time by an average of four days and lower shipping costs by 15%. With traffic volumes projected to exceed the Malacca Strait’s capacity by 2030, the new project will ensure seamless flow of goods, he said. The so-called Landbridge project will cost about 1 trillion baht ($28 billion), with seaports to be built on either side of the country’s southern peninsula and linked by highway and rail networks, according to the government.

China is in the midst of a breakneck expansion of its copper industry that’s reshaping global flows of the essential metal for the world’s energy transition. The smelter build-up will be a key talking point for hundreds of copper-industry executives descending this week on China’s commodity hub of Shanghai for Asia Copper Week. Miners and smelters will negotiate key annual ore-supply contracts, and attendees will take the latest temperature of Chinese demand. Despite the financial toll of the pandemic and China’s property crisis, the nation’s metals consumption has been relatively strong in 2023.

BEIJING — China on Wednesday reported better-than-expected retail sales and industrial data for October, while the real estate drag worsened. 

US Federal Reserve will not hike interest rates further. Indian markets were shut for a holiday on November 14. On Monday, the domestic benchmark equity indices ended half a percent lower amid mixed global cues.

It’s a relief that the 40 workers trapped in the 4.5km-long highway tunnel being burrowed in Uttarakhand that saw a section of it collapse are reported to be safe even as efforts to rescue them are underway. Food and oxygen are being supplied via tubes through the 60-metre-stretch of debris that isolates them. A 3-foot-wide steel pipe is also being extended with the aid of hydraulic jacks to extract them.

I have been in Delhi for a little over a week, and, as is the case at this time of the year, the city is highly polluted. The trouble is Mumbai, where I live, has also been very polluted this year. Mumbai’s problem stems from a massive increase in construction in 2023.

Inflation in the United States slowed last month in a sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes are continuing to cool the consumer price spikes that have bedeviled consumers for the past two years.

Indian economy likely expected 6.7% in the July-September quarter, according to a median forecast of 10 economists polled by ET, boosted by a strong performance by the services sector. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has forecast 6.5% growth in the quarter. Robust manufacturing and construction activity also likely contributed to growth in the second quarter, economists said. Forecasts ranged from 6.2% to 7%.

investments they were counting on for hefty returns. With public markets in a slump and offering unattractive valuations, buyout firms are exploring private sales. But mounting concerns about the risks of investing in mainland China have left so-called secondary buyers demanding discounts of 30% to more than 60%, according to people familiar with the market.

Wall Street is looking grim for bankers in an industry hobbled by rising interest rates, bank failures and a dealmaking slump. Next year will probably be no better.

Piper Sandler Chief Global Economist Nancy Lazar details her economic expectations for the second half of the fiscal year on ‘Mornings with Maria.’