New York stocks dive as China allows yuan to devalue - CBC News

China Unlikely To Slap Retaliatory Tariff On US Crude Oil - OilPrice.com

U.S. crude oil is unlikely to become a target of possible Chinese retaliatory tariffs in response to the latest American tariff threat, refinery and trading sources told S&P Global Platts after U.S. President Donald Trump announced 10-percent tariffs on the remaining US$300-billion U.S. imports of Chinese goods.

Chinese refiners have not bought much U.S. crude oil over the past year, because of the U.S.-China trade spat and related uncertainties over which goods could be subject to tariffs next. So far, oil has been spared from the tariffs, yet Chinese oil traders and refiners have been shunning U.S. crude and they no longer want to sign long-term supply agreements with U.S. producers.  

So, American crude oil is currently not an essential trade item between the United States and China, refinery and trade sources in China have told S&P Global Platts.

China, for its part, will likely be aiming at goods that could hurt more U.S. exporters and create maximum impact for U.S. exports in possible retaliatory tariffs, the sources say.

On Thursday last week, oil prices took a heavy hit after U.S. President Donald Trump said that the U.S.-China trade talks—after no-breakthrough negotiations—would continue in September, while the “U.S. will start, on September 1st, putting a small additional Tariff of 10% on the remaining 300 Billion Dollars of goods and products coming from China into our Country.”

China pledged that it would impose new “necessary countermeasures” to protect its interests after the latest tariff threat, saying that President Trump’s tariff announcement was “an irrational, irresponsible act,” according to Zhang Jun, the new Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, as carried by Reuters.

On Monday, China let its currency, the yuan, drop to a decade-low and reportedly told its state companies to suspend imports of agricultural products from the United States in response to last week’s tariff threat.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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August 05, 2019 at 11:00PM

Japan's NEC shows 'flying car' hovering steadily for minute - CTV News

ABIKO, Japan -- Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp. on Monday showed a "flying car," a large drone-like machine with four propellers that hovered steadily for about a minute.

The test flight reaching 3 metres (10 feet) high was held in a gigantic cage, as a safety precaution, at an NEC facility in a Tokyo suburb. The preparations such as the repeated checks on the machine and warnings to reporters to wear helmets took up more time than the two brief demonstrations.

The Japanese government is behind flying cars, with the goal of having people zipping around in them by the 2030s.

Among the government-backed endeavours is a huge test course for flying cars that's built in an area devastated by the 2011 tsunami, quake and nuclear disasters in Fukushima in northeastern Japan. Mie, a prefecture in central Japan that's frequently used as a resort area by Hollywood celebrities, also hopes to use flying cars to connect its various islands.

Similar projects are popping up around world, such as Uber Air of the U.S.

A flying car by Japanese startup Cartivator crashed quickly in a 2017 demonstration. Cartivator Chief Executive Tomohiro Fukuzawa, who was at Monday's demonstration, said their machines were also flying longer lately.

NEC is among the more than 80 sponsor companies for Cartivator's flying car, which also include Toyota Motor Corp. group companies and video game company Bandai Namco Holdings.

The goal is to deliver a seamless transition from driving to flight like the world of "Back to the Future," although huge hurdles remain such as battery life, the need for regulations and safety concerns.

NEC officials said their flying car was designed for unmanned flights for deliveries but utilized the company's technology in its other operations such as space travel and cybersecurity.

Often called EVtol, for "electric vertical takeoff and landing" aircraft, a flying car is defined as an aircraft that's electric, or hybrid electric, with driverless capabilities, that can land and takeoff vertically.

All of the flying car concepts, which are like drones big enough to hold humans, promise to be better than helicopters. Helicopters are expensive to maintain, noisy to fly and require trained pilots. Flying cars also are being touted as useful for disaster relief.

U.S. ride-sharing and transportation network Uber is planning demonstrator flights in 2020 and commercial operations in 2023, and has chosen Dallas, Los Angeles and Melbourne as the first cities to offer what it calls Uber Air flights.

Dubai has also been aggressive about pursuing flying cars. Japanese officials say Japan has a good chance of emerging as a world leader because the government and the private sector will work closely together.

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August 05, 2019 at 12:24PM

Oman Air reacts to workers strike at Heathrow - Times of Oman

Muscat: Oman Air's scheduled flights to London Heathrow Airport will continue as usual on Monday, after an announced workers strike was postponed, the company announced.

In a statement, Oman Air said: "We have been notified that the airport workers union have opted to postpone their strike action on Monday 5th August. Our flights to London's Heathrow Airport will operate as scheduled for today."

"The continuation of strike action on Tuesday 6th August has not been decided. We are closely monitoring the situation and making plans to ensure any disruptions to out flight operations at London's Heathrow Airport will be minimized if the strike action goes ahead," the statement said.

"We regret any inconvenience this may have caused and urge all guests to monitor our website and social media channels for up-to-date information on the status of our flight operations," the national airline company said.

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August 05, 2019 at 01:49PM

Trade, Currency Wars Pushing Gold Prices Closer To $1500 - Kitco News

(Kitco News) - Fear is surging through financial markets and investors are jumping into gold as the U.S.-China trade war has turned into a currency war. The next target for gold in this environment is clearly $1,500 an ounce, analysts said.

Overnight, the Chinese government let the yuan rise above 7 against the U.S. dollar for the first time in more than a decade. Along with the government allowing its currency to weaken, China has directed state-owned companies not to buy U.S. agricultural goods.

“The trade war has turned bad as it has ever been and you are starting to see investors jump into safe haven assets like gold and U.S. Treasuries,” said Bill Baruch, president of Blue Line Futures. “I don’t think we are at peak panic yet so gold has room to move higher. Gold is being driven by strong fundamental demand.”

The latest evolution in the U.S.-China trade war is weighing on U.S. economic growth and that is causing markets to price in further interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. The CME FedWatch Tool shows that markets see a more than 16% chance of a 50 basis point cut at the next meeting in September.

The aggressive forecast for more monetary policy easing has caused 10-year bond yields to fall to nearly a three-year low. The yield on U.S. 10-year last traded at 1.78%.

The drop in bond yields is really what is driving gold prices, said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at City Index. Razaqzada added that he doesn’t expect sentiment to change anytime soon, noting that sentiment has completely shifted since the Fed’s last monetary policy decision less than a week ago.

“Because of all the new uncertainty and escalating trade war I think it would be a mistake for the Fed not to cut again in September,” he said. “A new easing cycle will continue to drive gold higher.”

Both Baruch and Razaqzada said that they see $1,500 as the next likely target for gold in the near-term. Baruch added that there is some major resistance around $1,485 as that is the 50% retracement level from gold’s 2011 highs to the 2015 lows.

As of 9:25 a.m. ET, December gold futures last traded just down from its session highs at $1,474.30 an ounce, up 1.15% on the day.

Many economists and market analysts have said that the trade war could get a lot worse before it gets better.

“The fact that the Chinese central bank allowed the yuan to fall through the 7 mark against the U.S. dollar without intervening is a clear indication that Beijing means business,” said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets. “There is a feeling that China could inflict a lot more pain on the U.S. in terms of the trade spat, and many traders are worried the economic conflict will rumble on for some time.”

Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM, said with the rising trade tensions moving into currency markets, its becoming more unlikely that the dispute will be resolved before the 2020 elections.

“Until then expect volatility to return to global financial markets with safe haven assets to be the main beneficiaries,” he said. “Out of all safe haven assets, gold will be our favorite, especially if this trade war gets out of hand.”

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August 05, 2019 at 08:34PM

Dow plunges 600 points after China devalues its currency - CNN

The Chinese government devalued the yuan to fall below its 7-to-1 ratio with the US dollar for the first time in a decade Monday. A weaker currency could soften the blow the United States has dealt China with its tariffs.

The cheaper yuan ignited fear on Wall Street that the United States would respond with even higher tariffs, prolonging the standoff with China and potentially weakening the global economy. Investors are particularly concerned that the Trump administration could try to devalue the dollar, sparking a currency war that could weaken Americans' purchasing power.

"Risks of Trump intervening in foreign exchange markets have increased with China letting the yuan go," wrote Viraj Patel, FX and global macro strategist at Arkera, on Twitter. "If this was an all out currency war - the US would hands down lose. Beijing [is] far more advanced in playing the currency game [and has] bigger firepower."

President Donald Trump once again called China a currency manipulator on Monday, saying the yuan devaluation was a "major violation." Trump has long attacked China for its currency policy, even though the Treasury has refrained from officially labeling the country a currency manipulator.

Stocks and bond yields are sharply lower

US stocks were sharply lower, with the Dow (INDU) falling more than 600 points, sinking below 26,000 points. The S&P 500 (SPX) traded 2.3% lower, while the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) fell 3%.

The last time the Nasdaq lost as much as 3% was May 13. If the Nasdaq closes lower Monday, it will have logged its longest losing streak since November 2016, when it fell for nine-consecutive days in the lead-up to the presidential election.

The S&P 500 is on track for six consecutive down days for the first time since October, while the Dow is on track for its longest losing streak since March. Last week, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite logged their worst week of the year last week.

Hit particularly hard were tech stocks. Apple (AAPL), Intel (INTC), Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) were among the biggest losers on Monday.

The VIX (VIX) volatility index soared more than 25%. The CNN Business Fear & Greed Index is indicating "Extreme Fear."

Asian markets all fell more than 1.6% Monday, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed down 2.9% as protests continue in the region. In Europe, London's FTSE 100 declined more than 2%. Germany's DAX and France' Cac 40 are both down more than 1%.

US government bonds rose and yields fell as traders looked for safe investments. The 10-year Treasury yield declined to 1.7650%. The yield curve — the difference between shorter and longer-term bond yields — grew the widest since April 2007. That inversion of the yield curve has predated every past recession.

Escalating the trade war

The yuan weakened sharply after the People's Bank of China set its daily reference rate for the currency at 6.9225, the lowest rate since December. The central bank said in a statement that Monday's weakness was mostly because of "trade protectionism and new tariffs on China." President Donald Trump threatened a new round of tariffs on the country last week.

Devaluing the yuan is one way China has of retaliating against the tariffs. A weaker currency helps Chinese manufacturers offset the costs of higher tariffs.

Analysts at Capital Economics said the move showed that Beijing has "all but abandoned" hopes for a trade deal with the United States.

In US economic data, the non-manufacturing index for July from the Institute of Supply Management undercut consensus expectations, which didn't help matters.

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2019-08-05 15:02:00Z
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Dow tumbles 600 points after China devalues its currency - CNN

The Chinese government devalued the yuan to fall below its 7-to-1 ratio with the US dollar for the first time in a decade Monday. A weaker currency could soften the blow the United States has dealt China with its tariffs.

The cheaper yuan ignited fear on Wall Street that the United States would respond with even higher tariffs, prolonging the standoff with China and potentially weakening the global economy. Investors are particularly concerned that the Trump administration could try to devalue the dollar, sparking a currency war that could weaken Americans' purchasing power.

"Risks of Trump intervening in foreign exchange markets have increased with China letting the yuan go," wrote Viraj Patel, FX and global macro strategist at Arkera, on Twitter. "If this was an all out currency war - the US would hands down lose. Beijing [is] far more advanced in playing the currency game [and has] bigger firepower."

President Donald Trump once again called China a currency manipulator on Monday, saying the yuan devaluation was a "major violation." Trump has long attacked China for its currency policy, even though the Treasury has refrained from officially labeling the country a currency manipulator.

Stocks and bond yields are sharply lower

US stocks were sharply lower, with the Dow (INDU) falling more than 600 points, sinking below 26,000 points. The S&P 500 (SPX) traded 2.3% lower, while the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) fell 3%.

The last time the Nasdaq lost as much as 3% was May 13. If the Nasdaq closes lower Monday, it will have logged its longest losing streak since November 2016, when it fell for nine-consecutive days in the lead-up to the presidential election.

The S&P 500 is on track for six consecutive down days for the first time since October, while the Dow is on track for its longest losing streak since March. Last week, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite logged their worst week of the year last week.

Hit particularly hard were tech stocks. Apple (AAPL), Intel (INTC), Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) were among the biggest losers on Monday.

The VIX (VIX) volatility index soared more than 25%. The CNN Business Fear & Greed Index is indicating "Extreme Fear."

Asian markets all fell more than 1.6% Monday, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed down 2.9% as protests continue in the region. In Europe, London's FTSE 100 declined more than 2%. Germany's DAX and France' Cac 40 are both down more than 1%.

US government bonds rose and yields fell as traders looked for safe investments. The 10-year Treasury yield declined to 1.7650%. The yield curve — the difference between shorter and longer-term bond yields — grew the widest since April 2007. That inversion of the yield curve has predated every past recession.

Escalating the trade war

The yuan weakened sharply after the People's Bank of China set its daily reference rate for the currency at 6.9225, the lowest rate since December. The central bank said in a statement that Monday's weakness was mostly because of "trade protectionism and new tariffs on China." President Donald Trump threatened a new round of tariffs on the country last week.

Devaluing the yuan is one way China has of retaliating against the tariffs. A weaker currency helps Chinese manufacturers offset the costs of higher tariffs.

Analysts at Capital Economics said the move showed that Beijing has "all but abandoned" hopes for a trade deal with the United States.

In US economic data, the non-manufacturing index for July from the Institute of Supply Management undercut consensus expectations, which didn't help matters.

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2019-08-05 14:48:00Z
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