Week ahead china trade talks us budget deadline earnings

WASHINGTON: A partial trade pact with China remains close at hand, a top White House economic aide said Friday, days before another round of US tariffs is due to take effect. "The deal is still close," National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told CNBC. "It is probably even a wee bit closer than when I first made that statement in November." He described the talks underway with Beijing as "intense," adding that they occur almost daily. Wall Street has moved up and down with officials' commentary on the chances of sealing a deal to end the trade war begun 20 months ago by President Donald Trump. Trump on October 11 announced a "very substantial phase one deal" but the two sides have struggled since then to formalize any agreement in writing. Kudlow was guarded in discussing the tariff round due to hit around USD 160 billion in Chinese imports -- including popular consumer items like mobile phones -- beginning December 15. "There's no arbitrary deadline here," he said, adding … [Read more...] about US-China trade pact ‘still close’: White House

Email By business reporter David Chau, wires Updated December 06, 2019 13:11:10 Photo: Markets are expecting further volatility as the US and China attempt to finalise a trade deal. (Reuters: Brendan McDermid) Related Story: Aussie shares tumble as Trump threatens to impose tariffs on Brazil and Argentina Related Story: Australian shares keep falling after Trump flags delay on US-China deal Map: Australia Australian shares are trading with very little momentum, following a volatile week due to conflicting signals about how the US-China trade dispute was progressing. Market snapshot at 8:00am (AEDT):ASX SPI futures +0.2pc at 6,693, ASX 200 (Thursday's close) +1.2pc at 6,683AUD: 68.3 US cents, 51.9 British pence, 61.5 euro cents, 74.3 Japanese yen, $NZ1.04US: Dow Jones +0.1pc at 27,678, S&P 500 +0.2pc at 3,118, Nasdaq flat at 8,571Europe: FTSE 100 -0.7pc at 7,138, DAX -0.7pc at 13,055, CAC flat at 5,802, Euro Stoxx 50 -0.3pc at 3,648Commodities: Brent crude +0.7pc at … [Read more...] about ASX steadies as investors await further volatility with US-China trade war

Australian shares closed higher on Friday in cautious trade after US President Donald Trump said trade talks with China were "moving right along", capping a see-saw week as hopes for a an agreement rose and fell. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.4 per cent higher at 6,707.00 points. But it fell 2 per cent on the week, its biggest weekly percentage fall since Oct. 4. The benchmark rose 1.2 per cent on Thursday. Trump's upbeat tone on trade on Thursday was enough to spark buying, even as Chinese officials insisted existing tariffs must be removed as part of an interim deal to defuse the trade war. Earlier in the week, Trump rattled markets by saying a deal might have to wait until after the 2020 US election. A new round of US tariffs on Chinese imports is due to take effect on Dec. 15. "Markets don't expect the next round of tariffs, but are sceptical we will see a phase one deal this side of the Christmas holiday," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. The heavyweight … [Read more...] about Australia shares advance despite trade talk angst; NZ inches higher

Video PlayerClose WINDHOEK, April 17 (Xinhua) -- A renowned Namibian economist and University of Namibia academic on Wednesday applauded the strengthening economic ties between Namibia and China. Omu Kakujaha-Matundu told Xinhua that financial ties between Namibia and China are bearing fruits as indicated by an increasing export earnings from Namibia from the Asian power house. "Of late Namibia is exporting more to China." "Namibia's exports to china have actually increased significantly. Recently the Namibian Statistics Agency confirmed that Namibia's exports and imports with China have swelled by more than 17 percent," he said. He reiterated that the two countries have benefited immensely from trade diversification as well willingness to actualize deals that were signed in the past. "Unlike in the past where most of Namibia's exports to China were coming from the mining industry, of late we are now exporting agriculture products including our highly rated beef." This is one of the … [Read more...] about Namibian economist applauds Namibia-China trade relations

China stocks ended higher on Friday, posting their biggest weekly advances in nearly two months, buoyed by a series of upbeat economic data and hopes of a proposed Sino-US trade deal. The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.6 per cent, to 3,902.39, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4 per cent to 2,912.01. For the week, CSI300 was up 1.9 per cent, while SSEC gained 1.4 per cent, both their largest weekly gains since the week of Oct. 11. China's factory activity expanded at the quickest pace in almost three years in November, with solid increases in output and new orders, a private business survey showed on Monday. That came after official data showed factory activity in China unexpectedly returned to growth in November for the first time in seven months, as domestic demand picked up on Beijing's accelerated stimulus measures to steady growth. On Wednesday, a private survey showed activity in China's services sector accelerated to a seven-month high in November, as new … [Read more...] about China stocks log biggest weekly gain in nearly 2 months on upbeat data, trade hopes