Bhinneka News Online: Friday Morning Briefing: Seeking clarity from Fed's Powell? Good luck with that

Friday 23 August 2019

Friday Morning Briefing: Seeking clarity from Fed's Powell? Good luck with that

The Fed

When Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, traders will comb through his remarks for clues on whether the U.S. central bank will deliver more rate cuts this year. They may be disappointed. For all his reputation as the most plain-spoken person to run the U.S. central bank in decades, if not ever, Powell may be reluctant in his remarks to fellow central bankers at this year’s Kansas City Fed economic symposium to say much about where rates will go. The reason: he may not actually know, and does not want to get locked in.

Underscoring divisions within the Federal Reserve over how to respond to signs of a global economic slowdown, two officials said they see no need to lower borrowing costs next month, while another said he was “open-minded.” The Fed wanted to do two things when it cut rates for the first time in a decade last month: Support the economy and spark inflation expectations. From the market’s point of view, neither prospect is looking great. Market conditions have grown harsher and data is pointing to lower inflation.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong braced for an anti-government protest “stress test” of the airport this weekend, as weeks of sometimes violent demonstrations in the Chinese-ruled city showed no signs of let-up amid rising tension between China and some Western nations. The Canadian Consulate in Hong Kong said it has suspended travel to mainland China for local staff, just days after an employee of the city’s British Consulate was confirmed to have been detained in China. The Canadian Consulate, in an email to Reuters, did not provide a reason for the travel restrictions.

Cathay Pacific Airways, which is caught in the crosswinds between authorities in Beijing and anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, must put an end to “all forms of white terror”, trade unions in the Chinese-ruled city said. The carrier has become the biggest corporate casualty of the protests after China demanded it suspend staff involved in, or who support, the demonstrations that have plunged the former British colony into a political crisis. Walking a tightrope between anti-government protests and political masters in Beijing, many Hong Kong firms are opting to toe the Communist Party line to avoid potential repercussions having seen what happened at Cathay Pacific Airways.

World

Amid growing international criticism over the wildfires raging through the Amazon, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro admitted farmers could be illegally setting the rainforest ablaze but told foreign powers not to interfere. Brazil is facing growing international criticism over its handling of the Amazon, 60% of which lies in the country. Earlier this month, Norway and Germany suspended funding for projects to curb deforestation in Brazil after becoming alarmed by changes to the way projects were selected under Bolsonaro. At the time, when asked about the loss of German funding, Bolsonaro said, “Brazil does not need that.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Defence Ministry and other government agencies to analyze the threat posed by a new U.S. missile test and to prepare a reciprocal response. The Pentagon said it had tested a conventionally-configured cruise missile that hit its target after more than 500 km (310 miles) of flight, the first such test since the United States pulled out of a major arms control treaty with Russia on Aug. 2.

Too late for new Brexit deal: French President Emmanuel Macron told Prime Minister Boris Johnson that there was not enough time to wholly rewrite Britain’s Brexit divorce deal before an Oct. 31 deadline. Johnson met Macron at the Elysee Palace a day after talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who challenged Britain to come up with acceptable alternatives to the agreed safety net provision for the UK-Irish land border.

U.S.

U.S. House lawmakers ask regulators to scrutinize bank cloud providers

Two U.S. lawmakers have called on a top financial regulatory panel to consider direct oversight of the cloud services big tech companies provide to banks, saying they have become a critical component of the global financial system. Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud account for 57% of the cloud market, the lawmakers said in the letter, citing analysis from Synergy Research Group.

3 min read

Trump to square off in court with House Democrats over financial records

President Donald Trump is expected to ask a federal judge to block Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial from handing the financial records of the Trump family and Trump Organization to Democratic lawmakers. In subpoenas issued in April, Democratic lawmakers asked the banks for records related to Trump, three of his children and the Trump Organization.

3 Min Read

Trump campaign seeks to mobilize women in 2020 battleground states

Trump’s re-election campaign hosted events in 2020 battleground states to mobilize and train suburban women, an important voting bloc that defected from Republicans during last year’s congressional contests.

4 min read