China Trade Doubts, Powell Pause, Middle-Class Malaise: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) --

Good morning Americas. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

• Chinese officials are casting doubts about reaching a comprehensive long-term trade deal with the U.S. even as the two sides get close to signing a “phase one” agreement
• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell may not want to say it out loud, but it sure seems he thinks he has achieved a soft landing for the U.S. economy
• The middle-class Americans who are the main targets of Trump’s economic pitch aren’t sharing much in the gains of U.S. growth
• The euro-area economy performed better than economists forecast in the third quarter, suggesting some resilience to the industrial slump that has battered Germany, its largest member
  • One of Christine Lagarde’s most important tools for stimulating inflation might be falling out of favor -- even before she gets to wield it as European Central Bank president
• U.K. consumer confidence matched a six-year low as Britons became less optimistic about their personal finances with Brexit looming, according to a new survey.
• The Bank of Japan strengthened its policy pledge on interest rates while leaving its main policy tools untouched, judging conditions in markets, prices and the economy to be sufficiently resilient with its existing stimulus
• Hong Kong’s economy contracted sharply in the third quarter as it entered a recession, exceeding economists’ worst estimates of the damage from nearly five months of protests
• Finally, listen to our latest Stephanomics Podcast here

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