Trump-Xi Dinner, Mediocre Australia, Fed's Missing Word: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Happy hump day, Asia. Here’s the latest news from Bloomberg Economics:

• Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will meet over dinner Saturday in Buenos Aires in a pivotal moment in their escalating trade war. China’s growth slowed for a sixth straight month in November as Vice Premier Liu He pledged to push ahead with opening up the economy
• Australia’s economy risks turning Japanese, with average growth over the past decade the slowest since 1984 and inflation at the weakest since the Beatles were together
• Over in New Zealand, the central bank said it will relax mortgage lending restrictions after the housing market cooled
• Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida omitted what may -- or may not -- be a critical word from his speech Tuesday. As the Fed’s balance-sheet unwind enters year two, it’s poised to impact everything
• Jerome Powell’s nirvana is an unending cycle, writes Tom Orlik, exploring what might end it. Meanwhile, Trump renewed his attack on the Fed chief
• South Korea has profited so much from the explosion in demand for semiconductors that its economy is now vulnerable to any downturn in the market for the tiny electronic components
• Foreign direct investment in Brazil surged to the highest for October since 2011 as Jair Bolsonaro closed in on his presidential election win. Up in Caracas, graft is so widespread there’s a menu for bribes
• Theresa May has backed down in a key Brexit battle with Parliament, ditching moves to stop lawmakers trying to re-write her plans
• Turkey went from top five to bottom of a list of attractive emerging markets in the past six months as economic growth prospects weakened
• The murder of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi has soured the world’s politicians on Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Private capital turned against him long before that

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