China Escalates, More Fed Drama, Builders’ Brexit Woe: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) --

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

• In a stark escalation of the trade war that has roiled financial markets and weighed on economic growth worldwide, Beijing allowed the yuan to tumble to its weakest level in a decade against the dollar and asked state-owned companies to suspend imports of U.S. agricultural products
  • That’s one of several reasons the U.S.-China trade war casting a shadow over the global economy looks increasingly like it risks becoming the forever trade war
  • China’s decision to weaken its currency amid an escalating trade war will put Asian central banks on the defensive as they gauge how much monetary-policy easing their economies can withstand
  • More broadly, there’s the danger of an all-out currency war
• As the financial world watches the White House turn up the heat on the Federal Reserve in Washington, another Fed drama has been playing out right on Wall Street’s doorstep
• U.K.’s construction industry, which accounts for 6% of the economy and employs a similar number of people as manufacturing, has a lot to do to prepare for the Brexit deadline
  • Meanwhile, Ireland’s biggest companies are getting a taste of the pain that could come from the U.K. crashing out of the European Union without a deal
• The head of Germany’s banking lobby expressed some hope that the European Central Bank will help lenders to soften the impact of negative interest rates, while criticizing the ECB for signaling plans to cut rates even further
• John Kingman is vying to replace Mark Carney as Bank of England governor, according to the Daily Mail

To contact the reporter on this story: David Goodman in London at dgoodman28@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Zoe Schneeweiss

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.