ADVERTISEMENT

Brexit Divisions, Trump Trade Hint, China's PMI Worsens: Eco Day

Brexit Divisions, Trump Trade Hint, China's PMI Worsens: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Happy Friday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

  • Some European Central Bank policy makers are discussing whether Sabine Lautenschlaeger’s term at the bank-supervision arm could be extended to avoid disruption during a major overhaul of top staff early next year, according to euro-area officials familiar with the matter
  • Warning: Theresa May predicted national divisions over Brexit will widen if lawmakers fail to back her plans in a key parliamentary vote next month
  • Supply chains: Donald Trump’s threat to place tariffs on all Chinese imports will, if enacted, reverberate through the heart of Asia’s integrated technology supply chain and hurt economies like South Korea and Taiwan
  • President Trump said he is very close to “doing something” with China ahead of his meeting with President Xi Jinping, raising expectations again that the two leaders may be able to hash out a cease-fire in their trade war
  • Fed flexibility: Federal Reserve officials have stepped off a predictable path of interest-rate increases and are signaling to investors a hard truth about relying on increasingly contradictory economic data: There are no easy answers anymore
  • The first official gauge of China’s economy in November showed manufacturing activity continued to worsen, underscoring concerns about a slowing domestic economy and the uncertainty of what will happen in the trade war
  • Humming along: Japan’s factory output expanded at its fastest pace in more than three-and-a-half years in October, offering evidence the economy started the current quarter with a rebound from a contraction in a disaster-struck summer. The outlook for the coming months is less certain
  • Rate hikes: The Bank of Korea raised its key interest rate for the first time in a year, choosing to prioritize heading off financial imbalances despite an uncertain economic outlook
  • India’s economy is bracing for a slowdown as back-to-back rate hikes, a funding squeeze and weaker export demand start to bite
  • Americans’ spending rose by more than forecast in October, while a measure of underlying inflation cooled. Meantime, the rising number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits is starting to worry some economists

To contact the reporter on this story: Anirban Nag in Mumbai at anag8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Henry Hoenig

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.