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China’s Brexit Warning, Ant Financial, Philly Fed: Eco Day

China’s Brexit Warning, Ant Financial, Philly Fed: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Friday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:

  • China’s decision to suspend a tie-up between the Shanghai and London stock exchanges is less a blow for markets than a warning shot to Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he readies the U.K. for Brexit
  • Billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Financial has applied for a digital banking license in Singapore, as China’s largest online financial platform steps up efforts to expand outside the mainland
  • Global investors are positioning for a rally in Chinese government bonds as the market signals that the People’s Bank of China will lower its reverse repurchase rate about 20 basis points in the next three months
  • Nine U.S. states’ economies are expected to slide into contraction within six months -- the most since the financial crisis ended more than a decade ago, according to the latest projections from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. At the same time, confidence among U.S. consumers climbed to the highest level in five months and filings for unemployment benefits fell to a four-week low
  • Europe’s manufacturing downturn deepened in December despite an easing of tensions over Brexit and international trade, damping hopes that the slump has bottomed out
  • Brazil recorded its lowest annual trade surplus in four years as exports fell on Argentina’s prolonged recession and China’s dwindling appetite for soybeans due to an outbreak of swine fever
  • The euro remains mired near a two-year low versus the Canadian dollar even as euro-zone economic indicators, though weak, have exceeded expectations
  • Chile’s economic activity contracted for a second consecutive month in November as a wave of anti-government protests shuttered shops and delayed investment decisions
  • Gold gained on the first trading day of 2020 as demand for the safe haven appears strong in the face of an uncertain economic trajectory
  • The U.S. is warning Argentine President Alberto Fernandez that his early foreign policy moves may jeopardize both support from the International Monetary Fund and American investment

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael S. Arnold in Singapore at marnold48@bloomberg.net

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

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