China Trade Deal Doubt, U.S. Outlook Worry, Taiwan Boom: Eco Day

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

• Chinese officials are expressing doubt 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
• U.S. consumer spending trailed forecasts while applications for unemployment benefits rose, offering a note of caution on the economy as the Fed signals a pause from interest-rate cuts
• Taiwan’s economy grew at the fastest pace in five quarters on domestic investment and better-than-expected overseas demand
• Japan’s unemployment rate unexpectedly rose in September, climbing from a 27-year low before a sales tax hike that’s likely to damp consumer spending
• Donald Trump said Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal will make it difficult to strike a trade accord with the U.S. after the U.K. leaves the EU
• The euro-area economy performed better than forecast in the third quarter, suggesting some resilience in the face of 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 ECB president
• Tom Orlik wraps the global economy, looking at China’s slowdown, Hong Kong’s slump and a stalling euro zone
• Trump, America’s first property-developer president, helped lift the U.S. housing market out of its recent slump. All it took was chaotic tweeting and an unpredictable trade war
• Indonesia’s national dish of nasi goreng, or fried rice, has become a lot cheaper these days as the nation’s two big ride-hailing apps wage a price war on everyday groceries
• With big American companies uprooting production from China to dodge tariffs in Trump’s trade wars, what are smaller businesses doing? Sarah McGregor investigates in the latest Terms of Trade
• Hounded for months by Trump to cut rates below zero, the Fed still isn’t the top contender to wade into unconventional monetary policy, according to Nomura Holdings Inc. Instead, it’s Israel

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net

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

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