Fed’s 5-Year Plan, Davos Delayed, Bracing for Impact: Eco Day

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

• The Fed looks likely to keep short-term interest rates near zero for five years or possibly more after it adopts a new strategy for conducting monetary policy
• The World Economic Forum said the coronavirus has forced it to delay its high-profile gathering of global business and financial leaders in the Swiss resort of Davos until early next summer
• Hurricane Laura has grown into a powerful Category 4 storm that’s poised to be one of the worst ever to hit the western U.S. Gulf, threatening to pummel the Texas-Louisiana border that could inflict more than $15 billion in insured losses
• China increased its buying of U.S. goods in recent months, and with signs that soybean purchases may also rise, that may be enough to salvage the trade deal even if it won’t reach what it promised
• Boris Johnson’s advisers may impose restrictions on TikTok’s U.K. activities, but are likely to stop short of blocking plans by the social media app to set up its international headquarters in London
• Kansas City Fed chief Esther George, who has been among the most hawkish Fed policy makers, doesn’t oppose some overshooting of the central bank’s 2% inflation target
• What’s going on with Kim Jong Un? Is he sick? Worried about Covid-19? Consumed by an economic crisis? Battling internal threats? All those scenarios have been floated to explain months of surprises and intrigue from Pyongyang
• Italy, Spain and France saw the number of new coronavirus cases rise. But, despite the grim numbers, Italy joined France and Spain in rejecting the possibility of reintroducing a nationwide lockdown
• Joblessness may be easing in India as the economy gradually reopens, but wage growth remains subdued -- dashing hopes of a recovery in the consumption-driven economy
• Argentina’s government formally requested negotiations to begin with the IMF on a new program to replace the $57 billion agreement from 2018 that failed to lift the economy
• The discovery of coronavirus in the bathroom of an unoccupied apartment in Guangzhou, China, suggests the airborne pathogen may have wafted upwards through drain pipes
• Singapore has long been the city of choice for Western expats. Yet just when it should be a magnet for global talent, alongside soaring unemployment has come a spike in rhetoric against foreigners taking jobs from locals

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.