Kudlow Warns Beijing, ‘Chinese Pig’ Furor, Two Fed Cuts: Eco Day

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

• President Donald Trump is still waiting to hear from President Xi Jinping about meeting to restart trade talks, his economic adviser Larry Kudlow said, while warning Beijing may face consequences it if opts not to. In the worst-case scenario, these strategies may prosper
• The furor surrounding comments by a top UBS official about a “Chinese pig” intensified, with a group of financial institutions in Hong Kong urging the bank to fire all people involved
• Market bets on two Fed rate cuts by the end of September have overtaken expectations of only one, futures indicate. Jeffrey Gundlach, billionaire money manager and chief investment officer of DoubleLine Capital, said he doesn’t think the Fed will cut next week
• The BOJ may already be the most aggressive central bank in the industrial world, but it maintains it has room to do even more
• The euro stemmed a decade-long slide in its global usage to see a pickup last year as geopolitical tensions damped dollar demand
• The Swiss National Bank stuck with ultra-loose monetary policy and a pledge to battle currency strength amid a deteriorating backdrop
• A Turkish court accepted an indictment requesting a jail term for two Bloomberg reporters and 36 others over a story about how authorities and banks were responding to a currency shock
• Slowing sales at Caterpillar Inc., considered an economic barometer, may add to signs of mounting pressures on global growth
• The mass protests in Hong Kong are likely to have limited short-term economic impact, but a potentially more serious one long-term. China’s heavy-handed tactics could also hurt its cause in Taiwan; Here’s how Trump could suddenly amplify the protests
• Ivory poaching increased in Botswana during a time when it was praised for protecting the world’s biggest African elephant population with some of the toughest measures around

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, Chris Bourke

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