China’s services trade up 25.8 pct in Q1
BEIJING, – China’s services trade value grew 25.8 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2022, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on Thursday. The total trade value stood at nearly 1.46 trillion yuan (about 221.86 billion U.S. dollars), according to the data. Services exports expanded 30.8 percent year on year to…
CommSec morning report Tuesday
In US economic data, the Chicago Federal Reserve national activity index rose from 0.36 to 0.47 in April (survey: 0.35). European sharemarkets were firmer on Monday. A survey from the Ifo institute showed that German business morale unexpectedly rose in May. And in corporate news, Siemens Gamesa rose 6.2% after Siemens Energy launched a 4.05…
Monday markets evening report
Despite a strong start to trade, which saw the Aussie sharemarket reach highs of 0.7 per cent, the S&P/ASX 200 finished on a flat note, gaining 0.1 per cent or 3 pts, to 7149. The Materials sector did much of the heavy lifting today after the price of iron ore rose by 2.5 per cent…
Pickup truck sales down in first four months
BEIJING – China’s pickup truck sales dropped 11 percent year on year in the first four months of the year due to COVID-19 disruptions to production, industry data showed. A total of 165,000 pickup trucks were sold during the period, according to the China Passenger Car Association. In geographical breakdown, more than 40 percent of…
Europe freight train taps business opportunities
FRANKFURT – A third freight train recently arrived in Frankfurt from China and a local general manager believed that it would bring more business opportunities to the city. Given that transportations by sea and air are both strained, the China-Europe freight trains provided another way of direct connections, Kawus Khederzadeh, general manager of the industrial…
China’s natural gas output up
BEIJING – China saw a steady increase in its natural gas output in April, official data showed. The country’s natural gas output was 17.7 billion cubic meters in April, up 4.7 percent from a year ago, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. In the first four months of this year, China reported a total…
CommSec morning report
European sharemarkets were firmer on Friday after China cut the 5-year loan prime rate by a bigger-than-expected 15 basis points to 4.45%. In economic data, British retail sales rose unexpectedly in April while German producer prices posted a record increase in the month. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose by 0.7% on Friday but lost…
Australia’s unemployment rate now begins with a ‘3’
Early in the election campaign, on April 14, we learned that Australia’s unemployment rate had slipped below 4% in March, to 3.95% – the lowest rate in 48 years. But the Coalition was denied the bragging rights that would flow from an unemployment rate beginning with “3” because of a Bureau of Statistics convention of…
How blockchain can revolutionise the financial system
Another year, another burst of extreme crypto volatility. But the blockchain technology behind bitcoin, stablecoins and other digital assets continues to grow in importance. Sometimes innovation happens overnight. The Monday after the Big Bang in 1986, when the market was deregulated and stepped into the electronic age, the noise and bustle of the trading floor…
Is the dollar done?
We assess whether the freezing of Russia’s FX reserves could ultimately cool the dollar’s dominance as a reserve currency. Last month the Russian government missed a payment on a Eurobond because financial sanctions meant that it was unable to service its debt. Russia managed to evade a default by making a payment shortly before a…
