“Gold hit $2,000 an ounce on Tuesday, a milestone that caps a record-breaking rally driven by depressed bond yields and fears over the impact of Covid-19 on the global economy…
““The root cause [behind the rally] is uncertainty,” said George Cheveley, a fund manager at Ninety One.”
https://www.ft.com/content/566dd8f7-7efe-45b6-8a44-b20f7f0f283e
“The 10-year yield hit a low of 0.513% in North American morning trade, the second-lowest yield ever recorded at that maturity.
“The lowest was hit on March 9 as the coronavirus pandemic was gathering steam in the United States, prior to the Federal Reserve’s intervention in financial markets.”
https://uk.reuters.com/article/usa-bonds-idUKL1N2F60YM
“Congressional leaders and White House officials warned on Tuesday that they were still far away from a deal on more economic stimulus…
“Democrats have called for a $3.4tn stimulus package, but Republicans have said they would only support a smaller deal. Mr Mnuchin said on Tuesday: “We’re not going anything close to $3.4tn.””
https://www.ft.com/content/575ed375-b48a-4012-8acf-fb7ac3e68a65
“Even if Congress passes a new rescue package with more unemployment benefits, the cumulative effect of the ongoing economic catastrophe may finally trigger a credit card default deluge, a new survey reveals.
“More than half of consumers with credit card debt said they will need more bailout money to make minimum payments over the next three months.”
“The U.K. plans to adopt its full no-deal Brexit border plan to avoid traffic chaos when it completes its split from the EU in 2021, even if the two sides sign a free-trade agreement…
“Britain is bracing for an economic shock when the Brexit transition period finishes at the end of the year, as commerce with its largest trading partner becomes subject to new red tape and paperwork.”
“Britain’s banks took a gloomier view than almost all their European peers in their second quarter earnings, as coronavirus fears, Brexit and low interest rates caused them to bake tougher “worst-case” scenarios into their risk models…
“The British economy is forecast to shrink 11.5% this year, while the euro area contracts 9.1%, according to OECD forecasts in June.”
“Hundreds of thousands of small UK businesses are unable to access emergency funding as banks take weeks to process applications or turn down customers – sometimes without giving reasons why.
“Almost 250,000 of the 1.4 million applications for Government-supported “bounce back” loans were either still being processed or had been declined as of Aug 2.
“Société Générale has culled its top ranks, announcing the departure of two deputy chief executives, after the French bank slumped to its worst quarter for more than a decade.
“France’s third-largest bank on Monday revealed a surprise €1.26bn loss for the three months to June…”
https://www.ft.com/content/37483951-8a8a-4bba-9bb4-8169045c33c9
“The Spanish tourism sector has lost 27.3 million visitors and €28.4 billion in revenue in the first half of the year compared with the same period last year.
“And the new outbreaks, coupled with travel advisories issued by several countries, suggest that things will not improve significantly during the second half of the year.”
“The coronavirus pandemic is deepening the pain for Japan’s regional lenders, heightening concerns that a potential wave of business closures will test policymakers’ ability to avert a damaging banking-sector crisis.
“Many central government and bank officials see the risk of a crisis emerging in the next few months, when more struggling firms could go under and hit regional banks already weakened by a shrinking domestic economy and years of ultra-low interest rates.”
“A fresh mass outbreak of Covid-19 could increase the risks of an external debt crisis among emerging and developing economies which are vulnerable to sudden capital outflows, the IMF warned on Tuesday.
“The economic impact of the pandemic has been especially acute for countries that rely on oil, tourism or remittances from migrant workers.”
https://www.ft.com/content/4da1ab53-bb92-4c87-895a-f827a517a627
“Philippine GDP shrank an annualized 0.7% in the first three months, worse than the preliminary 0.2% year-on-year contraction reported last May…
“The downward adjustments, which are regularly done to reflect late data arrivals, increase the likelihood of a bigger economic collapse…”
“Indonesia’s economy contracted for the first time in over two decades in the second quarter as efforts to contain the new coronavirus dealt a blow to consumer demand and business activity in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
“Gross domestic product shrank by a bigger than expected 5.32% in the April-June period from a year ago…”
“A fire broke out at an Iranian industrial area near Tehran on Tuesday, Iran’s state TV reported, the latest in a string of fires and explosions, some of which have hit sensitive sites…
“There have been several other incidents at facilities in the past weeks, including a fire at the underground Natanz nuclear facility last month which caused significant damage…”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1714531/middle-east
“A massive explosion rocked downtown Beirut on Tuesday… It was stunning even for a city that has been shaken by civil war, suicide bombings and bombardment by Israel.
“Even for a country already on the brink of collapse.
“Lebanon is hurtling toward a tipping point at an alarming speed, driven by financial ruin, collapsing institutions, hyperinflation and rapidly rising poverty – with a pandemic on top of that.”
“…half a million children are hungry in Beirut…
“The explosion destroyed the country’s largest port – which will now make it harder to import food and other aid – as well as silos that contain the national grain reserve…
“About 85 per cent of the country’s cereals are stored in the facility, according to trading company Mena Commodities.”
“China’s New Export Orders Index rose to 48.4 in July but much more is needed for the country’s manufacturing industry to close the gap, and more new export orders are needed to stage a sustainable recovery for the global container shipping industry…
“WTO has estimated that global trade declined by 18.5% in Q2 (compared with Q2 last year).”
“Over the next five years investment in container port capacity is expected to tumble following coronavirus-induced global trade slowdowns.”
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