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Green Shiptech China Congress 2024: Charting the Course for Sustainable Maritime Innovation

The 13th Annual Green Shiptech China Congress (GSCC2024) took place in Shanghai, drawing over 400 maritime leaders and professionals for two days of impactful discussions focused on the future of green shipping technologies. The event featured key updates on international and regional policies, including insights from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the European Union. Attendees gained invaluable perspectives on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the maritime industry. Chairman Wayne Zhuang, Regional Manager, Asia at BIMCO, opened the congress, setting the stage for a series of expert ...

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US Cash Crude-Grades mixed on weakened refinery demand, lower rig count

U.S. cash grades were mixed on Friday, dealers said, as refining demand is set to fall while the domestic oil rig count also dipped. U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 1.09 million barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline in the week ending Sept. 27, decreasing available refining capacity by 79,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said on Friday. Offline capacity is expected to rise to 1.18 million bpd in the week ending Oct. 4 and then fall to 926,000 in the subsequent week, IIR added. Meanwhile, U.S. ...

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Global hunt for neutral interest rate to shape finance costs

With key central banks now aligned in cutting interest rates a real-time experiment is underway in how much the global financial landscape has changed since the pandemic and in particular whether the easing cycle may be short-lived because of higher underlying rates. The impact of the Federal Reserve last week joining a process already started at the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and elsewhere with a larger-than-anticipated half-point rate cut could be extensive – already credited by some analysts for clearing the way for the People’s Bank of ...

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China Stimulus Could Be ‘Game Changer’ For Risk Assets – UBS

This week’s policy shift in China could be a game-changer for Chinese risk assets, says Mark Haefele, global wealth management CIO at UBS, but that remains contingent on both execution and continuation. China’s central bank on Friday lowered interest rates and injected liquidity into the banking system. On Tuesday, it unveiled its most aggressive stimulus since the pandemic. “This week’s interest rate cuts were more aggressive than consensus expectation reflecting an easing bias to policy not seen since 2012,” wrote Haefele in a daily note. The ensuing market rally “underscores ...

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The eurozone housing market’s ‘G-Factor’

The gradual recovery of the eurozone housing market, which started at the beginning of 2024, accelerated in the second quarter of this year and was mainly driven by the improved affordability of purchasing residential real estate. The eurozone interest rate on new mortgage loans to households came down at the beginning of the year on the back of expectations of an aggressive interest rate cutting cycle by the European Central Bank. From March onwards, it has remained stable at around 3.7%, some 30 basis points below the end-2023 level. In ...

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Kamala Harris likely to win election, despite Trump being better on inflation, economy: CNBC CFO survey

Election polling continues to forecast a tight race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, but within corporate America, top executives are preparing for Harris to become the next president of the United States, according to a new CNBC survey of C-suite executives across the economy. A majority of chief financial officers (55%) say Harris will win the election, according to the Q3 CNBC CFO Council Survey. That’s a reversal from the prior CFO survey in Q2 (when President Joe Biden was still the candidate) and a ...

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Cooling of German labour market continues in September

In September, German unemployment decreased by 65,600, lowering the unemployment figure to 2.806 million. If you’re wondering how this number could suggest a cooling in the market, consider this, compared with September last year, unemployment was up by almost 180,000 and today’s September improvement was the third weakest September improvement since 2001. Finally, seasonally-adjusted unemployment in September increased by 17,000. More cooling of the labour market in the offing The strong labour market has been an important driver of the economy’s resilience over the last few years. Until this summer, ...

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France’s new government is fragile but don’t write it off just yet

It’s a mess, but it might just hold. Despite looking like the most unstable French administration in recent history, despised by the left and propped up by the far-right, Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s fragile minority government may last longer than many think, lawmakers and analysts told Reuters. That’s because Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party, which could join forces with other disgruntled parties to topple the government at will, has no real interest in owning an even bigger mess that might damage its presidential hopes in 2027. It also faces ...

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Eurozone sentiment points to further inflation easing in the short run

Selling price expectations in line with further easing of inflation Inflation prints for Spain and France have come in very soft this morning, likely resulting in a first sub-2% eurozone inflation print for September. While this is related to base effects and inflation is expected to tick up again towards the end of the year, the question is by how much this can happen. Petrol prices have dropped significantly in recent weeks on the lower oil price, which limits the prospects of a headline inflation rebound. For the European Central ...

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Fed should cut interest rates ‘gradually,’ Musalem says

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President Alberto Musalem on Friday said the U.S. central bank should cut interest rates “gradually” after what he called the “strong and clear message” of a half-point interest-rate cut last week, which he said he supported. “For me, it’s about easing off the brake at this stage. It’s about making policy gradually less restrictive,” Musalem said an interview with the Financial Times. If the economy or the labor market weakens more than he expects, he said, “a faster pace of rate reductions might be appropriate.” ...

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U.S. Banks Have Limited Credit Profile Impact from Refreshed Basel III Rules

The widely expected re-proposal of the Basel III endgame and the global systemically important bank (G-SIB) surcharge rules outlined by Federal Reserve (Fed) are expected to have a limited impact on most US banks’ standalone credit profiles and are incorporated in our current ratings and Outlooks, says Fitch Ratings. However, despite continued uncertainty regarding the final version of the rules, we expect the new regime will strengthen banks’ capitalization frameworks, particularly for smaller Category IV banks with total consolidated assets greater or equal to $100 billion. The passage of Basel ...

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China’s FX conundrum mutes stimulus optimism

It’s safe to say that the timing and scale of the stimulus measures unleashed by China this week were, in large part, prompted by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s jumbo-sized interest rate cut only a few days before. But unfortunately for Chinese policymakers, the U.S. central bank’s apparent commitment to an aggressive easing campaign – and the impact this could have on the exchange rate between the yuan and the dollar – could put Beijing in a serious bind. On the face of it, the yuan’s substantial appreciation against the dollar ...

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Most investors mull portfolio changes ahead of US election, UBS survey shows

Most wealthy investors are considering changes in their portfolios ahead of the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, according to a survey by UBS released on Thursday. As investors focus on the economic policies of the candidates, 77% of them are considering new allocations, the survey found. The economy is seen as the most important issue in the election by 84% of investors, and they are split on which candidate would better handle it. Fifty one percent of wealth clients surveyed said Republican candidate Donald Trump would handle the economy better, ...

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Temper, temper! You can’t always have what you want

You never listen to what I say! You know the scene, the sweetie-demanding kid at the checkout having a mini-meltdown and the exasperated parents telling him he can’t have them. Is it getting a bit like that with central banks? ‘I told you last week: you can’t have big rate cuts; they’re not good for you!’. ‘That’s not true, it’s so unfair!’ say markets. ‘You had some last week!’. ‘But my friends get more, their parents are so much cooler!’. Hmm. Are some policymakers not keeping up with the latest ...

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Take Five: Start up the engine for Q4

Financial markets will enter the fourth quarter fizzing with anticipation of a drop in global interest rates from high levels in the past few years and the only question is whether the economy drops off as quickly, or gently slows. Here is your look at what’s big in markets in the coming week from Ira Iosebashvili in New York, Rae Wee in Singapore, Yoruk Bahceli in Amsterdam and Marc Jones and Amanda Cooper in London. 1/QUARTER OF CHAOS The third quarter draws to a close on Tuesday after a tumultuous ...

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