Asian markets struggle as traders weigh geopolitical tensions

Asian investors struggled Wednesday to track a positive lead from Wall Street as they assess the prospect of an escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war, Donald Trump’s second presidency and the outlook for US interest rates.They were also keenly awaiting the release of earnings from chip behemoth Nvidia later in the day, which many see as a bellwether of the tech sector and AI demand that have helped power markets to multiple record highs this year.Traders were treading carefully this week amid uncertainty after Trump’s re-election and as he picks his cabinet, with several China hawks up for key positions fanning worries of another trade war between the economic superpowers.The tycoon has pledged to ramp up tariffs on imports, with China particularly in his sights, but observers warn that such a move — along with planned tax cuts — could relight still stubborn inflation.That has dampened hopes for several Federal Reserve interest rate cuts next year.Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine has burst back into the thoughts of traders as Moscow vowed to react “accordingly” after saying Kyiv had fired its first US-made long-range missile into Russian territory.Washington this week said it had cleared Kyiv to use the US-supplied Army Tactical Missile System against military targets inside Russia — a long-standing Ukrainian request.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the attack showed Western countries wanted to “escalate” the conflict, adding that “we will be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia”.President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Tuesday lowering the threshold for using nuclear weapons, which the White House, Britain and the European Union called “irresponsible”.Growing worries that the war will ramp up to another, more dangerous level weighed on sentiment in Europe but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose for a second straight day in New York.Asia, however, was mostly in the red, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington and Taipei in retreat. Seoul, Manila and Jakarta bucked the trend.The main focus of attention Wednesday is the upcoming earnings from Nvidia, the world’s most expensive listed company and market darling.The company has rocketed 200 percent this year — and an eye-watering 2,670 in the past five years — on the back of an unprecedented surge in demand for all things linked to artificial intelligence.There are hopes it will live up to expectations and provide some insight into its new chips. The firm’s shares rose nearly five percent on Tuesday.”Nvidia’s earnings will serve as a major test, given its status as the largest company by market cap and a cornerstone of the AI revolution,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets.”The central question: Is the AI theme robust enough to sustain investor enthusiasm, or is it on shaky ground.”Finalto.com’s Neil Wilson said investors will be “hungry for guidance on the new chips”. “Nvidia’s Blackwell chip should become available in the first quarter of next year and could bring in between $5 billion and $8 billion, according to (investment bank) Piper Sandler,” he said.Bitcoin was sitting around the $92,000 mark after hitting a new all-time peak above 94,031 on Tuesday.- Key figures around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.5 percent at 38,242.35 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.1 percent at 19,640.50Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,344.39Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0601 from $1.0599 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2690 from $1.2682Dollar/yen: UP at 154.85 yen from 154.67 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 83.52 pence from 83.54 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $69.53 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.2 percent at $73.20 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 43,268.94 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,099.02 (close)

Olympic champion Tebogo aims to inspire next generation of African athletesWed, 20 Nov 2024 02:02:53 GMT

After upstaging powerhouses the United States and Jamaica to win a rare Olympic sprint gold for Africa, Letsile Tebogo aims to unleash the “deadly” untapped potential of athletes from the continent.The unassuming Botswanan, 21, was one of the standout performers in Paris this year, becoming the first African to win the men’s 200m and silver …

Olympic champion Tebogo aims to inspire next generation of African athletesWed, 20 Nov 2024 02:02:53 GMT Read More »

Strike at French cognac maker Hennessy over measures in China spat

Hundreds of employees of French cognac maker Hennessy, part of the LVMH group luxury empire, went on strike on Tuesday to protest measures the brand plans to employ to circumvent Chinese tariffs imposed in a spat with the EU.Some 500-600 staff in cognac’s home Charente region in southwestern France were protesting at an experimental plan to export the drink in vats, rather than bottles, which will be subject to additional taxes estimated at 35 percent, France’s CGT and FO unions said.”Management told us they wanted to do tests on exporting the products in vats with a view to future bottling in China by a service provider” and no longer in France, Frederic Merceron, FO representative at Hennessy, told AFP.”We can well imagine the impact on employment,” he added, describing the news as a “cold shower.” “This is a first for a major house. It’s a real spanner in the works,” said Matthieu Devers of the CGT union, predicting that other cognac producers would follow suit.The strike at the Hennessy plant in the town of Cognac, which employs 1,100 people, is open-ended, though a source close to Hennessy, asking not to be named, said that “dialogue is possible.”Since October 11, China has required importers of European brandies — of which cognac represents 95 percent of the total — to submit a deposit or a bank guarantee letter with Chinese customs authorities.The measure is part of what Beijing describes as an anti-dumping investigation. But the move is widely seen as retaliation for the EU slapping tariffs on electric cars imported from China, which is the second biggest export market for cognac.Devers said a first test delivery to be carried out by the end of 2024 would ascertain if the quality of the drink is maintained after transport.He described as “bizarre” a suggestion that materials including glassware, labels, corks and boxes be shipped to China with the drink then bottled there.France’s umbrella cognac producers association BNIC said it did not want to comment on the individual strategies of companies.But it added: “It should be noted that while waiting for a negotiated solution, and in view of the deterioration that we have noted, certain houses could be forced to explore all avenues that would allow them to maintain the presence on the Chinese market.”The cognac industry, which is heavily dependent on exports, now fears it will be targeted in the United States, its biggest market, following the election of Donald Trump, who plans to step up customs duties across the board.

UNAIDS chief says husband, Ugandan opposition figure Besigye, ‘kidnapped’Tue, 19 Nov 2024 23:20:59 GMT

Kizza Besigye, a major Ugandan opposition figure, was “kidnapped” in Kenya and is being held in a Kampala military jail, his wife, a top UN official, said Tuesday.Winnie Byanyima, head of UNAIDS, demanded on X that the government of Uganda “release my husband Dr. Kizza Besigye from where he is being held immediately”.Besigye, a medical …

UNAIDS chief says husband, Ugandan opposition figure Besigye, ‘kidnapped’Tue, 19 Nov 2024 23:20:59 GMT Read More »

European stocks fall on Ukraine-Russia fears, US focused on earnings

Stock markets fell in Europe but finished mostly higher in New York Tuesday as markets weighed worries about escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine.Moscow vowed to react “accordingly” after saying Ukraine had fired its first US-made long-range missile onto Russian territory, after being cleared to do so by US President Joe Biden. “The news rattled markets this morning, driving European stocks lower and reinforcing bearish momentum” against the euro, said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com.US shares also fell at the opening but then clawed back, lifted by strong guidance from retailer Walmart and expectations of positive earnings from chipmaker Nvidia.While the Dow finished in the red, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended in positive territory.”We’re kind of on our own continent over here,” Kim Forrest of Bokeh Capital Partners said of the US investor mindset.”In time, we would be impacted by an escalation of tensions. But today we’re going to shrug that off, because tomorrow we get Nvidia.”All the main indexes in Europe closed in the red, though off their lows for the day.Still, it was a marked reversal of the optimism seen on Wall Street on Monday, when stocks shrugged off uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariff plans to push higher, with the momentum carrying over into the Asian trading day.”Caution returned early Tuesday, this time as events thousands of miles from Wall Street raised geopolitical risk concerns,” said Joe Mazzola, a strategist at Charles Schwab.On the corporate front, retail giant Walmart jumped three percent as it boosted guidance ahead of what it sees as a positive Christmas season.Nvidia was up almost five percent. The AI chip giant, often seen as a bellwether stock for the technology sector, reports its quarterly earnings after the market closes Wednesday.  In Europe, shares in German industrial giant Thyssenkrupp rose almost 12 percent after the group said it expected a return to profit in its next financial year — despite posting a hefty full-year loss for the second year in a row.Nestle slid two percent after new chief executive Laurent Freixe announced a plan to slash costs and have a standalone water and beverages business.Equities have seen big swings since Trump was elected US president this month, as investors balance the impact of corporate tax cuts against a potential trade war with China and others.Any resulting surge in inflation would give a headache to policymakers at the US Federal Reserve, who are still fighting to bring prices under control.- Key figures around 2145 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 43,268.94 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 0.4 percent at 5,916.98 (close)New York – Nasdaq: UP 1.0 percent at 18,987.47 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,099.02 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.7 percent at 7,229.64 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.7 percent at 19,060.31 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 38,414.43 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 19,663.67 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,346.01 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0599 from $1.0598 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2682 from $1.2678Dollar/yen: UP at 154.67 yen from 154.66 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 83.54 pence from 83.59 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $69.39 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP less than 0.1 percent at $73.31 per barrel

Mercosur: un débat suivi d’un vote aura lieu le 26 novembre à l’Assemblée

Un débat suivi d’un vote sur le traité de libre-échange entre l’UE et des pays du Mercosur, que la France rejette en l’état, va se tenir à l’Assemblée nationale le 26 novembre, a annoncé mardi la présidente de la chambre basse, Yaël Braun-Pivet.”J’entends la colère, les tensions, l’incompréhension des agriculteurs sur le projet d’accord UE-Mercosur. La France y est fermement opposée”, a rappelé sur X le Premier ministre Michel Barnier, en annonçant son intention de faire une déclaration à l’Assemblée nationale suivie d’un débat sur cet accord.M. Barnier avait consulté au préalable les présidents des groupes qui soutiennent son gouvernement, réunis comme chaque semaine à Matignon.En vertu de l’article 50-1 de la Constitution, le gouvernement peut, de sa propre initiative ou à la demande d’un groupe parlementaire, faire sur un sujet déterminé une déclaration donnant lieu à un débat, voire à un vote, sans engager sa responsabilité.La conférence des présidents de l’Assemblée a acté le principe de ce débat mardi matin, en l’inscrivant à l’ordre du jour pour le 10 décembre. Mais il a finalement été avancé au 26 novembre, a annoncé lors des questions au gouvernement Mme Braun-Pivet. La présidente du groupe LFI à l’Assemblée, Mathilde Panot, a salué la décision du gouvernement, rappelant que LFI avait voulu débattre du Mercosur dans sa niche le 28 novembre, mais que le gouvernement avait jugé irrecevable début novembre sa proposition de résolution l’invitant à rejeter ce traité. Le RN avait tenté une démarche similaire pour sa propre niche, le 31 octobre, sans plus de succès.Le député LR Julien Dive a interpellé la ministre de l’Agriculture Annie Genevard lors de la séance des questions au gouvernement. “Êtes-vous prête à respecter ce vote (de l’Assemblée sur le Mercosur) et à engager un véritable bras de fer avec la Commission européenne pour défendre notre souveraineté alimentaire ?”.Ce débat “sera fructueux et croyez bien que nous serons très, très mobilisés sur cette question”, a répondu Mme Genevard, estimant que cet accord “est une fermeture de l’avenir” pour les agriculteurs.- “Bras de fer” avec Bruxelles  -Le gouvernement proposera également un débat suivi d’un vote au Sénat, “sans doute le lendemain de l’Assemblée”, a indiqué à l’AFP une source ministérielle.La porte-parole du gouvernement Maud Bregeon a promis sur TF1 que la France continuerait “à tenir un bras de fer aussi longtemps que nécessaire” avec la présidente de la Commission européenne Ursula Von der Leyen contre ce traité, négocié depuis des décennies entre l’UE et des pays du Mercosur (Argentine, Brésil, Uruguay, Paraguay).”Contrairement à ce que beaucoup pensent, la France n’est pas isolée et plusieurs nous rejoignent”, a affirmé lundi Emmanuel Macron depuis le sommet du G20 à Rio, citant les “Polonais, Autrichiens, Italiens et plusieurs autres en Europe”.L’Argentine n’est pas non plus prête à le valider “en l’état”, a-t-il ajouté mardi. “Je pense qu’il faut ici bien dire à nos agriculteurs: un, nous sommes là et nous vous protégeons, défendons notre alimentation, notre modèle, notre agriculture. Et deux, les choses ne sont pas prêtes. Il y a plusieurs pays qui pensent comme nous, de part et d’autre de l’océan”.Les agriculteurs ont poursuivi mardi leur mobilisation dans toute la France, notamment contre cet accord. La Coordination rurale fait monter la pression, menaçant de mener des actions plus bloquantes. are-lum-sl-ab-gbh-fff/sde/gvy

Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai takes witness stand in collusion trial

Pro-democracy Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai will on Wednesday take the stand in his collusion trial, testifying in court for the first time despite five previous trials in almost four years.Lai’s case is one of the most prominent prosecuted under the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, with Western countries and rights groups demanding his release. The 76-year-old founder of the now-shuttered tabloid Apple Daily is accused of colluding with foreign forces, a charge that could carry a sentence of up to life in prison. His testimony comes with Hong Kong’s political freedoms already under the spotlight, after a court jailed 45 democracy campaigners for subversion in the city’s largest national security trial on Tuesday.Lai’s case centres around his newspaper’s publications, which supported huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 and criticised Beijing’s leadership.Lai has been behind bars since December 2020, and concerns have been raised around his health. “The case of Jimmy Lai is not an outlier, it’s a symptom of Hong Kong’s democratic decline,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a Monday statement. “Hong Kong’s treatment of Jimmy Lai — and more broadly of independent media and journalists — shows that this administration is no longer interested in even a semblance of democratic norms.”Hong Kong and Beijing have refuted the criticism, condemning Lai as “a voluntary political tool of foreign forces trying to curb China through Hong Kong”. Since the prosecution opened in January, it has alleged that on multiple occasions Lai asked the United States and other countries to impose sanctions “or engage in other hostile activities” against China and Hong Kong.- ‘Media business as platform’ -Lai faces one count of “conspiracy to publish seditious publications” as well as two counts of conspiracy to foreign collusion.  The case against him revolves around 161 articles published in Apple Daily, as well as his own interviews and social media postings. The newspaper was forced to close in 2021 after police raids and the arrests of its senior editors. The prosecution accused Lai and six Apple Daily senior executives of using the media business as a platform to “stir up opposition to the government… and to collude with foreign countries”.Dozens of local and foreign politicians and scholars — including former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — were named by the prosecution as Lai’s “agents”, “intermediaries” or “collaborators”. Lai is also accused of supporting two young activists in lobbying for foreign sanctions via a protest group called “Stand With Hong Kong”.The six executives and two activists have pleaded guilty, with five of them testifying against Lai. – Concerns for health -Last month, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told parliament that Lai, who holds British citizenship, was “a priority” for his Labour government. Starmer raised the issue in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday. Lai’s son had previously said “much stronger” support from the British government was needed as Lai’s health “could get much worse at any moment”.A legal team led by a senior British rights lawyer has filed a number of complaints to the United Nations concerning arbitrary detention and prolonged solitary confinement.On Sunday, the Hong Kong government condemned the legal team for “spreading misinformation”, saying that Lai himself had requested to be kept apart from other inmates.  “The unfounded remarks… are completely fact-twisting and are merely a despicable political maneuver with malicious intention,” the government said in a statement.Robertsons, a Hong Kong law firm representing Lai in the trial, has also brushed off some of the allegations.”Mr Lai wishes to make known that he has been receiving appropriate medical attention for conditions suffered by him, including diabetes,” the firm said in a statement in September.”He has access to daylight through the windows in the corridor outside his cell, albeit he cannot see the sky. He exercises for an hour every day in a secure area.”